Gillian McAllister really hit it big with her last novel, the global bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME. So the pressure is on to recreate this literary magic with her next release, JUST ANOTHER MISSING PERSON. I am happy to report that she makes a more than valiant effort to duplicate that success with a domestic thriller that will have your head spinning. McAllister already has a reputation for huge plot twists, and her latest is no exception.

"JUST ANOTHER MISSING PERSON will have readers literally on the edge of their seats from start to finish, and it demands to be read in one sitting."

Julia is a detective in London who is leading the search for 22-year-old Olivia, who was captured on CCTV entering a dead-end alley and not coming back out. The book’s chapters alternate mostly between Julia and Olivia, giving readers the opportunity to try and piece together just what is going on.

All the while, the pages are ticking off the days that Olivia is missing and the frustrating case that Julia is working to try to find her. There are not a lot of clues to go on, and to make matters worse, it appears that no one Julia speaks with actually knew Olivia. Even her new roommates confess to never setting eyes on her. All they have seen is evidence of her around the flat and have heard noises made by someone there.

This is where McAllister is at her best. I truly believe she enjoys confounding readers with plots and characters that are complex yet difficult to pin down. JUST ANOTHER MISSING PERSON is an ideal example of this as the mystery moves from a missing person case to an existential examination of what constitutes a human being. How can you miss someone who no one really knows?

A perplexing storyline that is slowly unveiled involves Olivia’s father, Lewis, who has a creepy fixation with Julia. In fact, he follows her home with intentions that only will be revealed within this snaking plot.

JUST ANOTHER MISSING PERSON will have readers literally on the edge of their seats from start to finish, and it demands to be read in one sitting. Watching Julia and her young daughter get drawn into the spider’s web by an obsessive, villainous character is a lot of fun, yet we must try not to lose sight of the still-missing Olivia. Where, oh where, could she be?