Caffeinated Reviewer | Guess Again by Charlie Donlea
15th Jul
Sophia Rose is with us today to share her thoughts on Guess Again by Charlie Donlea. A ten-year-old disappearance case breaks wide open. Come check out Sophia’s thoughts on this mystery thriller, perfect for fans of Alex Finlay and Karin Slaughter.
Guess Again
by Charlie Donlea
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Source: Won
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible | Libro.fm *affiliate
Rating: 
On the 10th anniversary of a teenage girl’s disappearance, her cold case breaks open in dangerous ways…and threatens to tear apart her small Wisconsin town all over again in the masterfully twisty new psychological suspense novel from the internationally bestselling author of Twenty Years Later.
For fans of Riley Sager, Anna Downes, Alex Finlay, Stacy Willingham, and Karin Slaughter.
Ten years ago, 17-year-old high school volleyball star Callie Jones vanished from her quiet Wisconsin lake community. A highly publicized search followed but her body was never found. The case went cold, but the echoes still linger.
Ethan Hall, a former renegade detective turned ER doctor, left law enforcement to escape the horrors of the kid crime division. But on the tenth anniversary of Callie’s disappearance, his former partner, Pete Kramer, makes a desperate request. Pete is the veteran detective who originally investigated the case. Now he’s dying, and to ease his conscience and get closure for the Jones family, he needs Ethan to return to the haunting work he left behind—and solve what happened to Callie, once and for all.
Word soon spreads and everyone in the small town of Cherryview feels a rush of hope that answers will finally be found. Amid a sweltering heatwave, Ethan’s investigation gains momentum, but reexamining old evidence won’t be enough. He needs a new way into the case, no matter how dangerous or unconventional. And it comes from the least likely of sources—an inmate in a maximum-security prison.
Soon Ethan’s methods draw him deeper into a twisted psychological game. Because there is much more to the nightmare of Callie’s disappearance than he imagined, including a connection with his own dark past . . . and secrets that are still worth killing for.
Sophia Rose’s Review
A decade ago, a high school girl went missing, case was never solved. Now her father wants answers, and a former detective turned ER doctor and his detective girlfriend must plunge the depths of a killer’s mind to get answers. I’ve read one Charlie Donlea book, and it gripped me long after I closed the final page. I was ready to plunge in yet again for a twisting thriller that left me clenching my book in suspense.
Dr. Ethan Hall was once a very successful detective in the kid division of police, and he proudly served in his father’s footsteps. But solving crimes related to children got to him, so he left police work behind and got his medical degree, and serves as an ER room doctor. Unfortunately, ‘serve and protect’ is embedded in him and when the governor of Wisconsin begs him to investigate his daughter’s cold case and Ethan’s former partner, suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease wants him to solve this one that has been eating at him, Ethan agrees.
He goes through the reports and testimonies, the evidence and the Cherryview setting. Nothing new pops up. He needs a new angle, and sadly, he knows where to get it. His father’s killer has been languishing in prison, and Ethan has made good and sure he stays there when his parole hearings come up. Ethan and his girlfriend Maddie must get answers from the guy who tried to kill her, like all his other victims. And Ethan knows he would still like to kill Maddie. They play the man’s game, tracking the clues he gives and finally decide to give him his wish for a prison transfer. The cold case grows hot, but the chill of a killer on their trail is shiver-worthy.
Guess Again is aptly titled. I was woefully pointing my finger in several directions. But before that, I was also thoroughly turned around with all the twists and turns through short chapter scenes bouncing between past and present, places, dates, and people. It kept me on my toes to read this style of writing, for sure. The story really grabbed me once the killer upped the ante, and then I barely noticed all the scene movement and just had to know what was coming next for Ethan and Maddie.
I loved their characters a lot. Ethan has such a good soul that I got it why he had to step back from police work. It was breaking him to see the dark side and kids, the sufferers. But he’s honorable and went right back into the crucible for his old partner and the father who just wanted the peace of closure. Maggie was a great current partner, having her badge and being the catalyst to draw out the man with the answers. My gut was clenched, knowing that guy who killed Ethan’s dad was plotting even while he was stringing Ethan and Maggie along to get what he wanted- free, and finally succeed in killing her. Whew, there were some big surprises, though some I saw coming.
Guess Again gripped me, and I plowed through it in two sittings. I’ve only read two now, but I am fast becoming a Charlie Donlea thriller fan and can only push this latest at Thriller fans.
About Charlie Donlea
Charlie Donlea is the USA Today, IndieBound, and #1 International bestselling author of critically acclaimed, propulsive thrillers including The Girl Who Was Taken, Don’t Believe It, Twenty Years Later, and Those Empty Eyes. His eighth thriller, LONG TIME GONE, explores the science of forensic genealogy. A late bloomer, he was twenty years old when he read his first novel–THE FIRM by John Grisham–and knew he would someday write thrillers. Published in 40 countries and translated into nearly twenty languages, his books have sold 2.5 million copies in the U.S. alone and have been optioned for film and television. Praised for his “soaring pace, teasing plot twists” (BookPage) and talent for writing an ending that “makes your jaw drop” (The New York Times Book Review), Donlea has been called a “bold new writer…on his way to becoming a major figure in the world of suspense” (Publishers Weekly). He was born and raised in Chicago, where he continues to live with his wife and two children. Learn more at his interactive website at CharlieDonlea dot com.
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About Sophia Rose
Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat.
