Please Tell Me

What does anyone do when all the clues to a serial killer and his crimes, are firmly locked inside the brain of a child unable to speak. How do you treat a 9-year-old who escaped from a kidnapper 15- long months after he kidnapped her and has ever since, gone mute? Kathy Stone’s mother is lucky enough to have an old friend, Robin Hart, who’s a child therapist. Robin begins having sessions with Kathy, watching her play with figures in a dollhouse. This affirms what's trapped in Kathy's mind as Robin watches and pays close attention to the scenes that Kathy is creating. There is nothing to do but wait for the child to work through the trauma that’s rendered her completely speechless. As the sessions go on, Kathy’s "games" suggest show more that her memories are intertwined with the murder of Haley Parks, who was stabbed and hanged in Clark State Forest two weeks earlier. Now Robin faces a dilemma. She wants to share this information with Police Detective. Nathaniel King, of the Indianapolis Police Department, but she can’t and won't, violate her bond of confidentiality with her small patient, even though Kathy’s father, Pete, is eager to have the police question her and get this over with. Kathy doesn’t regain her voice, but as she begins to act out a wider range of extremely violent fantasies and Robin realizes that she’s recreating the scenes of several other murders...including at least one that didn’t take place until after Kathy was rescued. Whatever she witnessed during the 15 months of her captivity is understandable, but how can she possibly predict a crime that hadn’t happened yet? The author shifts gears from one set of riddles and anxieties to the next, keeping the tension high enough to make you read just one more chapter. This is the first book I have reviewed in 2024 and I thank the author, Mike Omer for making it a 5-star read. show less

8 year old Kathy is abducted, but manages to escape a year later. She does not speak and is terrified all the time. A child therapist Robin agrees to help Kathy learn how to handle and how to live with her traumatic memories. During the sessions Kathy seems to playact recent murders.

I really liked this book. The story is told from several points of view, but Robin is clearly the main character. She's recently divorced and also grieving after the death of her father. In addition to that her mother is unstable and demanding and makes her life really difficult. Robin still manages to be a sympathetic and likable charater.

It takes a while for the author to set the stage for the story. I was anxious to get it going. Fortunately the build up show more was really worth it. The chapters are short and end in cliffhangers. There was a sense of urgency that kept me reading and turning pages. I thought I had the killer figured out, but I was totally wrong, which is nice. I usually don't care for romance in thrillers, but here it was quite cute and subtle and I actually liked Nathaniel too. There are many references to Covid-19, which is something I would not care to read about. I eventually got over it, though.

This is the first book I read by this author, but definitely not the last.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for a copy of this book. show less

The saddest first chapter…

An 8 year old girl returns a year after being abducted. But she can't/doesn't speak. A child therapist hopes to let her use play therapy to communicate. And when she does, it turns out that a lot more is going on than just her kidnapping...

A good book when it is focused on the therapy and the case(s). The image of the creepy, evil clown in the dollhouse is not one that will go away any time soon! Not so good when it focuses on the therapist's personal life. As a reader, I really only need to be told one time that a person has a bad mom - beating me over the head with it is a bit off putting. Still, it held my interest overall and read pretty quickly and smoothly. And again, the therapy sessions were super show more interesting! show less

Please Tell Me by Mike Omer

Not my favorite by this author but a solid story. The synopsis sounded intriguing with the therapist there to help a child that escaped her kidnapper and a serial killer on the loose. The first chapter drew me in and set the stage but as the characters appeared I started to wonder if I would finish the book as it went from one dysfunctional couple/family to the next.

What I liked:
* The idea of having a child therapist using play therapy as a main character and her part in the story – I was expecting someone with more experience, maturity, and less personal issues though
* Kathy’s resilience, ability to escape, and her coping skills after the trauma she experienced
* The setting of a small town with the show more tensions, gossip, and everyone knowing one another
* The relationship between Robin, the therapist, and her sister Melody
* Melody’s healthy relationship with her husband and children – they seemed normal
* Jimmie who owned the diner and seemed a central place in town – seemed like a solid person
* The way the play therapy gave clues to finding a serial killer – though it took a bit to believe it would unfold as it did
* That the evil doers were eventually found and dealt with

What I had trouble with:
* Robin’s dysfunctional family – her mother was a piece of work that Melody seemed to “see” and handle much better than Robin did
* The romance that suddenly happened – felt like there should have been more to draw the couple together and time for them to be drawn to one another
* That there wasn’t enough backstory to validate why the evil was done by the characters doing it
* Understanding how Robin’s ex, Clair’s husband, and Robin’s father could be so clueless and lacking in empathy
* The believability factor that was missing for me

Did I enjoy this book? Not as much as I had hoped I would
Would I read more by this author? Yes, if the synopsis appealed, I would give it a try

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars show less

Sadly DNFed at 45%.

This was my Kindle First pick for November, and it had such an engaging premise that I immediately knew this was what I wanted from this month's picks. I adore a good psychological thriller that keeps me at the edge of my seat, needing to know what exactly is going on, who the killer is.

I really had high hopes for this book. But after starting out interesting, it just devolved for me from there. There were so many POVs that all sounded the same. I didn't care much for any of the characters and I found the pacing to be extremely slow (I don't mind slow pacing if the story events are intriguing enough to hold my interest). The writing seemed distant and like a series of "this happened, then that happened, then this show more happened," and it felt like I was reading just a series of events happening vs experiencing them with the character (which is what I really want in a thriller!).

Most of all, I didn't feel like I had to know what happened next, or wanted to pick it back up after putting it down. I did flip to the end to see who the killer was...and I'm glad I didn't go through with reading the rest of the book.

This is my first time reading something by this author, and I've heard that this is not his usual style. So, this just wasn't for me. show less

Please Tell me. Mike Omer. 2023. I hope I didn’t pay for this Kindle book! A psychologist begins to work with a little girl who was kidnapped and was found a year later. The plot is as much about the psychologists and her problems as it is about finding the kidnapper/s. It was an easy read but the ending was unclear. It just didn’t appeal to me

Not bad. a few plot holes