I Hope You're Listening By Tom Ryan
Expected publication: October 2020
Mom's Review
In a word: Gripping!
I almost finished this in one sitting. But it got too far past midnight and I had to get up early the next morning. I Hope You're Listening is a fascinating missing-persons mystery from the point of view of the person not taken. At age seven, Delia (Dee) was playing in the woods with her best friend when the two girls were ambushed by masked men. Dee was left bound to a tree. Her friend was kidnapped. Fast forward ten years: Dee secretly runs a podcast to help locate missing persons, a little girl vanishes from Dee's old house, and there is renewed interest in Dee's cold case.
Tom Ryan's writing pulls the reader deep into Dee's world. I feel like I can see everything clearly in my mind's eye, like I know the characters intimately. Aside from the captivating writing, there is a powerfully positive undercurrent of authenticity. Dee's best friend admits personal anguish after a decade of silence, Dee herself risks her heart and her secret with the new girl across the street, and the whole community thwarts the sensationalist journalist who rolls into town. I Hope You're Listening ends with Dee finding a direction for her blog that genuinely reflects her values.
If you like mysteries or thrillers, this is a must-read.
FYI: There is no sexual abuse and only mild violence.
Note: A review copy was provided by Albert Whitman Co. in exchange for an honest review.
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