She's Not There by P. J. Parrish, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Amelia Tobias wakes up in a hospital room, battered and bruised, suffering from amnesia after what she is told was an automobile accident. Her doctor explains to her that she has brain damage, but she will survive and her memory will return, probably in stages. The first thing she remembers is that her name is Amelia. She doesn't know why, but for some reason when she hears a man's voice outside her room say that he is Alex Tobias and the woman brought into the hospital is his wife, she becomes apprehensive with fear. She doesn't know why, but she senses that she has to get away from him, in She's Not There, a novel of suspense by P.J. Parrish.

She manages to rip the IV out of her arm, and escape from the hospital with just the clothes she is wearing. She has a diamond ring on her finger, which she pawns for cash. She's on the run, but she doesn't know from whom or where she should go. As her memory starts to return, she instinctively gets on a bus bound for Georgia. Little does she know that her husband and his law partner Owen McCall have hired Clay Buchanan, a man who specializes in finding people who don't want to be found. Amelia stays one step ahead of Buchanan, with the help of strangers. A woman takes her in for a few days, a man sells her an old car, in running condition but not much to look at, even putting on license plates, that she uses to get away. But Buchanan is true to profession, and is never far behind. And they he gets new instructions from Owen McCall: $2 million if he finds Amelia and makes sure that she's never found again. Why does McCall want Amelia dead? And is her husband in on this deal, too? What really happened the night Amelia was injured? What it truly an accident?

She's Not There is an exciting, fast-paced mystery with a strongly developed lead character who is alone, unsure who she can trust, and feeling a deep sense of terror, but she doesn't know why. Her search for answers takes her across the US, from the Southeast to the Midwest and on to California. As her memory slow returns, providing her another piece to her puzzle, it also seems to come with more questions. There are many twists and turns in this novel of suspense that keep readers engaged, wondering how it will all turn out. A solid effort from start to finish.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of She's Not There.

Acknowledgment: Thomas & Mercer provided an ARC of She's Not There for this review.

The Killing Song
Pocket Books (Mass Market Paperback), August 2011
ISBN-13: 9781439189368; ISBN-10: 1439189366

Location(s) referenced in She's Not There: Georgia; Florida; MidWest; California

She's Not There

A Novel of Suspense by P. J. Parrish