Dear Amy

This is a psychological thriller that turned out to be a passable read, but failed to hold my interest after a third of the way through. Margot Lewis is the eponymous Amy, an agony aunt for the local paper, with a troubling personal history. She begins to receive letters from a girl who disappeared twenty years ago, Bethan Avery, who has been presumed dead. The letters contain information that would not be known to the public and Margot's interest is ignited. It is a sprawling story but neither the plot nor the characters had enough to hold my attention. However, what I did like is the writing of Helen Callaghan. I think there will be others for whom this will be a great story. Thanks to Penguin, Michael Joseph for an ARC via netgalley.

* Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review* <br /><br />Margot Lewis is an agony aunt with her local newspaper, and receives many letters every week, but when she starts receiving them from Bethan Avery, who's been missing for years, she becomes completely absorbed in solving this mystery. Bethan is reaching out to Margot asking her to come find her , and rescue her from the man holding her captive. Could the letters really be from Bethan? It seems plausible as some of the details in the letters were never made public knowledge.<br /><br />As soon as I read the synopsis I was intrigued, and I have to say that it started well for me - I felt I was engaging with it, and couldn't wait to discover the outcome. However, at some point the writing seemed to veer off into the realms of impossibility, and became quite unrealistic. It was at this stage that I started losing interest unfortunately. There were parts of it that I loved, and others where the writing came across as somewhat immature.

I was dragging my feet on reading this book, based on some of the low ratings I had seen from my fellow GR friends. This was a NetGalley pick for me, and I can see why I was drawn to it--The publisher's synopsis really peaked my interest. Unfortunately, like most movie trailers these days, the best of what the book is about is told in that synopsis, so the actual read was a big let down. There were no surprises, no side stories to distract, no character that I could root for. (Yes, even poor kidnapped Katie Brown)<br /><br />I figured out who was who fairly early on, so all the chapters dedicated to the 'slow reveal' almost put me asleep. I kept at it though, as I was hoping to find out WHY these girls were taken and what made this crazy man tick. But no such luck...my questions remain unanswered.<br /><br />With such an interesting premise, I am bummed that this missed the mark for me...but they all can't be 5 stars! I'm still thankful to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As psychological thrillers go, this is at the bottom of the pile. <br /><br />The twist, if you can call it that, could not have been more obvious, the pacing was slow, and I felt more connection to the person standing behind me in the supermarket queue this morning than I did to these characters. <br /><br /><br /><br />In any case, thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Missing children, missing childhoods, missing truths.<br /><br /><i> <b>First Class Psychological Suspense From a Major New Voice in Fiction</b> </i><br /><br />Bethan Avery went missing seventeen years ago, but suddenly turned up in letters to an agony columnist. Details of her disappearance which was unknown before, confirmed the validity of her identity, but also baffled the columnist as well as the police. Margot Lewis, a high school teacher was also <i>Dear Amy</i> for <i>The Cambridge Examiner</i>, when one of her students, Katie Brown, vanished without a trace and Bethan Avery was surfacing in her letters a few weeks later. A team of specialists, with the criminologist, Dr. Martin Forrester, are brought in to reopen the cold case and pull the strings together. Their findings would not only rock society ... <br /><br />In the meantime, Margot, the teacher, tried very hard to sort out her divorce from her entitled husband, Eddy, and keep her students interested in Greek mythology. It gives Lily, her best friend and colleague an opportunity to indulge in art as cartoonist. To boost Margot's morale through the messy divorce, Lily makes two portraits. "How He Sees Us" - is the first one. Ben, the headmaster, is drawn as a caricature, leaning over his desk, shouting at them. His face was dark with rage. He sported a judge's wig and full academic gown, and was carrying a huge paddle. The three friends, Lily, Margot and Estella, were drawn as three terrified little schoolgirls in pigtails and school uniforms.<br /><br />The second one, which she titled "How We See Him", Lily draws a cartoon of Margot as one of the Erinyes: A Fury, an ancient Greek goddess tasked with hounding sinners to madness and death: Chthonic underworld goddess of vengeance and rage. The cartoon characters, Lily, Margot and Estella, are taking revenge on the headmaster. Lily draws them as female monsters out of antiquity. They sit on thrones carved out of bones, looking down on the cowering Ben, as a little scared schoolboy. Estella the harpy flexed a pair of wings and her birds' talons crossed over each other at the ankles; Lily's long hair was a cloud of hissing, multi-colored snakes, and Margot sat on the end, leathery bat wings sprouting from her back, curved fangs gnashing against her bottom lip as she leaned forward, glaring at Ben, caressing the razor-wire whip in her clawed hands. At the bottom of the portrait, Lily wrote: "Stay Mad! Love, Lily" ... <br /><br />Saying more about this captivating, atmospheric plot will give it all away, so I am unwillingly and under great restraint keeping quiet. There's enough juicy details to keep us very busy if we start talking :-)<br /><br />It's an ambitious tale, somewhat unrealistic, but written in such a refreshing, original tone, that the book just kept me reading and reading. Many questions surfaced as the narrative continues, which left me a little bit confused and unconvinced, but I really loved the author's refreshing new writing style so much that I will happily settle for four stars. <br /><br />The tale is as much a <i>what if</i>-thrill than it is a portrait of reality from a totally different angle. <br /><br />And now I am sitting on my hands ... and zippit under great protest. Oh what a sleuth! What a sleuth! :-))

I started reading this book a little coldly, it didn't seem like it was a great story. But page after page it turned out to be a really well thought out book. It is true that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but this one is really a little humble, and even the sentences on the back cover seem like the usual rhetorical sentences and do not ignite any spark. But the book deserves a lot, because the plot is well thought out and the story gets tangled up for most of the book up to about three-quarters, only to unravel in a really unexpected way. The story of Bethan Avery, almost seems like a true news story, since it is so unusual. And the fact that the protagonist of the book, Margot Lewis, tells the story in the first person, increases this feeling, as if she were a journalist who tells. But Margot is part of the story and what a part! And the author is very good at letting us enter the emotions that Margot feels, both those of bewilderment and those of anger. Right, yes, especially those of anger: in certain moments you really want to be there with her and make this anger explode. The book contains some noir parts, some thriller parts and very well detailed psychological parts, so it really has everything you need in a book of this genre and that is what we readers are looking for. Definitely worth reading and I don't want to say anything about the plot because anything, even taking it very distantly, could be considered a spoiler, since a small detail is enough to make you understand how it ends. I'd be hated for that, so I don't do it.

Whilst it was an interesting concept I found it far fetched and unrealistic and implausible throughout. Being an avid reader of psychological thrillers I felt this lacked something to make me connect to any characters. However this is just my opinion and I am sure others will enjoy it.

4.5 Stars * Set in Cambridge, <i>Helen Callaghan’s </i> hauntingly atmospheric debut, <b> DEAR AMY-</b> spins an intriguing mysterious tale of a current teenage girl’s abduction, with a twenty-year-old cold case of evil and desperation, and a woman of secrets. <br /><br /><b>A novel of contrasts. </b> Good and evil. Darkness and Light. In order, to solve a mystery and help the victims, the complex protagonist must return to the underworld, her haunted past with an intense unwavering strength of will. <br /><br />There is a lot here beyond the surface, as the complex layers are unraveled. <i>You do not want to miss a single thing! </i> <br /><br /><b>Margot Lewis</b> is the agony aunt (a columnist who gives advice when people write in with problems) for The Cambridge Examiner. Her advice column, ‘Dear Amy’, gets all kinds of letters; but none like the one she’s just received. <br /><br /><blockquote><b>Dear Amy, </b> I don’t know where I am. I’ve been kidnapped and am being held prisoner by a strange man. I’m afraid he’ll kill me. Please help me soon. <b>Bethan Avery </b></blockquote><br />Margot is unhappy in her marriage (Eddie), unable to have children and a teacher at an exclusive high school in the town of Cambridge, as well as the advice column, Dear Amy. Her personal life is not going well, and she often has panic attacks.<br /><br />As the book opens a teenage girl, <b>Katie Brown, </b> age fifteen, is packing, leaving for good. It is raining. She has had enough. She is second guessing her decision. She does not like Bryan, her mom’s boyfriend which has worked his way into their lives. Her mom was always taking her side. Telling her what to wear. She will go to her real dad's house. She is running. Escaping. She was always angry. <br /><br />A car pulls up next to her. An older man. She does not know him. The man is calling her name. How does this man know her? The youth club. She has not been her in two years. He offers to give her a lift. A responsible person. It is pouring rain. His car looks warm and dry. She is exhausted. Maybe she can go back home. It seemed like a good idea at the time. <br /><br />Margot soon learns Katie is missing. <i>One of the students at her school. Something does not seem right. </i> <br /><br /><b>Soon thereafter, </b> Margot receives a Dear Amy letter. A desperate plea from a girl, Bethan Avery who says she is being held captive and in terrible danger. The Cambridge postmark was mailed the day before. <i>The girl says a man is holding her in a cellar and will not allow her to return home. </i><br /><br /><i>She could only imagine rape, torture, and murder. </i> Something about this letter is disturbing. Her mind goes to the scholarship girl, and swimmer, Katie Brown. She was worried for Katie. <i> She goes to the police station. </i><br /><br /><b>Shocking. </b> This girl Bethan Avery, was abducted twenty years ago and never found. How is this possible? Additional letters appear, and the investigation shows similarities in the handwriting of the letters as compared to the diary of the Bethan Avery. What happened to Bethan Avery? <i>She had been forgotten. </i> Is the letter for real? <br /><br /><b>Margot is completely </b> drawn into this chilling mystery. <i>An obsession. </i> At first she thought it could be just a crazy letter; however, the girl continues to say she is being held a prisoner in a dark cellar, crying out for help. <br /><br />When more letters start to appear, and further investigation reveals startling similarities between the handwriting and that in a diary of the supposed author, Bethan Avery, Margot finds herself totally immersed, which will have life changing consequences. <br /><br /><b>Told from perspectives </b> of both perpetrator and victim, you hear the desperation of a terrified girl trapped by a monster, and Margot’s unquestionable mental state. <i>At the same time, we also hear from an evil abductor. </i><br /><br />In the meantime, a criminologist <b>Martin Forrester </b> shows interest in the case, and joins Margot in the investigation. How are the two cases connected? He states this has happened six times since 1998. <i>Has Katie replaced Bethan? </i> Why did the letters come to her? A scam?<br /><br /><i>Had she survived for the last seventeen years? </i><br /><br /><b>The ongoing mystery: </b> Why is Margot receiving the pleas for help as Dear Amy? She was presumed abducted and murdered in the nineties. How is this happening? Answering this question may cost Margot everything. She is also tormented with fear while reading the letters, and through these letters, Margot may learn the truth that threatens to tear open the <i> fissures in her own history. </i><br /><br /><b>Haunting, Twisty, and Chilling! </b> The usage of elements: rain, a gated home reflecting isolation, garden, the setting, imprisonment; snow, magpies, shapes, darkness, and Greek myths — all add a layer of mystery and compliment the experience. <br /><br />On the surface, Margot is a successful woman, teaching Classics and English at a prestigious school and married to an ambitious man before he was unfaithful. She also was the woman behind the advice column. <br /><br />However, <b>Margot appears to be hiding something. </b> Memories repressed. She could be fooling everyone. Lies. She could be hurting herself, and causing her life to unravel. Horrors. A secret lurking in her past. <i>Would she risk exposing herself trying to help others? </i> At the same time, her own husband may betray her. <br /><br />I listened to the <a href="https://soundcloud.com/harperaudio_us/dear-amy-by-helen-callaghan" rel="nofollow noopener"> Audiobook </a> and the narrator <i>Michelle Ford </i> delivered a suspenseful spine-chilling performance! <br /><br /><b>Callaghan’s writing </b> is intense, and spellbinding at times with vivid settings, and scents- drawing you in, while the reader is glued to the pages trying to solve the complex mystery of these women. <i>Thought-provoking. </i><br /><br />I enjoyed learning why Callaghan set her novel in <a href="http://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk/helen-callaghan-crime-in-cambridge/" rel="nofollow noopener"> Cambridge, </a> (a place of contrasts) as it supports the contrasts in the heroine’s life. <br /><br />Author Helen Callaghan discusses the dilapidated fictional manor where chilling crimes take place. <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/on-writing/on-writing/2016/jun/helen-callaghan-on-dear-amy/" rel="nofollow noopener"> "The Grove." </a> I<i> found this quite intriguing and true. </i> <br /><br />When I <b> invest time in a book, </b> am always intrigued by the author’s inspiration and topics behind the book. I enjoy researching further and enjoy sharing with other readers. A nice interview with the author: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/006243392X?_encoding=UTF8&amp;isInIframe=0&amp;n=283155&amp;ref_=dp_proddesc_0&amp;s=books&amp;showDetailProductDesc=1#product-description_feature_div " rel="nofollow noopener">Helen Callaghan and Gilly Macmillan. </a><br /><br /><b>Note to readers: </b> I noticed a few reviewers did not finish the book. Be patient. Would encourage you to go back and reread. This is not a book to be rushed. A twisting plot worthy of Alfred Hitchcock. <i>Delving deep into the horrors, creepiness, murkiest and darkest corners of the human psyche. </i> A strong female heroine!<br /><br /><b>Helen Callaghan </b>is an author to follow! An absorbing debut, and looking forward to seeing what’s coming next. <br /><br />Fans of unreliable narrators will enjoy this well-crafted cleverly constructed suspense thriller, as well as those who enjoyed <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/18812405.The_Good_Girl" title="The Good Girl by Mary Kubica" rel="noopener">The Good Girl</a> and <i>Mary Kubica's psychologically rich hypnotic writing. </i> (My favorite). <br /><br /><a href="http://www.judithdcollinsconsulting.com/single-post/2016/07/03/Dear-Amy" rel="nofollow noopener"> JDCMustReadBooks </a><br />

<b>4 Stars</b><br /><br />Read full review here: <a href="https://brinaandthebooks.wordpress.com/2020/04/13/dear-amy-by-helen-callaghan/" rel="nofollow noopener">Brina and the Books</a><br /><br />First of all I really enjoyed the setting of this novel. Margot Lewis lives and works in Cambridge, England. I have never been there myself but it was nice to get to know the city, especially the campus and the university. Who knew that Cambridge University isn't one big university, but that it consists of 31 independent colleges that form Cambridge University as a whole? I didn't.<br /><br />Margot Lewis is an interesting character. She is a teacher by day and the agony aunt of the town's newspaper by night. In the beginning it seems that she has her life figured out but as we get to know her, we learn that her life is way more complicated. It was fun to guess what was going on in her life.<br />I also enjoyed the roles of the secondary characters in this story. All of them behaved very suspicious in certain situations and it seemed that all of them knew something essential to the case but wouldn't say what. It also made me wonder who the bad and who the good guys were.<br /><br />I thought the plot twist was genius! The explanation of the how and when and why of the plot twist was very thoughthrough too. Even the explanation contained another small plot twist - and no, I didn't spoil that one for me. ;)<br />This psychological thriller does not only have a brilliant plot twist, it has also some very creepy scenes which involves among others things dead phones and dark rooms.<br /><br /><i>Dear Amy</i> is a genuis debut novel by author Helen Callaghan. It's unique and suspenseful with a great plot twist. If you like psychological thrillers, I'm pretty certain that you like this one too.<br /><br />**********<br /><br />This was so good!<br /><br />Review to come!

“You have to run with all your might, just to stand still.”<br />― Helen Callaghan, Dear Amy<br /><br /><br /><br />I did not love this.<br /><br />Dear Amy was a book with quite an interesting premise. But I just could not get involved in it. Ultimately what I did was resort to skimming and cheating by reading the ending.<br /><br />It is a big book..not huge..but long enough and I read a few other reviews which really say what I felt so not alot to add. I did not feel connected to the story either and I did not like the "twists". I felt what this story becomes is not quite as advertised.<br /><br />SPOILERS:<br /><br />It is taking me alot not to talk about the twists here. It seems, with contemporary thrillers, they all must end with a twist. In the case of Dear Amy it did not work for me because the whole thing becomes more of one woman's soul searching (with a little romance thrown in) and I had thought I was getting a really dark edgy nail biting thriller. So I was let down.<br /><br />This is not a bad book or anything like that. But it was not the book I expected going in and although the writing was quite good, in the sense that I did want to know the ending, I could not build that connection to the story where I am furiously turning pages, staying up all night to get to the end. It was not anything like that.<br /><br />I will say though that the book cover is among the best I have ever seen..