Reviews for Caller unknown
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
How far would a mother go to save her daughter? Simone Seaborn leaves her home in London for southwest Texas to meet her teenage daughter, Lucy, who’s spent the summer there before starting college. The two have planned a camping trip as a reunion after the longest period they’ve ever spent apart. But almost immediately, the trip seems cursed: Simone’s suitcase is lost—maybe even “on the moon,” according to an airport attendant. She and Lucy are reunited at their Airbnb stopover, only for Simone to wake in the morning and find Lucy missing. Left behind: a phone that begins to ring, “Caller Unknown.” Lucy has been kidnapped. Simone immediately snaps into action, following all the kidnapper’s instructions, including not to notify the police, a decision that her husband, Damien, strongly opposes. She travels to the meeting place only to be sent across the border to Mexico, where she must pick up a package and bring it back to Texas. Simone and Lucy are eventually reunited, but by then things have gone very wrong: Simone shoots the messenger who brings Lucy to the meetup, and then Lucy accidentally shoots an off-duty cop who’s coming to investigate the noise. On the run in the rural Texas desert, mother and daughter strike out to save each other and to clear their names. The plot is convoluted, and even a little absurd, but it keeps you guessing. What truly shines through in McAllister’s fluid prose, though, is the love. This is a novel about motherhood, and mothers and daughters, and the transition from childhood to adulthood. It’s about sacrifice and loss, but also joy, and the tenuous beauty of each moment of life. It’s about saving the day in even the direst of circumstances, and how love between a parent and child is never a loan, but exists forever—past, present, and future—even as time inevitably slips by. Come for the action, leave deeply moved by the fiercely beautiful meditations on maternal love. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal
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McAllister's (Wrong Place Wrong Time) new novel examines the limits of how far a mother will go to protect her daughter and secure her future. Simone travels from London to Texas to reunite with her daughter Lucy, who has been attending an acting camp before starting university. Their reunion at a secluded lodge is short-lived: the next morning Simone wakes to find Lucy gone, leaving behind a flip phone bearing a chilling message: Lucy has been kidnapped. Proof of life follows, along with an unusual ransom demand. The kidnapper doesn't want money but instead sets Simone on a dangerous mission. As Simone works to fulfill the instructions, the planned exchange goes wrong, leaving both mother and daughter on the run and accused of murder. Their once-promising trip unravels into a desperate, nightmarish journey where no one can be trusted. The kidnapper is never far behind, determined to complete a twisted plan. Beneath the breathless pacing, McAllister offers a thoughtful meditation on the evolving bond between mother and daughter: what it means to let go and what it costs to hold on too tightly. VERDICT Fans of Jennifer Hillier's Little Secrets and Mary Kubica's The Good Girl will be captivated.—Kerri Copus
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
Reader favorite McAllister (Famous Last Words, 2025) is back with a pulse-pounding thriller that explores one woman’s worst nightmare. Simone Seaborn is headed to Texas from the UK to see her only daughter, Lucy, who has spent the summer there. Simone is still struggling with Lucy’s new independence as she prepares for further schooling, but once they meet up, she is filled with relief. That relief is short-lived, though, because Lucy disappears in the middle of the night. The lock on their rental is dodgy, and someone has gotten in to kidnap Lucy. It isn’t long before they contact Simone with a mysterious demand. Stranded in an unfamiliar country and desperate to find her daughter, Simone agrees to their wishes. The duty they task her with is brutal and highly criminal, but Simone will do anything to save Lucy. When the women are finally reunited, a confrontation goes wrong, and they find themselves on the run from the law. It feels impossible that they will escape the situation. Readers will be on the edge of their seats wondering if and when the women will be caught—and what the consequences for their crimes will be. This is a knockout.
