Title: GUES AGAIN
Author: CHARLIE DONLEA
ISBN: 9781496753960
Publisher: Kensington Publishing
Pages: 352
Source: Private Copy
Ten years ago, 17-year-old high school volleyball star Callie Jones vanished from her quiet Wisconsin lake community. A highly publicized search followed but her body was never found. The case went cold, but the echoes still linger.
Ethan Hall, a former renegade detective turned ER doctor, left law enforcement to escape the horrors of the kid crime division. But on the tenth anniversary of Callie’s disappearance, his former partner, Pete Kramer, makes a desperate request. Pete is the veteran detective who originally investigated the case. Now he’s dying, and to ease his conscience and get closure for the Jones family, he needs Ethan to return to the haunting work he left behind—and solve what happened to Callie, once and for all.
Word soon spreads and everyone in the small town of Cherryview feels a rush of hope that answers will finally be found. Amid a sweltering heatwave, Ethan’s investigation gains momentum, but re-examining old evidence won’t be enough. He needs a new way into the case, no matter how dangerous or unconventional. And it comes from the least likely of sources—an inmate in a maximum-security prison.
Soon Ethan’s methods draw him deeper into a twisted psychological game. Because there is much more to the nightmare of Callie’s disappearance than he imagined, including a connection with his own dark past . . . and secrets that are still worth killing for.
Official Summary
07 October 2026
This one was a Goodreads recommendation and, as I am new to Charlie Donlea, it has been sitting on my TBR shelf forever. I finally decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about.
Initially, I wasn’t completely convinced. There were quite a few details about the seaplane, fishing and flying, and I found myself thinking this was turning into a bit of a “boys’ book”. The plane details were a little more than I needed, and some of the fishing and flying tangents didn’t really hold my attention.
But despite that, I was quickly drawn into the story and became deeply invested in the characters. Ethan Hall is a particularly intriguing character. A policeman turned ER doctor, he has an unusual background that makes him stand out, and I found myself wanting to know more about him and his past.
And then there is that ending!
Talk about an author doing everything he can to destroy his main character. Poor Ethan certainly has a lot to deal with, and just when I thought I had a handle on where the story was going, Donlea threw another curveball at me. I genuinely did not see the ending coming, and that made the whole reading experience worthwhile.
My one complaint is that the book ends with a very strong suggestion that there is more of Ethan’s story to come, but as far as I can see, there isn’t a sequel… yet anyway. I really hope the author changes that because Ethan Hall certainly has more story left to tell, and I would happily pick up another book featuring him.
Overall, this was an intriguing and quick read with plenty of twists and a killer ending. Once I got past all the macho fishing and plane tangents, I found myself thoroughly invested in the story.
For now, I don’t have any more Charlie Donlea books on my TBR shelf. If you have a favourite Donlea book that you think I should read next, please recommend one — I’ll happily add it to my ever-growing TBR!
Also By Charlie Donlea
SUMMIT LAKE
No suspects. No persons of interest. Just a girl who was alive one day and dead the next. Some places seem too beautiful to be touched by horror. Summit Lake, nestled in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, is that kind of place. But two weeks ago, Becca Eckersley, a first-year law student and daughter of a powerful attorney, was brutally murdered there. Now the town is reeling with grief, and the police are baffled.
At first, investigative reporter Kelsey Castle thinks of the assignment as a fluff piece. But the savagery of the crime, and the efforts to keep it quiet, hint at something far more sinister than a random attack by a stranger. As Kelsey digs deeper, despite danger and warnings, she feels a growing connection to the dead girl. And the more she learns about Becca’s friendships, her love life—and her secrets—the more convinced she becomes that walking in Becca’s footsteps could lead her out of her own dark past…
About the Author
Author bio from the author’s site
Charlie Donlea is the USA TODAY, IndieBound, and #1 Internationally bestselling author of critically acclaimed, propulsive thrillers including THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN, DON’T BELIEVE IT, TWENTY YEARS LATER, and THOSE EMPTY EYES. His ninth thriller, GUESS AGAIN, is out now.
Published in 40 countries and translated into twenty-five languages, his books have sold nearly 4 million copies in the U.S. alone.
He spends a part of each year fishing with his father in the far reaches of Canada, where the roads end and lakes are accessible only by floatplane. These majestic trips to “God’s Country” inspired the settings for his novels SUMMIT LAKE and GUESS AGAIN.
He resides in Chicago with his wife and two children.
I have been away for a while due to some major power issues in the Pretoria area, but that seems to have been sorted, so I am back. I am very far behind with sharing my reviews and earlier this week I was gifted 43 books which have joined my ever-growing TBR shelf. I cannot wait to get to these. As always, thank you for visiting and supporting the blog, your support is amazing! Until next time…. Happy Reading!
