Please Tell Me by Mike Omer

Title: Please Tell Me

Author: Mike Omer

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: November 7, 2023

After a year in captivity, a kidnapped child escapes―only to reveal horrific truths that lead her psychologist on a race against time in this thriller from New York Times bestselling author Mike Omer.

When eight-year-old Kathy Stone turns up on the side of the road a year after her abduction, the world awaits her harrowing story. But Kathy doesn’t say a word. Traumatized by her ordeal, she doesn’t speak at all, not even to her own parents.

Child therapist Robin Hart is the only one who’s had success connecting with the girl. Robin has been using play therapy to help Kathy process her memories. But as their work continues, Kathy’s playtime takes a grim turn: a doll looks to stab another doll, a tiny figurine is chained to a plastic toy couch. All of these horrifying moments, enacted within a Victorian doll house. Every session, another toy dies.

But the most disturbing detail?

Kathy seems to be playacting real unsolved murders. Soon Robin wonders if Kathy not only holds the key to the murders of the past but if she knows something about the murders of the future.

Can Robin unlock the secrets in Kathy’s brain and stop a serial killer before he strikes again? Or is Robin’s work with Kathy putting her in the killer’s sights?

Amazon

This had a disappointing ending.

The novel begins with a child, Kathy Stone, escaping capture. She had disappeared for a year when she was found wandering around the road at night. Her parents are ecstatic to get her back but Kathy has been non-verbal since returning. Her mother knows she must get help and she believes the local child therapist, Robin Hart, can help her.

Robin followed the case of Kathy's shocking disappearance like the rest of the town. When Kathy's mother asks her to help her daughter, Robin can't say no and takes the case. Robin wants to help Kathy and her play sessions are usually quite successful. As Kathy starts trusting Robin, the therapy process, and her own safety,  her reenactments become too real. It seems that Kathy is reenacting real murders!!

I have a few issues with the story and the characters.

Robin is supposed to be a great therapist but her relationship with her own mother is so dysfunctional and the whole thing with the dollhouse was nuts. Her behavior was beyond childish. You would think she would have learned some coping mechanisms to deal with her crazy mother. 

The worst was where the story went at the end. In my opinion, the big reveal was too out there to be believable.

Cliffhanger: No

3/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.