A book I wanted to read was released last month, having so many books on my TBR I just didn’t have the time to pick it up before now.

Normally, the books by Gillian McAllister are very good; there is almost always a WTF moment in there; but this last book called ‘Caller Unknown’ was slow and boring. The beginning has potential but it got boring and dragging on rather quickly.

Simone and her husband Damien own a restaurant together in England called Dishes, Simone being one of the cooks, having learned to cook by watching and eventually learning from the best. Their daughter Lucy has been on acting camp in the USA and Simone is supposed to go meet up to end the summer with a two-week long camping trip in Texas.

Arriving in Texas later then was planned, luggage missing; Simone has been waiting for a while but doesn’t see any employees to ask about her luggage. When someone finally walks into few, Simone doesn’t hesitate and asks him to find her luggage, at first the man is reluctant because he’s security but after Simone told him she’s planning on seeing her daughter for a mother daughter trip and the fact that she has missed her daughter a lot since she’s been in America. Half an hour later her luggage has been located and she’s riding in her rental car to the AirBNB cottage.

Mother and daughter reunite; After a late-night snack of scrambled eggs, they go to bed. Around 4 o’clock Simone startles awake, not knowing why she has woken up but hearing nothing; she falls asleep again. Sun’s out and Simone wakes again but something feels off. When she’s looking in to her daughter’s room, it’s empty. Lucy’s not in the shower or the living area, not outside of the lodge. When Simone calls Lucy’s number she hears Lucy’s phone from inside, it’s still in the bedroom. Upon closer exploration, she finds a flip phone and not long after she gets the message that her daughter has been kidnapped and she has to do as they say and don’t involve the police.

It’s sending Simone on a wild goose chase. Not wanting to involve the police but she did call her husband and told him what happened. She has to go to some abandoned location at night and gets her first instructions. Walk somewhat yards until you see a waste bin, wreck the burner phone and put it in the bin. Then another phone goes off – Another location but this time with an assignment. Take the bus to Mexico and go to a location where a package is waiting for pickup and then, get it back over the border with the bus.

Nothing goes right and the stress Simone feels is immense, but she’d do anything for her daughter.

The daughter is saved, but with that they are both now fugitives and are wanted for different crimes. Not going to give themselves over they try to come up with a plan. A lawyer that is willing to help figure this out, but will he believe this crazy story? With 0 evidence available?

I’m online giving this book a ⭐⭐.5 star rating. I’m so sorry Gillian, normally your books are bangers but this one just wasn’t it.