Review: No One Knows by J.T. Ellison

Title: No One Knows by J.T. Ellison
Publisher: Gallery Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 368 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

In an obsessive mystery as thrilling as The Girl on the Train and The Husband’s Secret, New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison will make you question every twist in her page-turning novel—and wonder which of her vividly drawn characters you should trust.

The day Aubrey Hamilton’s husband is declared dead by the state of Tennessee should bring closure so she can move on with her life. But Aubrey doesn’t want to move on; she wants Josh back. It’s been five years since he disappeared, since their blissfully happy marriage—they were happy, weren’t they?—screeched to a halt and Aubrey became the prime suspect in his disappearance. Five years of emptiness, solitude, loneliness, questions. Why didn’t Josh show up at his friend’s bachelor party? Was he murdered? Did he run away? And now, all this time later, who is the mysterious yet strangely familiar figure suddenly haunting her new life?

In No One Knows, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of the Nicholas Drummond series expertly peels back the layers of a complex woman who is hiding dark secrets beneath her unassuming exterior. This masterful thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and Paula Hawkins will pull readers into a you’ll-never-guess merry-go-round of danger and deception. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops…no one knows.

Review:

No One Knows by J.T. Ellison is a riveting mystery that is full of twists and turns that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the novel’s jaw-dropping conclusion.

For five long years, Aubrey Hamilton has been haunted by her husband Josh’s disappearance from a friend’s bachelor party.  Almost certainly a victim of foul play, his body has never been recovered. Her mother-in-law Daisy’s petition to have her son legally declared dead has just been granted and Daisy is preparing to begin proceedings to receive the proceeds his five million dollar life insurance policy.  Aubrey is convinced Josh is dead but after meeting Chase Boden, a stranger who bears a startling resemblance to Josh, she begins to wonder if her husband might, in fact, actually be alive.

Aubrey is a fascinating character who has not had an easy life.  Orphaned at a young age, she grew up foster care where the things she was exposed to forced her to grow up way too fast.  Foster brother Tyler protected her as best he could but Aubrey always considered childhood friend turned sweetheart Josh her savior.  Although she did what she had to in order to survive her tough environment, Aubrey completely turned her life around for good guy Josh and their storybook marriage thrived despite Josh’s grueling residency schedule, staggering student loans and Daisy’s fierce dislike of her daughter-in-law.

By all appearances, it certainly seems as though Josh is deserving of Aubrey’s devotion and adoration.  He enjoyed a fairly idyllic childhood that was marred by Daisy’s intense antipathy towards Aubrey.  However, a shocking revelation drove a wedge between mother and son and while Josh grew closer to his stepfather, he distanced himself from Daisy.  Josh dreamed of becoming a doctor from a young age and he diligently worked toward achieving his goal.  Marrying Aubrey was the highlight of his life and their life together was absolutely perfect.  But, as we all know, nothing is as ever as perfect as it appears and once Josh is legally declared dead, Aubrey receives information that suggests Josh might not have as squeaky clean as she thought he was.

Aubrey’s chance meeting with Chase is the impetus she needs to stop mourning her loss and begin to move on with her life.  Deeply attracted to the handsome stranger, her out of character behavior with him sets the stage for a possible romance but thoughts of Josh continue to linger.  Determined to accept he is dead, Aubrey is shaken when she approached by a stranger who appears to have an agenda and she decides to look a little deeper into Josh’s disappearance.  A stunning revelation from her mother-in-law changes the course of her investigation but nothing can prepare Aubrey (or readers) for the shocking series of events that is about to occur.

Written from multiple points of view, No One Knows is a mesmerizing novel that will leave readers breathlessly anticipating the truth about what happened to Josh Hamilton.  J.T. Ellison skillfully weaves past and present into a compelling mystery that is part psychological thriller and part whodunit.  As the story unfolds, Aubrey becomes an increasingly unreliable narrator when disturbing information about her past is revealed. With each astonishing revelation and every shocking plot twist, No One Knows thunders to a conclusion that is absolutely stunning.