Wrong Place,Wrong Time, by Gillian McAllister, A book review by Jill Hedgecock

“Wrong Place, Wrong Time” (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2023 reprint, paperback, 416 pages, $10.99) by Gillian McAllister is a twisty suspense thriller full of tense moments and intriguing mysteries. Jen, a devoted mother and happily married wife, witnesses her son, Todd, do the unthinkable. In the wee hours of Halloween, eighteen-year-old Todd murders a man and is caught by the police while Jen watches in horror.

Just like in the movie, “Groundhog Day,” the next morning, Jen wakes up on the day that her son will commit murder. But unlike the famous movie, Jen continues to move backward in time each morning.

With each revisit of the past, Jen finds clues she failed to recognize as signs that something was amiss. As Jen relives her life, regrets surface as she realizes she has been too caught up in her job and has neglected her son.

She begins to change certain things as she relives the past hoping to alter her son’s behavior. With each step back in time, Jen wonders if her meddling will be enough to stop her son from ruining his life as she worries that she might make things worse.

In one prior day, Jen removes the murder weapon, a knife, from her son’s backpack. Even so, she keeps regressing in time. One of Jen’s greatest regrets was not being there for her father when he passed away. When she wakes on the day of her dad’s passing, she tempts fate by going to her father’s house and changes the past. But even correcting her worst regret is not enough to prevent her freefall as years gone by resurface as her new ‘now.’ What is she missing? There are definitely twists and turns that McAllister throws at the reader without compromising the fundamental heart of this family drama.

“Wrong Place Wrong Time” has been sold in 31 foreign territories and became an instant global bestseller. It was selected for the Radio 2 book club and was the Reese’s Book Club August 2022 pick. It debuted as Number Two on the New York Times Bestseller List. Fans of Matt Haig’s “The Midnight Library” and Audrey Niffenegger’s “The Time Traveler’s Wife” will enjoy this book. Part mystery, part time travel, and one hundred percent heart, this book kept me turning the pages.

Gillian McAllister was born in Sutton Coldfield and raised in Tamworth, England. She worked as a solicitor in two Birmingham-based legal practices, before focusing on her writing. She is a British Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author. Her seven novels include “Everything But The Truth,” “The Evidence Against You,” and “Just Another Missing Person” which became an instant international bestseller, hitting the Sunday Times and Canadian Bestsellers list. Her work has been published in 37 languages. You can find her on X and Instagram at @gillianmauthor and at www.gillianmcallister.com.

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Jill Hedgecock is the author of the suspense novels Between Shadow’s Eyes and Rhino in the Room. To learn more visit:www.jillhedgecock.com