Free e-book, review is my own.

This was an okay book. I felt like it was going for dark and edgy but was just depressing overall.

Told from the main character’s point of view, “Say My Name” reads as an investigative crime thriller that weaves the MC’s own inner thoughts and experiences with the story’s narrative. As the MC investigates the disappearance of two young girls have plagued an otherwise idyllic small town for decades.

I like this point of view because it adds a degree of interest for me as a reader to a true crime story, and makes the story and the investigation feel a lot more personal when incorporating the perspective of the narrator. However, this also caused some frustration at times because he would get too far into his own thoughts and digress too much from the story, which made some parts confusing and difficult to connect to the victims and the timeline.

This book is a very different style of psych thriller …. unlike anything I've encountered before…, and it held my interest from start to finish! The anonymous mystery writer crafts a narrative blending reality and fiction, centered on the unsolved disappearances of two sets of twins from different eras. The story is filled with numerous suspects, red herrings, and clues that meant that this is one that needs concentrating on, but the payoff was absolutely worth it!

After his divorce, the main character, (a mystery writer), is forced to return to his hometown of Berlin, CT, and finds himself trying to solve the unsolved case of two girls who went missing when he was much younger. The novel is listed as "true-crime story about a crime that never happened- or did it?" It may be a true story, but may be fictionalized, either way I liked it. His interest is piqued when two girls go missing after he returned to Berlin and it brings to his memories the girls who disappeared in his past.

I have recommended this book to friends who love mysteries. It was one of those books I couldn't put down. I had to find out who it was and why it happened. There is a lot of dialogue and searching in the main character's head, but it was well worth it to get to the end of the book.

I was given the opportunity to read this book by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

An author returns to his home town after a divorce. He’ returns for a job that ends up not happening, and now with time on his hands he’s brought back into a mystery that might have never happened. But Joe needs to find out the truth before he can move on.

Having previously enjoyed Anthony Horowitz’s very clever metafiction novels I had high hopes for this book. Sadly I was disappointed. While the premise is clever, the narrator is a down on his luck murder mystery writer (such a cliché) returning to his small hometown and decides to revive his career by writing a true crime book about some twins who went missing when he was a teen. The author tried hard to blend the “true” and fictional elements but I the “true” elements were clunkily written and I felt like he was mainsplaining how murder mysteries are written over and over again in a very basic way. Also, the narrator/author seemed to spend more time drinking than investigating and the constant drinking and smoking became boring and repetitive. None of the characters were fully realized and I pretty much guessed the twist two thirds of the way through and found the ending quite abrupt. He didn’t even solve the case himself in the end. I’m not even sure I understood the point of the prologue other than to remind you that the narrator was never named.

If you’ve never read this style of book before you might enjoy the novel approach to storytelling and not have as many issues as I had with it. Sadly for me it missed the mark.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Tense weaving of truth and fiction to create a complex mystery that will lead you into the wee hours turning the page. For fans of deep mystery and also fans of true crime, this is a gem.

Yet another strong outing from Joe Clifford. Once again basing his story in icy, small-town NE, this time Clifford blurs the lines between fiction and non-fiction with a cold case, true crime podcast style narrative that will have the reader wondering how much is real, how much fiction, and where that line blends/blurs.

Say My Name by Joe Clifford is a book that tries to marry genres. It attempts to be both true crime and fiction at the same time. Somehow, this feels more like reading a novel with an unreliable narrator and it just did not work well. I struggled to read this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

"Say My Name" by Joe Clifford is a unique true crime story that blurs the lines between reality and fiction, creating a complex narrative that keeps readers guessing. While the novel offers an intriguing premise and a mind-blowing conclusion, it falls slightly short of a higher rating due to certain elements.

The story follows a midlist mystery writer who, in the aftermath of a divorce, returns to his hometown in Central Connecticut. The protagonist is drawn back into a decades-old, unsolved case involving former missing classmates. As he delves into the investigation, the novel weaves together elements of modern domestic psychological thrillers with popular unsolved mysteries, creating a meta blend that plays with expectations and perspectives.

One of the strengths of "Say My Name" lies in its innovative approach to storytelling. The fusion of true crime and fiction adds layers of complexity, and the exploration of the protagonist's journey blurs the lines between reality and imagination. The meta aspect, likened to a mix of "Girl on the Train" and "In Cold Blood," contributes to the novel's uniqueness.

The mind-blowing conclusion is a standout feature, delivering a twist that challenges readers' expectations and preconceptions. Clifford's ability to play with perspective and keep the narrative unpredictable is commendable.

However, the complexity of the narrative might be a double-edged sword. Some readers may find the intertwining layers confusing, impacting their ability to fully immerse themselves in the story. The constant shift between true crime elements and fictional storytelling may create moments of disconnect.

The characters, while intriguing, may lack the depth needed for readers to fully connect with their experiences. The protagonist's journey, while central to the plot, could benefit from more emotional resonance to enhance reader engagement.

In conclusion, "Say My Name" is a three-star novel that offers a unique blend of fiction and true crime with a mind-blowing twist. Joe Clifford's innovative approach to storytelling adds intrigue, but the complexity may be challenging for some readers. Despite its flaws, the novel stands out for its creative exploration of the blurred lines between reality and imagination in the true crime genre.

Gripping! A true crime novel, with an excellent premise. I will look for the crime fiction books by this author.

I was fascinated with this novel. It reads like a true crime investigation. As others have commented and as the book is described, it is a novel. It is fiction but it does not read like it is. Reading this book was really an interesting and almost disconcerting experience.

I did have trouble liking the hero. I liked the idea of him trying to get a new start on life after so many things had recently happened to him. But he got drunk way too often and checked out of a conversation right when someone was telling him some important information. I am sure his character was deliberately crafted that way, considering the twist at the end. In a sense, this novel is a mystery but also a character study.

The plot was well crafted. It certainly could be predicted that digging into a decades old unsolved crime in a relatively small town would cause trouble. The villain was not expected, but the other people involved did not come as a surprise. There were suitable twists and red herrings that kept me reading as new facts were uncovered.

Perhaps we are left with a creepy question at the end. How much of our life do we create like an author writes a story? This is a good novel for readers who like an unusual spin on a cold case investigation.

Thanks to Netgalley and Books Go Social for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is supposedly a true crime account of an author that moves back to Connecticut from the west coast after getting divorced, and decides to write a book about some twins in this home town that went missing when he was a kid.

DNF at 52%.

This book was so boring, and there was so little happenning that I just couldn't continue. Basically the main character is a sad sack down on his luck-ish author and he gets drunk, begins smoking again and basically bums around the town talking about how he is going to write a book about this unsolved mystery from his teen years but as far as I could tell he did no investigation and there was no book being written by the time I decided to give up. I thought about skimming to the end but didn't even want to spend the time doing that. I read another book from this author previous that wasn't too bad, but I just didn't get the point of this one at all.

This was incredibly confusing to me because the whole time I was reading this thinking it was a real case. Living in CT it took everything in me not to google the case to find out what happened but then like - it was made up? I still don’t understand if this is legit true crime or not.

Not a bad book otherwise.

Overall this was a decent read that kept my interest for most of it but I didn't enjoy the main character. - it felt like we spent a lot of the book watching him drink and just be oblivious to the calls etc that could have helped him.

Whilst this one wasn't my favourite, I have enjoyed other books by this author and would continue to read their work in the future!

Joe Clifford's Say My Name was a bit confusing for me. It's billed as "true crime", and there's a forward from the author talking about the disappearance of two of his classmates back in 1985. The disappearance of those girls, twins Ava and Annabelle, is the subject of this book, as Clifford returns to his hometown for a teaching gig and begins thinking back on his memories and wondering why the twins' disappearance was never solved.

But the cover of this book says "true crime novel". "Novel" implies that this is fiction.

So.....was everything I read in this book real or not? Based on a true story but highly embellished?

Maybe that's the appeal of the book. While I thought the discovery of the story and how the narrator put together pieces of the puzzle was interesting, the book was just as much about the narrator (Clifford?) and his inner monologue as it was about solving the mystery of the missing girls. This tended to slow things down a bit. I also did think it was weird how the narrator becomes so obsessed with the case, seemingly out of nowhere. Like, he remembers having a crush on one of the girls, and now it's his moral duty to avenge her! And the ending - for me, it all happened so quickly. Maybe that's because there's a bit of a twist, and it twists right at the end so that everything just finishes.

Would I be interested in reading some of Joe Clifford's other crime fiction? Yeah, probably. But this one didn't really do it for me.

Say My Name is published by Square Tire Books and is available to purchase now. I received a free e-ARC from the publisher.

This seemed like a great idea but the writing was sooo annoying. Too many cliches and references. Not a fan.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. What did I just read? This was just terrible. The main character and narrator is a blackout drunk which made the entire story unbelievable.

Say My Name by Joe Clifford #seventyfirstbookof2023 #arc

CW: abduction, murder, discussion of rape, alcohol abuse, drunk driving, extreme narcissism and self-absorption, panic attacks

This book was incredibly frustrating. Newly divorced know-it-all man moves home where two missing girls mirror a similar event from his childhood. He decides to insert himself into the old investigation and makes trouble, alienating himself from everyone and infuriating me.

It’s written from the first person perspective of an extremely unreliable main character, clearly a black out alcoholic, egotistical, assumes the fact that he is a published author will open doors and is shocked when it doesn’t. He is the worst.

The author inserts old pop culture references in this weird way, assuming only a select few will get it, insinuating that everyone else is dumb. It was odd.

The ending is ridiculous. Basically a monologue sort of explaining part of the older mystery and then it’s done within a few sentences and all of a sudden we’re at the epilogue and it’s talking about parallel lives.

This was incredibly not for me.

Thank you to @netgalley and @booksgosocialgroup for the advance copy. (Available now, published in June)

Sometimes I feel like there is pure genius in the writing, other times I can’t believe how long this book felt. It’s very heavy on the internal dialogue. I feel like so much detail is given to things that don’t necessarily matter to the story, but then important bits are glossed over. Nearly every important conversation - with his doctor, Mel, Jim, Iver, Wayne - anytime something of importance was discussed he did the whole out zone out of space thing. BUT then we get the whole play by play on making coffee! I wanted to shake the narrator by the shoulders and tell him “FOCUS! PAY ATTENTION here! I’m 200 pages in here and I still don’t know what the hell is going on!”

My thoughts on the storyline - I thought he was willing to sell out Iver pretty fast considering he was like a dad to him. Since the reader isn’t given any reason to suspect Iver ever mistreated him the sellout feels kind of abrupt. I also read The Shadow People and thought there were some parallels between the narrators and Iver/the Grandfather. Overall, I did like the storyline and the concept, I just felt like it went off on a tangent a lot. The ending felt a little rushed. We spend so much time on what might have happened all those years ago I would have liked a stronger conclusion.