Caller Unknown
Caller Unknown
By: Gillian McAllister
[On my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2026]
“Your children are only ever on loan to you… Of course that isn’t correct, she thought. If you do it right, your children are yours forever. But it has plagued her in the way things sometimes do when they contain an uncomfortable truth.”
True to form, Gilliam McAllister delivers another story of motherhood and the complex emotions of loving your children under unique circumstances. Unfortunately, when I opened the box of this delivery, it wasn’t quite the product I was hoping for!
I enjoyed Famous Last Words and Wrong Place, Wrong Time, despite the amount of swearing both contained, and so I was willing to read Caller Unknown as well. But in this case the standard f-words of a McAllister’s book was accompanied by a lackluster story that just didn’t make sense in the real world which it attempted to depict.
The concept of this book was intriguing— how far will a mother go to rescue her kidnapped daughter? Are you really a mother if you haven’t imagined the most bizarre scenarios of danger to your family and how you would escape, defend, or rescue?
I wasn’t even dreaming when I concocted an entire escape plan from my invaded house through underground tunnels that didn’t even exist but somehow seemed like the most plausible plan. Mothers (and fathers) have a God-given instinct to protect their children— what a gift!
And so, I love a good story where parents go after their children and save them through their unconditional and profound love for them.
But this one was just… oddly incoherent and unbelievable in an annoying way.
The interactions between the mother, Simone, and her daughter, Lucy, and then Simone and her husband, Damien, do not feel normal for the situation.
I also didn’t realize that the kidnap part was just the first third of the book. Simone gets Lucy back (I won’t tell you how) but then are forced on the run through the Texan desert. Somehow are never found.
Of course the police were never called— which in some stories works, but the idea that the police were compromised did not feel compelling enough for that decision here.
“She’s too frightened to tell the truth. That’s simply how it is. There is too much on the line.”
I don’t believe the method of targeting the kidnap victims would be sustainable or untraceable.
And then, when things come to a head and she faces prison, Simone is unwilling to seek legal counsel, not even wanting to know what her own sentence would be, believing it’s the only way to keep her daughter from going to jail. I get there are risks if they can’t prove things and the system doesn’t always do what it’s supposed to do for innocent people, but still— it all felt very rash, and I don’t think deep mother’s love requires a vehicle of rashness and/or obsession.
I also disagree with the idea that mothers love their children more than fathers. I think it shows up differently and there is something different about carrying your child in your womb for 9 months and nursing them and all that, but fathers still have a fierce desire to protect and love their kids. Plenty of studies show that the absence of a father and his love is severely detrimental to kids so obviously their love is present and just as important as a mother’s love.
Simone has thoughts of “superiority and martyrdom” when thinking about how much more she loves Lucy than Damien.
“She loves Lucy more than Damien does. Always has. Lucy came first always, Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. It is different for women.”
What concerns me in this sentiment is that Simone has placed her relationship with Lucy above her relationship with her husband which is never good for a marriage or a family in general. It’s better for your children when you love your spouse first. Your marital love creates safety and security for your children.
In this way, my ability to relate with Simone or have her motherly love resonate with me devolved. This made her feel ‘other’ to me rather than ‘like.’
At least she came around by the end to say- “The thing is, children need both our love. Mine and yours. Different— but together, they are potent.”
But it’s still not clear whether she continues to place her child on a pedestal of almost-worship.
Sure, this book will stir up the emotions of fearing the worst for your child or of desiring to sacrifice yourself for their good. And I didn’t figure out exactly who the kidnapper was until it was revealed.
Plus I thought it was interesting to read a book from the perspective of a Brit experiencing an event like this vacationing in America (Texas) when I’m used to Americans encountering danger in other countries, picturing the reverse— how they would navigate an unfamiliar American landscape— was new.
But I just didn’t really like it.
I’ve read better books about kidnappings (The Prisoner, A Deadly Influence, The Deep, Deep Snow) and I think Break Every Rule or Run Away do a better job of showing the lengths a parent would go to rescue a child but be warned: the subject matter is a little harder to read because they involve human trafficking and drug addiction/cults respectively.
Obligatory Section of New British Words I Learned:
blag: to get something through charm or bluffing
night hatch: late-night food window
bodged: make, fix, or do something in a clumsy, rushed way
leavers’ ball: like a prom, a black tie event sending off graduating students
So: After my leavers’ ball I blagged my way to a night hatch in a bodged attempt to get a nosh. Just a normal day in the UK.
Recommendation
Overall, the book was okay, but not great. There were plenty of people who liked it, but it didn’t really resonate with me. I liked the concept but not the execution. There are better books than this regarding the same types of situation and better books about a mother’s love.
[Content Advisory: 49 f-words, 15 s-words; no sexual content; no torture or violence other than a shooting]
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
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