Caller Unknown
Will be published approx. on 9. April 2026
Book
Hardback
416 pages
978-0-241-64805-6 (ISBN)
Description
They Took Her Daughter. Now She'll Break Every Rule to Get Her Back.
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Famous Last Words and Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an unmissable new thriller - available for pre-order now!
'Unputdownable' FREIDA MCFADDEN
'The best of the best' LISA JEWELL
'Absolutely superb' CLAIRE DOUGLAS
--
A road trip across America with her teenage daughter was meant to be much-needed bonding time for Simone before Lucy leaves home for university.
But on the first night of their stay, in a cabin deep in the Texan desert, Simone wakes to find Lucy missing and a mobile phone in her place. The phone rings and the voice on the other end issues instructions: Don't tell the police. Come to this location. Be prepared to do a deal...
There is nothing Simone wouldn't do to save her daughter. Hide the truth. Commit a terrible crime. Become a wanted woman.
But there's one thing Simone hasn't considered.
What if this is just what the kidnappers want?
'As moving as it is gripping' SOPHIE HANNAH
'Utterly original' SHARI LAPENA
'Astoundingly brilliant' LUCY CLARKE
'You'll gasp, you'll cry, you'll never forget this story' HOLLY SEDDON
--
PRAISE FOR GILLIAN MCALLISTER
'A first-class thriller' SUNDAY TIMES
'A writer at the top of her game' CLAIRE DOUGLAS
'McAllister is an expert in taut, twisty thrillers' i PAPER
'A brilliant, brilliant book' JODI PICOULT
'What an incredible, gripping, thrilling read' LISA JEWELL
'Utterly effing magnificent. I could NOT put it down!' MARIAN KEYES
'I am totally in awe. This is one story I will not forget' HEIDI PERKS
'This is bravura novel-writing' IAN RANKIN
From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Famous Last Words and Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an unmissable new thriller - available for pre-order now!
'Unputdownable' FREIDA MCFADDEN
'The best of the best' LISA JEWELL
'Absolutely superb' CLAIRE DOUGLAS
--
A road trip across America with her teenage daughter was meant to be much-needed bonding time for Simone before Lucy leaves home for university.
But on the first night of their stay, in a cabin deep in the Texan desert, Simone wakes to find Lucy missing and a mobile phone in her place. The phone rings and the voice on the other end issues instructions: Don't tell the police. Come to this location. Be prepared to do a deal...
There is nothing Simone wouldn't do to save her daughter. Hide the truth. Commit a terrible crime. Become a wanted woman.
But there's one thing Simone hasn't considered.
What if this is just what the kidnappers want?
'As moving as it is gripping' SOPHIE HANNAH
'Utterly original' SHARI LAPENA
'Astoundingly brilliant' LUCY CLARKE
'You'll gasp, you'll cry, you'll never forget this story' HOLLY SEDDON
--
PRAISE FOR GILLIAN MCALLISTER
'A first-class thriller' SUNDAY TIMES
'A writer at the top of her game' CLAIRE DOUGLAS
'McAllister is an expert in taut, twisty thrillers' i PAPER
'A brilliant, brilliant book' JODI PICOULT
'What an incredible, gripping, thrilling read' LISA JEWELL
'Utterly effing magnificent. I could NOT put it down!' MARIAN KEYES
'I am totally in awe. This is one story I will not forget' HEIDI PERKS
'This is bravura novel-writing' IAN RANKIN
Reviews / Votes
An unputdownable adventure that was both heartwarming and thrilling! Everything I've come to expect from Gillian McAllister! -- FREIDA MCFADDEN Gillian McAllister has done it again! This is such a clever, tense and twisty book, I inhaled it in under a day. The pacing is perfection and the twist, when it comes, is deeply satisfying, but it is the characters that elevate Gillian's books into the best of the best, -- LISA JEWELL A taut, heart-in-mouth action thriller. With Gillian McAllister's trademark beautiful writing, not only is Caller Unknown a wonderfully atmospheric and twisty read, it's also a powerful ode to motherhood. I couldn't put it down. Absolutely superb -- CLAIRE DOUGLAS An utterly original kidnap story that throbs with tension-hard to put down. -- Shari Lapena Another terrifically tense thriller from a writer at the absolute top of her game -- ERIN KELLY Utterly HOOKED! I was journeying through that desert, living every twist, turn and surprise. Immersive, heart-pounding and astoundingly brilliant. -- LUCY CLARKE As moving as it is gripping, this superior thriller is, more than anything, a testament to the power of a mother's love -- Sophie Hannah A propulsive, page-turning thriller that's the very definition of a "one-more-chapter" novel. What sets it apart is its beautiful characterisation of maternal love and sacrifice. It's a sure-fire bestseller. -- HANNAH BECKERMAN Caller Unknown sets a new standard for modern thrillers - you'll gasp, you'll cry, you'll never forget this story. -- Holly Seddon PRAISE FOR GILLIAN MCALLISTER -- --More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
600 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-64805-6 (9780241648056)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Gillian McAllister
Caller Unknown
The Heart-Stopping New Thriller from the Sunday Times Bestselling Author of Wrong Place, Wrong Time
E-Book
04/2026
Penguin Books Ltd
€12.99
Available for download
Person
Gillian McAllister is the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of nine stand-alone novels. Her books have been selected for the Radio 2 Book Club, Reese's Book Club and the Richard & Judy Book Club. Her previous novel, Wrong Place Wrong Time, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and was shortlisted for The British Book Awards Crime & Thriller Book of the Year and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Gillian's books are published in thirty-eight languages.