ECONOGAL

Warning, It’s Not Her will haunt you. The 2026 release by Mary Kubica is disturbing on many levels. A page- turner filled with intense scenes as well as action, the novel joins many other contemporary tales exposing the dangers of social media and unsupervised tweens.

Dysfunctional families, unhappy marriages and the depth of friendship are all at play in this murder mystery. The writing flows and the author uses flashbacks to bring a bit of comfort and closure with respect to warring characters. But just a little bit because you can’t say your sorry once a person is dead.

The story unfolds through the eyes of Courtney Gray and, through flashbacks, her seventeen-year-old niece, Reese. The flashbacks are required because Reese has disappeared. Only dead bodies and blood are left behind.

Courtney tries to solve the mystery of her missing niece while dealing with the death of family and best friend. Along the way she begins questioning everybody and everything. Is Reese’s disappearance tied to a missing girl from years before?

The plot of It’s Not Her is extremely well done. The killer(s) and kidnapper remain a mystery until the end. In both cases, the murders are not premeditated. But the individuals involved take great lengths to cover up the deaths. And the greatest tragedy of all is the loss of innocent lives.

Mary Kubica is a best-selling author of suspense. Since this is the first novel, I have read penned by her, I do not know if It’s Not Her is exceptional work. But I can tell you the book is haunting. Any teenager or mother of a teenager will connect with the story and the characters. Kubica captures the angst of this age group. Not quite an adult but with adult feelings and tendencies.

My greatest problem with the book is pinning all the terrible outcomes on the behavior and use of social media on the youngest family members. This is a trend I find disturbing. Fortunately, I don’t see novels of this type appealing to many in the ten to twelve year old range. (Nor would I recommend it for anyone that young.) Adults need to take responsibility for how much social media and AI youngsters are exposed to. I do believe this is Kubica’s point. And it is a disturbing one. Well worth a read.