Caller Unknown

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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

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 this is no ordinary kidnap and ransom. Getting Lucy back is just the beginning.

'The best of the best' LISA JEWELL

'As moving as it is gripping' SOPHIE HANNAH

'Utterly original' SHARI LAPENA

'You’ll gasp, you’ll cry, you’ll never forget this story' HOLLY SEDDON

© Gillian McAllister 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

An unputdownable adventure that was both heartwarming and thrilling! Everything I've come to expect from Gillian McAllister!
FREIDA MCFADDEN

About Gillian McAllister

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.

Details

Imprint: Penguin
Published: 09/04/2026
ISBN: 9781405961851
Price: £16.00

All editions

Caller Unknown

Format:

Pre-order:

An unputdownable adventure that was both heartwarming and thrilling! Everything I've come to expect from Gillian McAllister!

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,

Tense, twisty, and an emotional gut punch—CALLER UNKNOWN is a one-sitting read.

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

Chilling, immersive, atmospheric and poignant; Caller Unknown is beautifully told, with a wonderful trademark McAllister twist that fans will hope for but still not see coming. Masterful.

An utterly original kidnap story that throbs with tension—hard to put down.

Another terrifically tense thriller from a writer at the absolute top of her game

Utterly HOOKED! I was journeying through that desert, living every twist, turn and surprise. Immersive, heart-pounding and astoundingly brilliant.

Utterly compelling, gripping and so entertaining!

As moving as it is gripping, this superior thriller is, more than anything, a testament to the power of a mother’s love

About Gillian McAllister

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