Everything She Feared

By: Rick Mofina

Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya

"Rick Mofina has penned a creepy, heart-pounding page-turner…. A gripping, chilling thriller from beginning to end."
—Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest

Every mother worries about their child. But Sara Harmon fears hers…

When a teen falls while taking a selfie at the edge of a cliff, the last thing she sees before plummeting to her death is Katie Harmon, the nine-year-old girl she was babysitting, looking down at her.

Investigators gather at the scene, and Katie’s mother, Sara, rushes to comfort her daughter. Yet there’s a small, secret ping of alarm in Sara’s heart that she cannot share—though rookie detective Kim Pierce senses it.

For years, others have tried to unravel this secret. From true-crime podcasters to a haunted journalist searching for a killer who vanished after being released from prison several years ago. And now, with detectives tightening the focus of their investigation, Sara is consumed by her darkest fear—that the babysitter’s death was not an accident.

Confusing backstory but good resolution

I'll start with the narrator: wonderful! This is one of the few narrators that can do men convincingly, without growling or lowering her voice it's just perfectly clear it's a man speaking. The mom and the daughter were both well-voiced. I'm impressed.

The backstory, about a couple that lured people to their deaths using their toddler as "bait", was hard to follow and didn't seem to relate to the main story at first. There was also a many-times-referenced situation with Katie and a boy that happened several years ago but was intentionally kept murky.

I loved the way the same story was told from 3 different POV - 1) Ryan, a guy whose sister was killed by the murderous couple, 2) Sara, mom to 9 year old Katie, who was present at the death of her friend/babysitter, and 3) the cops investigating the death of Anna. Between all the perspectives, the stories eventually come together and make a really good story.

I'd recommend this one!

Kept me on the edge guessing.

Good story, great characters, good dialogue. What I didn’t care for is the repeat again and again of “feelings” and whining. The ending with everyone being happy and friends is just too sappy and unbelievable. All and all, a good listen.

Good suspence

Everything I had to put the book down, it left me wanting to get back to it..

Just way too long

There were too many details and too much repetition (yes, I got it the first time!) Overall, a good story, but it wore me out with more information than needed.

5 enthusiastic stars!

I will admit that I spent a good half of this book scratching my head and wondering, “where is this going and what do these police reports have to do with anything?” But I kept listening because the story was great, and of course it all came together in the end. I love it when the ending is a complete surprise, and I definitely didn’t see this one coming. This was one of my favorites this year and was my 49th finished listen in 2023.