Looking for Will

by Jane Collins-Philippe

Gracie Fortune is acting strange. She sees dancing fruit trees and encroaching horizons over which she’s tempted to go. In desperation she starts making demands of her wayward god. When an unknown toddler wanders into her yard calling her name, Gracie believes her prayers have been answered.

408 pages, Paperback

Published April 6, 2016

Reviews

[Cynthia Otekele · Rating 3 out of 5]

David and Jan Dewhurst are driving back home when they have a puncture. While David is busy replacing the flat tire, Jan leaves the vehicle to go quickly to the ladies’ room. At that time the couple is convinced that their sixteen-month-old baby Will was still sleeping deeply on the backseat. Less than a half hour later when they are back on the road, they realize that Will has disappeared. What happened? How could baby Will suddenly vanish without anyone noticing?

The toddler’s disappearance will affect several people on different levels.

“Looking for Will” is a beautiful story about love, culpability and faith.

The author reminds us that the truth might change depending on which angle you see it. Can we be considered an accomplice of a crime that actually never took place?

For the readers who are used to devour thrillers and are addicted to fast paced scenes, this story might be too long. Every character is here well developed, the descriptions are complete and it seems that Jane Collin Phillips wants you to know enough your protagonist first to be able to understand his actions later. You may have the impression that some details are futile but their importance will be shown on due time. (e.g. the reason why Gracie keeps piling up flyers and catalogues under the staircase)

[Maninder · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has a lot to offer to readers who want to be carried away with the landscape and scenery. The book is for people who have time to delve into the imagery the author creates. A fiction, it has conversations that are strikingly intense and need time to understand the significance of them.

Sergeant Hayes plays a very important role in the book and the character is absolutely fabulous. The reconstruction of events to Will Dewhurst going missing are hilarious, wonder if the author meant it to be that way. The book has a loveable character in Jan Dewhurst herself and is totally captivating.

The book is linear in its events and is easy to understand and read, wonder when was it the last time I read 80 pages in 30 minutes. My first thoughts on the book were that it wasn’t a genre I would normally read, but the book is fast paced, the first chapter is captivating, though the second does seem a little prolonged.

I have rarely come across a book that talks sense and prejudice at the same time. The book is also an able depiction of the people of Canada, peace loving and non intrusive. After reading the book I would want to visit Calgary where I have never been. It is a good clean book worth buying.

[Kerstin Vollbrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking for Will is a book about a young infant, Will Dewhurst, of 2 years of age, that gets lost from his parents car. As Jan and David realize that their toddler is missing, they move heaven and earth to find him and to find an explanation how and when he could have been kidnapped. The story bears quite some surprises, as things turn out to be very different from what they seem.
The story has a well developed plot, introducing the necessary elements in order to make sense of the misunderstandings and false assumptions with which we encounter ourselves in this book. It is an intriguing story, with well developed characters, it's even possible to put oneself in their shoes. It is very lively written, each part told from the point of view of each character. A very enjoyable read.

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! I really am Shock, I did not know how to write this and is that really this month I had good readings, maybe this was my second favorite book, Jane Collins dear, when I grow up I want to be like you, what a beautiful piece of book, love to the characters, because they transmitted me life, had a go and come of emotions to know what was going to happen in the next chapter, regretted to have been slow to read this book but Holy God! I took all the time to digest every word of this plot, this is one of the books that makes you not lose hope in the suspense genre, I felt that my anxiety increased in a good sense of the word gave me everything I wanted , my heart is content.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This for me was a hard book to put down because something in the chapters that flip predominantly between the parents of Will and another family, filled me with morbid curiosity.

I’ve read other reviews on Goodreads and I pretty much echo them if I were to recommend it to others but for me, I loved it

[Liam Birkner · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I’d like to say that I’m sorry. This is the first book that I’ve agreed to read for a review, that I haven’t finished, and it pains me to say it.
Set in and around Ontario, Canada, this thriller is about a boy who goes missing from his parents’ car on a hot May Day in 1969. It’s split between the perspectives of David and Jan Dewhurst; Will’s parents, Sergeant Patricia Hayes, Gracie and Gabe Fortune; an old reclusive couple living on a farm almost in the middle of nowhere, and Matthew Pepperall; a hermit with a dark secret.
David and Jan Dewhurst were on their way home from a vacation in Calgary when tragedy struck. Their little boy, who they presumed to be fast asleep in the back of the car, snuggled under heaps of blankets, disappeared without a trace.
Perpetually arguing, David and Jan didn’t notice that their son was missing until they reached The Sunrise Motel, and, of course, panic set in, hard. They called the police, and Hayes set out an all-points bulletin and gathered the media, to circulate pictures of the missing boy.
Gabe Fortune was forever worrying over the mental state of his wife, Gracie, as they’d spent their lives fostering young children, only to have them all leave home eventually. Be they short-stops or the perms, these children were what kept Gracie going. They were her life. Until, Gracie and Gabe fortune could foster no more.
And then there’s Matthew Pepperall. A mysterious man that many believed to be insane, who had his own burdens to bear.

Now, I believe it’s time I told you why it is that I couldn’t finish the book.

First off, I wanna start by saying that chapter 2, or The Road Show, was my absolute hands-down favourite part of the book. Written in only italics, the language Collins-Phillipe uses, and the scene that she sets, is absolutely perfect. I was riveted. I could feel the emptiness; the stretching of ambers and yellows stretching out as far as the eye could see, like an old movie from the 60’s shot with a sepia effect.
So, with thrillers being my favourite genre, this feeling of emptiness; of loneliness and longing, is something that I’ve come to expect from this type of book. And I can see that the author has really tried to keep the theme going, but from chapter 2 onwards, I never got the same visions or feelings.
Which is really unfortunate, because I’m sure that had I kept on reading, that same sense would come back, and the plot lines that she’s weaved would fall into place.
But I couldn’t.
For me, mainly, it was the stories of The Fortunes that were the hardest to read, especially the stories of Gracie, her siblings, her dinners, and the kids. With (I feel) paragraphs that were way too long and back stories into each of the kids, these honestly felt like drudgery. I had to keep going back because I’d lost my focus, and, again honestly, got bored very quickly with what I’d gone back to re-read.
I think the main point that I need to make here, is that it’s not a bad book. It’s just a little over-complicated, and (I felt) that it didn’t leave me asking questions about where each character’s plot is going, and how it all ties in.
Apart from the obvious Where’s Will? I didn’t have any other things that I was really interested in, or asked the right questions to keep me turning the pages.

A note for the author: Please, please, don’t take my criticism as anything other than constructive. Hopefully what I’ve written here will help you with your next novel, and I believe that if you shortened your paragraphs into more bitesize chunks, left out information that can be implied or is otherwise unnecessary, and thought hard about what questions you want your reader to have, you’ll be very successful.
The talent is there, that’s plain to see. You just need to keep me asking, and turning the pages to answer my questions. Then, once you’ve answered one question, create another!
Good luck with all your future writing,
L.

[Melissa Rolli · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a thriller set in and around Ontario about a family on their way home from vacation in Calgary when their little boy goes missing from the back seat of the vehicle. The plot, all too real, centers around the boy, Will, that was supposed to be asleep in the car and the two parents fighting so much that they didn't notice the little boy was missing until they were to their motel.

The plot, writing and pacing is great through and especially including Chapter 2. After that...

The book is told from a lot of different perspectives. Too many if you ask me. There is Davide and Jan Dewhurst, the parents of a boy who goes missing from the car, Sergeant Patricia Hayes, an old couple Gracie and Gabe Fortune living in the middle of nowhere and the weird guy with a dark secret, Matthew Pepperal. All of the voices/perspectives made for a really complex plot but at the cost of sometimes being confusing and losing the readers overall interest.

When it came to learning all about the Fortune family, which is significant to the overall plot, there was too much talking about the characters and not enough showing us about the characters. I'm not entirely sure I needed to know the back stories into each of the kids.

It is clear that the book, characters and plot are very well developed. I just don't feel the book itself is well polished and there were lots of areas where it could have been improved to make me, or any reader, like it more.

[Debbie Viscosi · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the many things a mother worries about is having her child abducted. For Jan Dewhurst, the distraction of an argument has far-reaching effects. Her son is missing and her husband blames her. A reclusive man with a mysterious past and struggling empty nesters become important in Jan’s predicament.

The characters in this book are well developed and to some extent, they even feel familiar. As you become immersed in the story you begin to feel that you know the ending when suddenly all that you believed changes. It seems your worst fear will happen only to see a glimmer of hope that a good ending will result. You will feel many emotions while reading such heart-wrenching tale. As the story evolves, the depth of the characters grows. While their logic may seem convoluted, their motives are simple.

On the surface this book is about a missing child. Yet there is an undercurrent about God, losing faith and being saved. Can you be healed after heartbreak? Does God hear our plea for justice?

Read this book bearing in mind it is not a quick page-turner. This is a book to savor. Well done Jane Collins-Philippe, you know how to tell a captivating story.

[Melysa Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ll start off by saying that I liked this book… Well, what I’ve read. I couldn’t finish it because life got in the way and I kind of let it ‘fall by the wayside.’ I felt as if there was no ‘hook’ keeping me coming back for more. I sometimes found it difficult to picture where the characters were (for example, when a character was sitting down, I thought they were standing up.) The pacing was a bit stiff at times (at the start I felt like it took a while to get into the action and when it did it just randomly get cut off with this new seemingly unrelated to couple--the Fortunes.) The chapters I found most boring were the Fortunes’. My favourite chapter was ‘The Road Show,’ I liked the part when David was talking to himself in the mirror and the italics. I thought Jan was annoying, same with Grace. Gabe felt like a bystander and I didn’t mind Hayes. Chapter one felt like it got off to a slow start (but maybe that's just me.) At first I thought David was kind of a prick but when I learnt how much of a terrible mother Jan was I started cutting him some slack.

[Kathy Gleason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall, I felt what I was reading was a draft, a manuscript that was not yet ready for submission. The plot is good, but my reading felt tedious due to style, not content. Perhaps the numerous sentence fragments were purposeful, but I failed to understand the reason and for me, reading pace paused at each one. Additionally, I felt there was insufficient description of the characters that would allow the reader to bond with them. Gracie stood out most for me, but I had so many unanswered questions about her character and wanted more content. For example, instead of just stating the she did an action, I wanted to feel I understood why she would do it, or do it in that manner. Or a better description. We’re her clothes raggedy, tattered, but clean. Was she slovenly I. Her depression, not taking care of her hygiene?

I really wanted to enjoy this more, but style tripped me up. My constructive criticism, would be to entertain a rewrite, with perhaps more focus on Gracie, who I think is an enigmatic character, and make the story more about her and less about Will as the title indicates. If rewritten, I would love to reread it. Thanks for allowing me this opportunity.

[Stan Finger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Misery wears many faces in rural Canada in the late 1960s as "Looking for Will" opens. The prisms of heartbreak, poverty and ambition play a major role in driving the story of the search for a young boy who has gone missing on a family vacation. The story begins with a fervent pace, then lags considerably before finding some footing again as it strives to answer the questions "Will justice prevail?" and "What does that justice look like?"

I struggled with this book at times because the story became tedious....almost like the lengthy drives across rural Canada. I kept going because I wanted to see if drawn-out segments were foreshadowing something which would be proven significant later. Too often, it seemed like that answer was "no."

There are flashes of good writing, and, like many of the characters in the book, the author seems most energized when little Will is part of the picture.

[Divya Mahajan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have recently read "Looking for Will" by Jane Collins-Phillippe. I would say Looking for Will this book is for those leisurely days with a cup pf coffee/tea and not for a fast read. In this book not only the mother's guilt trip is described whether she could have done something different to avoid but also shows the mentality and perspective of the alleged kidnappers and why they did what they have supposed to have done.
What I liked in this book was that the characters were neither heroes nor demons but all humans with human weaknesses and self needs.
Though some of the backstories of minor characters were very descriptive and long and also the landscape descriptions. But overall I would recommend it for a read.

[Kendra]

It was a good read, confusing in parts but comes together in time, it's a story you need time to read to digest and continue on throughout the path the author is leading you on.