Every Moment Since

A Novel

By: Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, George Newbern, Kirby Heyborne, Jane Oppenheimer, Macleod Andrews, Renata Friedman

A small Southern town. An ordinary Saturday night. A little boy disappears without a trace.

Everyone in Wynotte, North Carolina, knows the name Davy Malcor. Knows the video clip of him juggling four balls, "All at the very same time!" Knows the Marty McFly jacket his mother made for his birthday that he wore proudly, and often. But no one knows what happened to him the night he went missing more than twenty years ago.

When the jacket is unexpectedly uncovered, the cold case reopens, and Davy's family is thrust into yet another media storm. But at the heart of the story are four people forever changed by one single night: Thaddeus Malcor, Davy's older brother, created the life of his dreams by writing a bestselling memoir about his family's experience and is enjoying success and notoriety as a result, even if the memoir doesn't quite reveal the whole story. Tabitha Malcor, his mother, is divorced and living alone, advocating for victims' rights and faithfully cataloging her regrets each week, never including her biggest regret of all. Anissa Weaver was just a kid herself when Davy went missing, and her connection to him is one she cannot reveal as she serves as the Malcor family's Public Information Officer. And, long suspected in Davy's disappearance, Gordon Swift has kept his head down and scraped together a decent life. But the new attention to the case makes it impossible to hide from the public, and the past.

With hauntingly vivid prose, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen peels back the curtain on the inner turmoil of those who were left behind in the small Southern community as they pick up the pieces that remain and press forward into the light to find hope and healing.

©2024 Marybeth Mayhew Whalen (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

'EVERY MOMENT SINCE is everything you want in a novel--a gripping story, nostalgia for lost childhood, exorbitant love, a deep sense of place, and page-turning tension. From the opening scene where a child's jacket is found twenty-one years after he's gone missing to the heart-rending conclusion, this story is brought to vivid life with Marybeth Mayhew Whalen's pitch-perfect prose and signature ability to dive into the character's deepest secrets and desires. As the lives of those left behind draw ever closer, we hold our breath to find out the truth. For those who love the work of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Jessica Knoll, you've just found your next book club read.'-- Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author of THE SECRET LIFE OF FLORA LEA

'EVERY MOMENT SINCE is unforgettable. Marybeth Whalen takes every family's worst nightmare and uses her amazing talent for exploring the aftermath to bring this story home. How do you go on when there are no answers? What does forgiveness really look like? In telling the story of Davy Malcor's disappearance, she's tapped into a whole new world of emotional family drama. Heartbreaking and suspenseful, this is Whalen's finest work to date.'-- J.T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of IT'S ONE OF US

Mediocre at best

This book was captivating just enough to get me to finish it, but I was wildly disappointed when I got to the end. Wasted credit!

A Life of Regret

Every Moment Since
Author: Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Source: Bookshop and Audible
Date Published:  Oct. 1, 2024

Marybeth Whalen is a fan of true crime and Dateline-type shows. True crime is fascinating for me as well. Although this is a fictional story, Every Moment Since reads like an actual crime event for a little boy who disappeared over 20 years ago. Little 11-year-old Davy Melcor goes missing late one night, and there is a lot of guilt circling the small town of Wynotte, N.C. Keeping secrets can hinder a happy life, and everyone involved in Davy’s disappearance has been adversely affected. It’s tragic. The author writes of Davy’s mother: “She hadn’t appreciated how rare and fleeting it would all be, that the simplest moments were actually remarkable. She’d looked right past them, her eyes always scanning the horizon for something else.” This story will hurt your heart with great storytelling featuring a cast of ordinary characters who, combined, become an extraordinary story of loss, regret, hope, and redemption. Bravo. #EveryMomentSince #lostboy #missing #innocence #blame #regret #loss #death @marybethwhalen @harpermusebooks #bookhangover #fiction #guilt #OctoberRead
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