Ask for Andrea: Deluxe Stenciled Edges

In a hauntingly unique, compulsively readable, engrossingly intense psychological thriller for readers of Freida McFadden, Jason Rekulak, Clémence Michallon, Robyn Harding, and The Lovely Bones, three women murdered by the same man unite in the afterlife to find justice.

*Now a deluxe paperback with gorgeous stenciled edges!*

“Hands down, one of my favorite reads of the year!” —Freida McFadden, author of The Housemaid

Meghan, Brecia, and Skye have just one thing in common. They were all murdered by the same man.

He hunted them online, masquerading as an eligible bachelor. Then he played the perfect gentleman, a thick layer of charm and a thousand-watt smile hiding the fact that his first dates end in shallow graves.

He’s gotten away with murder three times now.

The only thing that might keep him from killing again? The women he murdered.

Meghan, Brecia, and Skye might be dead, but they’re not gone. They’ve found each other. And they won’t rest until they find a way to stop him.

A devastating tale of female rage and righteous vengeance, Ask for Andrea will leave readers gutted—and asking for more.

Noelle W. Ihli is the internationally bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-longlisted author of thrillers, including Ask for Andrea, Grey After Dark, and Run on Red. A member of the International Thriller Writer’s Association and Horror Writers Association, she lives with her family in Idaho and can be found online at NoelleWIhli.com

Praise for Ask for Andrea

“Hands down, one of my favorite reads of the year!” —Freida McFadden, author of The Housemaid

“A propulsive story that haunts and mesmerizes” —Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of This Is Why We Lied

“A true classic in the genre.” —Lisa Jewell, # 1 New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Let Him In

“As pulse-pounding as it is poignant. Do yourself a favor - clear your schedule and crack open this novel!” —Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Before She Disappeared

“Noelle has mastered the art of keeping readers on the edge of their seats.” —John Marrs, bestselling author of The One

“Utterly gripping . . . I couldn't put it down.” —Nicola Sanders, author of Don't Let Her Stay

“What could be better than a thriller AND a ghost story? Left me equal parts terrified and haunted.” —Ellery Kane, author of The Good Wife

Ask for Andrea by Noelle West Ihli is a dark, emotionally charged thriller that blends ghost story, true crime vibes, and a deep exploration of friendship, grief, and justice. The novel centers on three young women—Andrea, Samantha, and Kelley—whose lives intersect in a tragic and haunting way after they each encounter the same charming but dangerous man, and then face the consequences of crossing his path. The story unfolds partly from beyond the grave, giving voice to women who are usually silenced once they become victims. Through their perspectives, the book digs into what it means to be preyed upon, how easily violence against women is dismissed, and what might happen if the dead could speak and help one another.

Andrea is the first woman we truly get to know, and she is the emotional anchor of the story. She’s kind, hopeful, and trying to carve out a decent life despite the normal struggles of work and relationships. One night, she disappears after leaving a bar, and her fate, though not immediately spelled out, becomes clear: she’s the victim of a predator who knows how to charm, isolate, and destroy. Before she vanishes, she leaves a strange, almost throwaway instruction with a bartender: “If anything happens to me, ask for Andrea.” That small detail becomes the book’s title and its key: Andrea’s name and memory are meant to be a lifeline, a warning, and a clue. Her death doesn’t end her role in the story; instead, she lingers as a presence, watching, remembering, and trying to reach out.

The narrative then brings in Samantha and Kelley, two other women who cross paths with the same dangerous man. Each of them has her own voice, her own vulnerabilities, and her own reasons for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Samantha is dealing with personal upheaval, trying to move forward while still carrying emotional baggage. Kelley is navigating her own challenges, juggling everyday responsibilities with quiet fears she doesn’t always share. Neither of them knows Andrea personally, but they are linked to her by the predator’s pattern and by the geography of their small, seemingly safe community. The book shows how predator behavior can be frighteningly ordinary on the surface—smooth talk, friendly smiles, offers of help—until it’s too late.

One of the striking elements in Ask for Andrea is the way it lets us see events from multiple angles, including the perspective of the dead. Andrea, after her death, watches Samantha and Kelley from a kind of liminal space, desperate to warn them, to somehow stop history from repeating itself. She can’t interact directly with the living in a conventional way—no simple ghostly conversations or visible apparitions—but there are subtle, eerie hints that she can influence small things, nudge circumstances, and cling to the traces she left behind. The promise that someone can “ask for Andrea” becomes symbolic: it’s about paying attention to the women who went missing before, listening to the warnings buried in the past, and refusing to let them be forgotten.

Samantha and Kelley both sense that something is off, even if they can’t always put words to it. As they move through their lives—working, socializing, trusting people they perhaps shouldn’t—the tension builds because the reader knows more than they do. We have Andrea’s knowledge of danger, her recognition of patterns, and her sharp fear for them. Watching them walk into situations that Andrea recognizes as deadly gives the story a constant undercurrent of dread. The book captures the experience many women have: that uneasy, instinctive feeling that something isn’t safe, even when everyone around insists it’s fine. It also shows how easy it is for others—police, acquaintances, sometimes even family—to dismiss that fear, to minimize reports of creeps and harassers until someone ends up missing.

The predator himself is never just a monster in the shadows; he’s presented as disturbingly real and recognizable. He is handsome, confident, and skilled at reading people. He knows how to make women feel special, understood, or obligated. He lies easily, manipulates situations, and exploits the gaps in our systems—the times when people don’t follow up, when authorities are overworked or disbelieving, when women are told they’re overreacting. The book doesn’t glamorize him, but it does carefully show how he operates, making the danger feel all too plausible. It’s clear that what happened to Andrea was not an isolated accident; it’s part of a pattern that could easily claim Samantha, Kelley, or others.

As the story progresses, Samantha and Kelley’s lives begin to overlap more clearly with Andrea’s past. They encounter places and people connected to her, sometimes without realizing it. Clues emerge—a name, a memory, a bar, that haunting instruction to “ask for Andrea”—and slowly, a picture forms of what happened to her and what might be happening again. Both living women are pushed to confront not only their own fears but also the stark reality of how easily a woman can disappear and how slow the system can be to respond. Their arcs are not just about survival, but also about waking up to the dangers around them and choosing whether to act, run, or fight.

Andrea’s presence throughout gives the book a bittersweet emotional tone. She is both witness and victim, compassionate yet powerless in many ways, and deeply invested in the fate of women she never met in life. There’s a sense of sisterhood that crosses the boundary between life and death: Andrea refuses to let what happened to her be the end of the story. Her determination to protect Samantha and Kelley, even in small ways, is a kind of posthumous heroism. The book also suggests that memory itself can be a weapon—remembering victims, honoring their names, and refusing to let crimes be buried can help break cycles of violence.

The pacing of the novel builds from unsettling unease to high tension as Samantha and Kelley move closer to danger and closer to the truth. We see them put together fragments—news of a missing woman, a familiar face, a strange coincidence—and start to question the narratives they’ve been given. The thriller aspect kicks in more strongly as they realize someone is hunting them, or at least circling them, and that ignoring their instincts could be fatal. Their choices become more urgent: whom to trust, where to go, whether to report something, whether to confront the man who seems too charming to be a threat. Their mistakes feel painfully human, not foolish for the sake of plot, and that makes the story more gripping.

By the time the book reaches its climax, the lives of all three women—Andrea’s past, Samantha’s present, Kelley’s present—are tightly woven together. The title’s promise is fulfilled in an emotional and literal way: someone does “ask for Andrea,” and in doing so, they pull her story into the light. Justice in the novel is not perfectly neat or painless; some damage can’t be undone, and some losses remain. But there is a sense that the women have reclaimed something vital: their voices, their right to be believed, their refusal to be silent victims. The predator is finally seen for what he is, not the charming man he pretends to be.

In the end, Ask for Andrea feels like both a chilling thriller and a tribute to women whose stories often end in a line in a police report or a forgotten news article. It gives those women names, personalities, and power, even after death. The book asks readers to think about how we treat missing women, how we listen—or fail to listen—to their fears, and how many tragedies might be prevented if we truly “asked for Andrea”: if we paid attention to those who disappeared before, believed victims early, and refused to let predators hide behind charm and normalcy. It’s a haunting, human story about friendship, fear, and the fierce need to protect one another in a world where danger often wears a friendly face.