That’s Not My Name Summary By Chapter | Megan Lally
Introduction
What would you do if you woke up in a ditch with no memory, and the man who claimed to be your father felt like a complete stranger?
That’s the nightmare Megan Lally crafts in her gripping YA thriller, and this That’s Not My Name Summary by Chapter will walk you through every chilling twist without spoiling the final, breathless confrontation.
Lally, known for her sharp pacing and emotional depth, delivers a thriller that is as much about identity and guilt as it is about survival.
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Book Structure Overview
| Chapters | POV | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Girl / Mary | Waking with amnesia; claimed by Wayne Boone |
| 3–4 | Drew | Prime suspect in Lola Scott’s disappearance |
| 5–6 | Mary | Settling into the cabin; first memory flashes |
| 7–8 | Drew | Body found; sheriff’s grudge intensifies |
| 9–10 | Mary | Trip to Waybrooke; second allergic reaction |
| 11–12 | Drew | Voicemail revelation; stealing tip-line files |
| 13–14 | Mary | Conflicting memories; faking compliance |
| 15–16 | Drew | Tip-line breakthrough; sheriff refuses to act |
| 17–18 | Mary | Full memory return; neighbor’s murder discovered |
| 19–20 | Drew | Going rogue to Waybrooke; diner evidence |
| 21–22 | Mary / Drew | Mary’s kidnapping flashback; Drew finds the cabin |
| 23–24 | Mary / Drew | Recapture; motel strategy and cop conflict |
| 25–26 | Mary / Drew | Chained in basement; Drew goes to Ridge Road |
| 27–29 | Mary / Drew | Final confrontation; Wayne’s death |
| Epilogue | Drew | Closure at the river four months later |
That’s Not My Name Summary Chapter by Chapter
⚠️ Spoiler Warning
Chapter 1: The Nameless Ditch
A girl wakes in a dark ditch on a dirt road, her body wracked with pain and her mind a terrifying blank.
She smells decay and damp earth, her vision blurry, and she realizes her nose is likely broken from the blood on her face.
A fleeting memory of a cluster mailbox and reaching hands causes her heart to pound, but the context is gone.
She stumbles into the road and is eventually found by a police officer who asks for her name.
When she tries to answer, she hits a mental wall and begins hyperventilating, realizing she doesn’t know who she is.
She grabs her throbbing head and screams “I don’t know!” as the full horror of her amnesia sets in.
Key Moment: The girl realizes she cannot remember her own name.
New Information: She is in Alton, Oregon, and has a broken nose and likely concussion.
Chapter 2: A Father’s Claim
Officer Bowman brings the girl to the Alton police station, where she refuses medical treatment despite her injuries.
Bowman searches missing persons databases but finds no local matches for her description.
A man named Wayne Boone arrives, claiming his teenage daughter is missing, and identifies the girl as Mary.
Wayne shows Bowman photos on his phone that appear to prove the girl is his daughter, Mary Boone.
Though the girl feels no connection to him, the physical evidence in the photos is undeniable.
Wayne explains they were moving to a fishing cabin while their house was being renovated.
Bowman agrees to release her into Wayne’s custody once the paperwork is verified at the cabin.
Key Moment: Wayne Boone provides photographic proof that the girl is his daughter, Mary.
New Information: The girl’s supposed name is Mary Ellen Boone, age seventeen.
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Chapter 3: The Prime Suspect
Drew is at a library making missing person fliers for his girlfriend, Lola Scott, who has been gone for five weeks.
The entire town, including the police and Lola’s parents, believes Drew murdered her.
His cousin Max finds him and accidentally reveals that a search party is now looking for remains by the river.
Drew drives to the boat launch, the scene of Lola’s disappearance, and sees a large, grim crowd.
He spots Lola’s skeletal-looking parents, and Mr. Scott glowers at Drew like he is a monster.
Drew flees the scene in his SUV, overwhelmed by shame and the weight of everyone’s suspicion.
Key Moment: Drew realizes the search has shifted from a missing person to a body recovery.
New Information: Lola disappeared on September 29th at the Washington City boat launch.
Chapter 4: The Body in the Woods
Drew goes to Lola’s neighborhood to post fliers and sees the light in her bedroom that her parents refuse to turn off.
Mr. Scott confronts Drew, asking why he won’t leave them alone, and Mrs. Scott tearfully begs him to tell them where Lola is.
Drew maintains his innocence, but the Scotts no longer believe him.
Autumn, Lola’s best friend and the sheriff’s daughter, calls Drew a monster and blames him for everything.
Drew returns home to find his two dads waiting with terrible news: the police have found a body in the woods.
He immediately vomits into a trash can, convinced the body is Lola’s.
Key Moment: Drew learns a body has been found, potentially ending the search for Lola.
New Information: The body was discovered during a search near the river.
Chapter 5: The Cozy Prison
Wayne drives Mary and Officer Bowman to the remote fishing cabin, giving her a floral-sleeved jean jacket for warmth.
The cabin smells of caramel, and Bowman verifies Wayne’s ID and Mary’s birth certificate, seemingly confirming her identity.
Wayne claims Mary’s mother died in a car crash when she was nine, and Bowman leaves them alone.
Mary takes a long shower, but doesn’t recognize her own face in the mirror, causing deep distress.
Wayne leaves to get supplies while she settles in, and she cries herself to sleep, whispering her “new” name.
Key Moment: Officer Bowman officially verifies Mary’s birth certificate and leaves her in Wayne’s custody.
New Information: Mary’s full name is Mary Ellen Boone, born in Newberg, Oregon.
Chapter 6: Autopilot Allergies
Mary wakes feeling physically better but mentally fogged, and Wayne makes a large breakfast of eggs, sausages, and pancakes.
While eating, she suffers a severe allergic reaction, breaking out in hives and struggling to breathe.
Wayne panics and gives her Benadryl, which calms the reaction but makes her drowsy.
He claims he forgot she was allergic to eggs because he was on “autopilot,” but the excuse feels hollow.
When she wakes, Wayne is gone, and she explores the yard, discovering the cabin sits right beside a beautiful river.
Wayne returns and they sit on a river swing, where he describes her as a homeschooled homebody.
Key Moment: Mary’s allergic reaction highlights how little she knows about her own body and history.
New Information: Mary is supposedly homeschooled and allergic to eggs.
Chapter 7: The Wrong Victim
Drew returns to school and learns the body found in the woods was actually a college hiker, not Lola.
Despite the news, he remains a social pariah, and his history teacher urges him to cooperate with police for “closure.”
Drew finds his locker plastered with his own missing fliers and the word “Murderer” scrawled across them.
He storms out and discovers his SUV has been impounded by the sheriff for evidence collection.
His dads confirm the warrant, and Drew walks toward the river to clear his head.
He is intercepted by a police cruiser after about a mile.
Key Moment: Drew’s car is confiscated, and his school environment becomes overtly hostile.
New Information: The body found was not Lola’s; it belonged to a hiker.
Chapter 8: The Sheriff’s Grudge
Sheriff Roane forces Drew into his cruiser and drives him back to the boat launch where Lola vanished.
Roane asks leading questions, trying to trap Drew into a confession, and mentions searching his SUV for blood.
Drew retells the story of that night: Lola fought with her parents over wanting a car, and he drove her to the launch to talk.
He admits they broke up that night because her intense talk of a shared future suffocated him.
Roane reveals he has new evidence that proves Drew’s involvement, but Drew realizes the sheriff has stopped seeking other leads.
Drew slams the cruiser door in Roane’s face and walks away, feeling more targeted than ever.
Key Moment: Sheriff Roane claims to have new evidence against Drew.
New Information: No blood was found in Drew’s impounded SUV.
Chapter 9: The Trip to Waybrooke
On the third day, Mary feels more alert and tries on the clothes Wayne bought her, but they are comically small, child-sized.
Mary convinces a hesitant Wayne to drive her to a thrift store in Waybrooke, an hour and a half away.
During the drive, they pass the ocean, and Wayne shares memories Mary cannot recall, deepening her unease.
Wayne makes her wait in the van while he buys makeup to cover her bruises, saying he doesn’t want people to get the “wrong idea.”
This comment gives Mary a brief stab of unease about his protectiveness.
Key Moment: Mary convinces Wayne to let her leave the cabin for the first time.
New Information: Wayne is highly protective and wants to hide Mary’s injured face from the public.
Chapter 10: V-Necks and Strawberries
At the thrift store, Mary finds clothes she likes, but Wayne discourages dark colors, insisting she is a “colorful person” who loves florals.
He picks out a peach tank top for her, which she finds hideous but accepts to avoid conflict.
They go to a diner where Mary orders a vegan cinnamon roll and a strawberry smoothie.
Wayne scolds her for her V-neck shirt, calling it “inappropriate,” and claims she was homeschooled because of a “wrong crowd.”
While drinking the smoothie, Mary has another severe allergic reaction, and Wayne rushes her to a pharmacy for Benadryl.
He then claims he mixed up her allergies, saying she’s allergic to strawberries, not eggs—a blatant contradiction.
As they drive away, a woman on the sidewalk waves at Mary and immediately starts a frantic phone call.
Key Moment: Wayne’s lie about her allergy is exposed when she reacts to strawberries, not eggs.
New Information: Mary is supposedly allergic to strawberries.
Chapter 11: The Monster Voicemail
Drew walks home in a downpour, and his dads support him, giving him new ink for his fliers.
He finds Autumn has broken into his room; she plays a voicemail where a sobbing Lola calls Drew a “monster” and “evil.”
Drew breaks down and admits he broke up with Lola that night at the river, feeling suffocated by her intense future plans.
Autumn realizes Drew didn’t hurt Lola and feels guilty for hiding the voicemail for so long.
Max also breaks in and suggests they stop waiting for the police and investigate on their own.
Key Moment: Autumn reveals the voicemail that explains Sheriff Roane’s fierce suspicion.
New Information: Drew broke up with Lola the night she disappeared.
Chapter 12: Stolen Evidence
Drew, Max, and Autumn plan a break-in at the police station to access the tip-line recordings.
Max calls 911 from a payphone to create a fake emergency, drawing deputies away from the station.
Autumn distracts her father, Sheriff Roane, while Drew slips into his office.
Drew uses Autumn’s mother’s birthday as the password and copies the “S.L.” case files onto a USB drive.
Just as he finishes, Roane and Autumn approach the office, and Drew passes the USB and keys through a window to Max.
He then sits in a chair, pretending he has been waiting for Roane the entire time.
Key Moment: Drew successfully steals the tip-line recordings from the police computer.
New Information: The police computer password is 11.28.1976.
Chapter 13: Scrub-Wearing Shadows
On the drive back from Waybrooke, Mary questions why Wayne didn’t stop her from ordering a strawberry smoothie if she’s allergic.
A neighbor, Ben Hooper, stops them in the driveway looking for his missing dog and tells Mary she looks familiar.
Wayne quickly ushers her inside, and Mary sees his keys hanging on a hook, triggering a vivid memory of a woman in teal scrubs hanging keys on a different plaque.
She asks if her mother was a nurse, but Wayne insists she was a stay-at-home mom.
Mary realizes the woman in her memory doesn’t match the blonde woman in the wedding photo Wayne showed her.
For the first time, she considers locking her bedroom door, feeling a growing sense of dread.
Key Moment: Mary remembers a mother who is a nurse, directly contradicting Wayne’s story.
New Information: Ben Hooper thinks Mary looks familiar.
Chapter 14: The Red Sofa Memory
By the fifth day, Mary is increasingly anxious and no longer trusts Wayne’s food, analyzing every meal for hidden allergens.
She realizes that despite Wayne calling her a “homebody,” she feels a deep urge to be active and outside.
While watching a movie, she has a powerful memory of sitting on a red sofa with her dark-haired, freckled mother, watching *Ever After*.
She is moved to tears by the clarity, but when Wayne shows her the wedding photo of the blonde woman, Mary lies and says it’s the same person.
She realizes Wayne is happy when she “remembers” his version of her life, and she must fake compliance.
Key Moment: Mary consciously decides to fake her memories to keep Wayne satisfied and safe.
New Information: Mary has a full, clear memory of her real mother, who is dark-haired.
Chapter 15: Tip-Line Breakthrough
Roane is shocked to find Drew in his office but allows him to make an additional statement, in which Drew confesses to the breakup.
Afterward, Drew meets Max and Autumn to listen to the stolen tip-line recordings, spending hours sifting through useless calls.
Near the end, Drew hears a message from Meredith Hoyt, who reports seeing a girl matching Lola’s description at a diner in Waybrooke just 24 hours ago.
Meredith specifically mentions the girl was wearing a jean jacket with custom floral sleeves—Lola’s signature piece.
She also notes the girl was with an older man in a gray van with peeling paint.
Drew is ecstatic, realizing Lola was alive as recently as the previous day.
Key Moment: Drew hears the tip that confirms Lola was seen alive in Waybrooke.
New Information: Lola was spotted at a diner with a man driving a gray van.
Chapter 16: The Refusal
Drew listens to Meredith’s message repeatedly to ensure he didn’t imagine the details about the floral jacket.
He knows the jacket is one-of-a-kind because Autumn hand-stitched it, and he prints a flier highlighting it.
He takes the recording to Sheriff Roane, but Roane becomes enraged, realizing Drew stole the evidence.
Roane dismisses the tip as a “smoke-screen” Drew created to clear himself, and throws Drew’s phone across the room.
Drew leaves the precinct in despair, knowing Roane will never follow the lead.
Key Moment: Sheriff Roane refuses to investigate the Waybrooke sighting because the evidence was stolen.
New Information: The floral jacket detail confirms the sighting was almost certainly Lola.
Chapter 17: Nightmare Softball
Mary struggles with the weight of her conflicting memories and has vivid dreams about being a star softball player.
In the dream, her dark-haired mother cheers for her, but the dream transforms into a nightmare where Wayne appears with fangs.
She remembers a “Freshman” sign in a gym, confirming she attended a real high school and was not homeschooled.
Mary wakes up gasping, now certain that her mother is alive and Wayne has been lying about everything.
She realizes he has been molding her into someone else—his dead daughter—through a web of lies.
She notices Officer Bowman’s business card is missing from her nightstand, and hears heavy footsteps outside her door at 4 a.m.
Key Moment: Mary has a full breakthrough and realizes Wayne is a kidnapper, not her father.
New Information: Mary was a competitive softball player, not a homebody.
Chapter 18: The Missing Neighbor
Mary wakes to voices and sees Officer Bowman giving Wayne a flier, which Wayne immediately crumples and throws in the burn basket.
Wayne lies, claiming it was a woman selling cookie dough, and announces they are moving to McMinnville because the renovations are done.
Mary is terrified of being taken to a “secondary location” and offers to do the dishes so she can retrieve the crumpled paper.
She finds the flier is for Ben Hooper, the neighbor who went missing the same day he spoke to them.
Mary realizes Wayne must have killed Ben to keep him from reporting her, and that Bowman’s card is definitely gone.
Key Moment: Mary finds the missing person flier for Ben Hooper, confirming Wayne is a murderer.
New Information: Ben Hooper vanished immediately after meeting Mary and Wayne.
Chapter 19: Going Rogue
Drew is determined to follow the lead himself, and plays the Meredith Hoyt recording for Max and Autumn.
Autumn is devastated to realize Lola might have been alive only a day ago, and they decide to ditch school for Waybrooke.
Autumn impersonates the police secretary to set up a meeting with Meredith at the diner.
As they drive, Roane calls Autumn, furious, but she tells him she is “busy doing his job” and hangs up.
Drew sends his dads a message and the diner photo, assuring them he is safe but won’t be home tonight.
Key Moment: The group officially goes rogue, ditching school to hunt for Lola in Waybrooke.
New Information: Autumn is surprisingly skilled at impersonating police personnel.
Chapter 20: Diner Evidence
The group meets Meredith at the diner, and she describes the tall, sharp-faced man and a “Nana’s Favorites” shopping bag in the van.
She tells them the van headed north toward Alton, and after she leaves, the suspicious waitress asks them to go.
Max sneaks into the back office and takes photos of the security screen from the previous day.
The photos show a girl in a floral jacket with a man whose face is partially obscured.
They confirm Lola’s presence in Waybrooke and decide to head to Alton to find her.
Max finds a motel there where they can stay the night.
Key Moment: Max steals photographic proof of Lola and her captor from the diner’s security system.
New Information: The captor took Lola north toward Alton.
Chapter 21: The Wrong Daughter
Wayne rushes Mary to pack, becoming increasingly aggressive, and as she loads the van, she sees a duffel bag and has a blast of icy memory.
She remembers being kidnapped while checking the mail at her real home and falling down the embankment into the ditch.
She asks to visit the river swing one last time to buy a moment of freedom, and there she discovers a freshly dug hole behind the woodpile.
A coyote has partially unearthed the body of Ben Hooper, confirming Wayne murdered him.
Mary realizes she is not the real Mary Boone and that Wayne has done this to many other girls to replace his dead daughter.
Key Moment: Mary discovers Ben Hooper’s corpse and fully remembers her own kidnapping.
New Information: Wayne kidnapped her at her mailbox; she is not the real Mary Boone.
Chapter 22: Destination: Ridge Road
Drew, Max, and Autumn arrive at Nana’s Favorites, where the owner, Eloise, confirms a girl in a floral jacket bought clothes there recently.
Eloise provides the address where she remembers the “Boones” lived: 93 Ridge Road in Alton.
Max creates a distraction at the police station, allowing Drew to slip away while Autumn handles Roane.
Drew drives up the mountain alone and finds the log cabin, spotting a gray van with peeling paint near the basement.
He sees a man carrying a lifeless form in a floral jacket toward the basement door.
Drew is certain he has found Lola.
Key Moment: Drew finds the cabin and sees Wayne carrying a girl in Lola’s jacket into the basement.
New Information: The cabin address is 93 Ridge Road.
Chapter 23: Flashback to the Fall
After seeing Ben’s body, Mary hits Wayne with a rock and flees into the woods, her kidnapping memories merging with the present.
She remembers Wayne screaming for her, and she runs toward a house with blue paint—the Hooper house.
She reaches the lawn and tries to scream, but Wayne catches her from behind and clamps his hand over her mouth.
He drags her back into the trees, telling her “You’ll pay for this” before she loses consciousness.
Key Moment: Mary is recaptured by Wayne just as she reaches the neighbor’s porch.
New Information: Wayne has been hunting and recapturing “Marys” for a long time.
Chapter 24: The Motel Strategy
Drew, Max, and Autumn wait out the night at a motel, where Drew notices missing person fliers for Ben Hooper in the lobby.
They head to the Alton Police Department as soon as it opens, finding the precinct in chaos over Hooper’s disappearance.
Autumn demands to give a statement, and they are led to Officer McCurry, who is impressed by their evidence.
Suddenly, Officer Bowman enters, sees the photo of Lola, and insists that Lola is not the girl he found.
He claims he already verified “Mary Boone’s” identity through her birth certificate.
Key Moment: Officer Bowman arrives and creates a massive conflict by denying Lola is the girl at the cabin.
New Information: Ben Hooper has been missing for two days.
Chapter 25: The Recapture
Madison feels herself slung over Wayne’s shoulder and tries to fight, but an elbow to the face keeps her dazed.
She has a total flood of memories about her real home and family while being carried.
She remembers Wayne slamming her face against a tree, causing her fall down the embankment into the ditch.
Madison realizes Wayne is a stranger who kidnapped her and is not her father.
She wakes up in the basement on a camping cot, her ankle shackled to a foundation pole.
She sees the names of other victims scratched into the concrete wall and realizes she is “one girl too late” for the previous ones.
Key Moment: Madison wakes up chained and discovers the names of Wayne’s previous victims.
New Information: Wayne’s basement holds the names of at least nine kidnapped girls.
Chapter 26: The McMinnville Truth
McCurry and Bowman argue in a copy room while Drew listens outside; Bowman insists he verified Mary Boone’s identity and won’t admit error.
McCurry points out the overwhelming evidence Drew brought, but Bowman remains prideful and refuses to act immediately.
Bowman agrees to take McCurry to the cabin later to “check in,” but Drew knows the delay could be fatal.
Autumn hands Drew the address for the Hooper house from the police file, encouraging him to check it out himself.
Max creates a distraction so Drew can slip out of the station.
Drew drives up to Ridge Road, convinced that Lola is there.
Key Moment: Drew steals the exact cabin address and heads up the mountain alone.
New Information: Officer Bowman is too prideful to admit he was tricked by Wayne Boone.
Chapter 27: Chained in the Basement
Madison is trapped in the basement as Wayne sits on the stairs, watching her and saying he is disappointed she tried to run.
He screams at her to admit she is Mary Boone, displaying his complete delusion, and backhands her for being “disrespectful.”
Wayne insists he is trying to “save” her from an inappropriate life, and Madison realizes he is molding her into his dead daughter.
Wayne leaves, swearing to “beat the evil out” of her, and Madison finds a screw to scratch her real name into the wall beside Lola’s.
She waits for Wayne to return so she can attack him, but the door opens to reveal a boy in a Beastie Boys sweatshirt instead.
Key Moment: Madison realizes Wayne is trying to purify her through abuse to fit his dead daughter’s mold.
New Information: Her true identity is Madison Perkins.
Chapter 28: Finding Madison
Drew enters the basement and comes face-to-face with a girl who looks exactly like Lola, crushing him when he realizes it’s a stranger wearing her jacket.
Madison points out Lola’s name scratched on the wall, and Drew understands his girlfriend is dead.
Drew ignores Madison’s pleas to save himself and uses brush trimmers to hack at the chain on her ankle.
Wayne enters and a violent struggle ensues; he grabs Drew by the throat and attempts to strangle him.
Madison hurls a heavy car battery at Wayne’s head, knocking him unconscious, and they break the chain.
Key Moment: Drew and Madison work together to neutralize Wayne Boone.
New Information: Lola Elizabeth Scott is confirmed to be one of Wayne’s murder victims.
Chapter 29: Reclaiming Madison
Madison and Drew reach the top of the stairs, but Wayne recovers and pulls Drew back down, stomping on his head.
Madison refuses to run and engages Wayne in a final fight, spitting blood in his face and using a stair to damage his chin.
She shoves Wayne down the basement stairs, where he lands at a fatal angle and dies.
Drew regains consciousness, and they escape together, Madison telling the arriving police they are alive but “not okay.”
A news report explains Wayne’s profile: he killed his real daughter Mary after she snuck out to a Halloween party.
Driven by guilt, he began kidnapping girls with Mary’s features—brown hair, green eyes, freckles—to “replace” her.
Lola Scott was his eighth victim, killed almost immediately; Madison Perkins was his ninth and final target.
Key Moment: Madison kills Wayne Boone, ending his reign of terror over the “Marys.”
New Information: Wayne accidentally killed his biological daughter Mary before starting the kidnappings.
Epilogue: Closure at the River
Four months later, Drew is back in Washington City, struggling with severe survivor’s guilt over leaving Lola at the river the night she was taken.
Madison visits him at the boat launch on Lola’s birthday; she has dyed her hair blue to distance herself from Wayne’s “Mary” mold.
She provides Drew with final closure, explaining that Wayne had been stalking Lola for weeks and would have taken her regardless of the breakup.
Together, Drew, Max, and Autumn light a cupcake for Lola, finally finding a small measure of peace.
Key Moment: Madison and Drew honor Lola’s memory and begin to heal.
New Information: Wayne had been stalking Lola long before her disappearance.
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