The Boy Under the Table

by Nicole Trope

Tina is a young woman hiding from her grief on the streets of the Cross. On a cold night in the middle of winter she breaks all her own rules when she agrees to go home with a customer.What she finds in his house will change her life forever.Across the country Sarah and Doug are trapped in limbo, struggling to accept the loss that now governs their lives.Pete is the local policeman who feels like he is watching the slow death of his own family.Every day brings a fresh hell for each of them.Told from the alternating points of view of Tina, Sarah, Doug and Pete, The Boy Under the Table is gritty, shocking, moving and, ultimately, filled with hope.A harrowing glimpse into the real world behind the headlines, this is a novel of immense power and compassion-one that will not fail to move all who read it.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Ebooks, Family, Mystery Thriller

280 pages, Paperback

First published May 23, 2012

About the author

Nicole Trope writes psychological thrillers about families in crisis and the secrets we keep from ourselves and others. She has always been fascinated by the stories behind the headlines and published her first novel in 2012. In 2026 she will publish her 20th novel with Bookouture. She is a USA Today and Amazon bestseller in the USA, UK, AUS, Canada and Germany. Her books have been translated into German, Italian, Polish, Hungarian and French and Japanese.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children
Current Publication: The Therapist-July 31st 2025
Next Publication: What Have You Done?-October 17th 2025

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tina was fifteen when she arrived on the streets of Kings Cross. Her life at home had become unbearable after her brother Tim died – her life in the Cross would be different to anything she had imagined. But it was when she went to a customer’s home that shattered her fragile belief in life…

The journey to the Sydney Royal Easter Show had been planned for awhile. Farmer Doug and his wife Sarah, along with their young son and daughter (who were very excited!) were making a holiday of it as their home was a long way from Sydney. But when disaster struck, their lives changed in unimaginable ways.

The Boy Under the Table by Aussie author Nicole Trope is a stark look at the underbelly of society – at what can and unfortunately does happen. Told in the voices of Tina, Sarah, Doug and local policeman, Pete, The Boy Under the Table is a poignant look at how a small amount of hope can be all that keeps a person from snapping, never to be the same again. It’s also a novel I won’t forget in a long while. Highly recommended.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel that is both utterly shocking and unbearably moving which makes for a compelling tale. Told primarily from the alternating points of view of Tina, Sarah, Doug and Pete, a moment of inattention is the catalyst for tragedy in The Boy Under the Table.
With stark realism, The Boy Under The Table relates a horrific reality for two lost children. Tina ended up on the streets of King Cross at barely fifteen when she left home to escape the religious zealotry of her mother and stepfather, and her grief at losing her younger brother, Tim. She shares a squat with a group of young boys, showers at a local gym and prostitutes herself, trapped in an endless cycle of poverty and despair. On a cold winter's night she accepts a client's offer to go home with him and discovers his horrifying secret, a malnourished and filthy child huddled under the man's kitchen table, tethered by ropes around his ankle and neck.
While Tina's family is indifferent to her circumstances, Doug and Sarah can only imagine how their son may be suffering. When eight year old Lachlan disappeared from the Sydney Royal Easter Show, his parents were distraught. They each blamed themselves, and the other, existing in limbo, desperately hoping for news. As time dragged on with no clue as to his whereabouts, they were forced to return to their farm at Cootamundra without their precious son where Sarah sunk into depression while Doug tries simply hold everything together for the sake of their daughter, Sammy.
The Boy Under the Table is a confronting read, highlighting the vulnerability of our children. As a mother I can't imagine the heartbreak of a missing child, I once lost sight of my youngest son for just a few minutes at a local fair when he was three and I well remember the suffocating panic and terror. For Doug and Sarah there is no relief from the worry and fear, in just seconds, in a situation most parents would not think twice about, these good parents have found themselves in a living hell. In contrast the parents of Tina, and the other 'lost' children of the Cross, are contemptible human beings who for one reason or another have practically thrown their children away. It's a heartbreaking reality that society too often fails to care for it's most vulnerable children and The Boy Under the Table is a stark reminder of that.
Despite the emotive issues, the author deftly avoids sentimentality with a spare writing style, her characters don't wring their hands and wail uselessly, they simply put one foot in front of the other intent on surviving the next minute, the next hour, the next day. It does mean that the story lacks some subtlety but it's brutal realism is powerfully affecting. The lives of Tina and Lockie collide in the most shocking of moments. Trope spares us nothing, she doesn't pretend Tina is anything other that what she is which is, both a jaded street whore and a young teenage girl who still dreams of possibilities and Lockie will never be the same carefree and innocent child he was on the day before he disappeared. The bond that forms between these two children is incredibly touching in part because there is no pretense just simple, desperate need.
I found The Boy Under the Table impossible to put down once I had started, the pace is unrelenting and the story is utterly engrossing. The conclusion is tinged with both hope and sadness and I held my children a little tighter and a lot longer when I had finished. The Boy Under The Table is a confronting story, but one that is well worth reading.

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semi-colons~✡~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of Nicole Trope's novels deal with missing children, but The Boy Under the Table is by far the saddest.

The chapters from Tina's perspective drove the plot. Tina is a 15-year-old girl selling sex to survive. After her beloved younger brother passed away from cancer, Tina couldn't abide her new stepfather and mother's religious fanaticism. She was lost and hurting, and her mother didn't seem to care. So Tina left, and two years later she's still walking the streets.

Then one night, even though she knows better, she goes home with a john, and that's where she sees the boy. Tina wants to forget, but she thinks of Tim and knows she can't leave the boy to die.

I would have rated this book higher because Tina's voice rang true, but the chapters from the perspectives of other characters (the boy's parents and his pseudo grandparents, one of whom is a small town cop) were all introspection and didn't add much to the plot.

In every book like this, it seems the woman falls apart and the man is the strong one carrying the burden. Here, Sarah was totally useless; she wasn't even taking care of the child she had left.

The ending was a bit pat, but everyone had suffered enough, so I didn't mind.

[Jo Rushby · Rating 5 out of 5]

The boy under the table by Nicole trope is a page turner. It is a story about a girl living on the streets and using as much cunning to survive. A boy who goes missing from the Easter Show. This really makes you think what if this happened to my child. It is set in Kings Cross Sydney. I Have enjoyed all Nicole Trope books. She writes on Par with Caroline Overington.

[Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boy Under the Table by Australian author Nicole Trope is about Tina, a homeless young girl living on the streets of Sydney's red light district, King's Cross. Tina's struggle to survive the Cross is contrasted with the grief and worry in outback New South Wales, as farmers Doug and Sarah desperately seek the return of their young son Lachlan, who disappeared at Sydney's Royal Easter Show.

Tina's day-to-day life on the streets as a sex worker and living a sober yet meagre existence in a squat were shocking and compelling, thankfully with a ray of hope Tina will work through her grief and reclaim her life.

There were countless times the author could have taken a misstep in this narrative, resulting in some serious eye-rolling from this reader, but she didn't! In fact, I was actually waiting for a disappointing turn in the narrative, fully expecting Tina to do something unbelievable or for Lachlan to act contrary to his age or character, but again, it never happened.

Instead, I found myself worrying about the two characters during the day, and wondering what their futures held in the remaining pages. We're given multiple character perspectives, and the plot kept me engaged the entire time. I was relieved to find a satisfying ending filled with hope without once glossing over any of the trauma that had passed beforehand and the healing still ahead.

Ultimately The Boy Under the Table by Nicole Trope is a story of hope and courage and I couldn't help but be moved by it. Highly recommended for fans of Australian crime writing, or those seeking a refreshing take on the missing/kidnapped child trope in fiction.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well there goes my Sunday…….This book was so compelling, I just had to keep going until I was finished, although a couple of times it was hard to keep reading I just wanted to put it down – I couldn’t……The Boy Under the Table is about a family from rural Australia who are dealing with the loss of their son, taken at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. This book is told from a few different perspectives, which keeps the pages turning for sure and you on the edge of your seat. Everything about this book was brilliant……..and will make sure that you hold onto your child’s hand that little bit tighter when you are out! Highly recommend……..

[Jonann loves book talk❤♥️❤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really grabs your heart! ❤️

The Boy Under the Table is told through multiple characters. I felt as if I was reading a real life story. I totally grasp the heartbreaking moment of each character's personal emotion of loss, fear, struggle and courage Nicole Troupe brings the difficult topic of child abduction to life. 👍👍👍

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I desperately read this as much as I could manage today because I was dying to find out what happened. Tina has had a difficult life, feeling affronted when her little brother dies and her mother manages to move on as though he never meant anything. She has chosen to escape her family, as she feels so much bitterness towards their ability to get on with their lives.

Lockie has been taken in a moment of inattention at the Easter Show. His parents blame themselves for their momentary lapse of judgement, and I completely understand why they would feel this way, but I also totally understand why they did what they did, for just a moment, believing themselves to be in a safe and happy space.

Tina finds herself in a house with a disgusting man, and suddenly realises that there is a dirty looking boy underneath the table, chained like a dog. She manages to get herself out of there, but keeps thinking about what she saw. She tries to figure out what she should do about it.

I did wonder myself what she also comes to realise towards the end of the book - did she have to go through everything she did so that she could be there at that precise time in order to save Lockie? Is there a reason for everything? If so, it can be very cruel.

We never find out exactly what Lockie was subjected to in his time with "the uniform". We also don't find out how everyone is coping months, if not years later, and I would like very much to have revisited them.

Everyone in this story was broken in some way, and the healing would never have been completed, but it may have at least been somewhat successful and that would have been an enjoyable way to end a book that had me tearing up in a few places.

[Babus Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tina ran away from home and now lives in the Cross, a rundown area rife with runaways and vice. One day she discovers a boy and knows she has to do what she can to save him.

Doug and Sarah took their eyes off their children for sixty seconds, that was all it took for Lockie to wander off. After searching and staying in the city for a month to find him they return heartbroken to their farm. Will they ever see their boy again?

This extremely moving thriller is told from the point of view of Tina, Doug, Sarah and family friend and local policeman, Pete. It is difficult reading in many places due to the emotive themes, but the heart and warmth in this story makes it a difficult one to forget.

The fear and anguish felt by the characters can be acutely felt as you read the words of their story and the author shows remarkable insight into the human psyche.

This was a challenging book to read as I felt so invested in the characters and the realistic portrayal of neglect and abuse are not easy to read but I am glad I did choose to read this remarkable book about a family and a little boy who was lost.

[Petra · Rating 2 out of 5]

My respect goes to the author for writing, finishing and publishing this book, but I have to say, I wish she had of used a bunch of beta readers and a really good editor before she published because this should have been polished to a much higher standard given its traditionally published and has a decent price tag. I’m afraid I found the writing style to be extremely repetitious and the majority of the story was filler and unbelievable. This was a telling story not a showing story and I felt nothing for the characters or the event even though the subject matter is grave. I hate leaving negative reviews because I know writing is hard but I feel duped. More so by the publishers than the author. It was a push to finish and lots of eye rolling parts. It just wasn’t believable really.

[~:The N:~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful and well written, this book might be too disturbing subject matter to some (TW: child abuse, sexual abuse, prostitution, to name but a few), but it was written delicately enough to get the drift without getting too graphic.
The storyline has kept me engaged until the very end.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A page-turner, I could not put this down. Told from different points of view, the lives of these people forever interwoven through one shocking event. It's a story of stark reality, with believable characters: two parents that have never given up seeing their child again, but who are struggling to cope in different ways, a teenage runaway barely surviving life on the streets, a policeman friend who refuses to believe the lost child cannot be found.

It's a story of heart-wrenching pain, courage, compassion and hope.

Based in Australia which earns a big tick from me!! A great read!

[Tracy Fenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in a day. Both disturbing and heart lifting. Not a comfortable read but compelling and gripping.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Setting: New South Wales, Australia; present day. Tina ran away from home when she was 15 and still dotes on the memory of her younger brother who died of cancer. She survives on the streets of Sydney by providing sexual services to men. When one of these men takes her to his house, she sees a small boy tied by ropes under the kitchen table. The story is told by several different characters: we also meet Doug and Sarah, whose 8 year old son went missing 4 months earlier when the family had travelled into Sydney from their sheep farm in Cootamundra for the Easter Show, and local policeman Pete and his wife who are good friends of Doug and Sarah and the family. In Sydney, Tina decides she must try to rescue the boy under the table.....
Not wishing to spoil the story I won't say anything more, just to say it was a great story which I thoroughly enjoyed and I'm glad I've got some more of this author's books on Kindle - 9/10.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Boy Under The Table is a disturbing tragedy that is hard to put down. Lochie and Tina are the glue that holds this story together. On the other hand, seeing what Lochie’s parents are going through is every parent’s nightmare. While the story is engrossing there is a lot of unnecessary repetition of facts, specifically about Tina and her brother and also about the Easter Fair. The writing style is spare and sometimes feels a little abrupt. While the ending is somewhat unrealistic, the bond and trust that develops between Lochie and Tina is very believably presented. I kept waiting for something else awful to happen but it never does. There is a lot that goes unresolved and I would have appreciated an Epilogue taking place one to five years in the future to learn the aftereffects on the five protagonists. A compelling story.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a sentence in this book along the lines of, the same terrible things that happen on the streets happen inside houses, they are just packaged up better. The author has not packaged this book up nicely, this book is about a boy under the table. Plain and simple. I read it in one sitting, it's difficult to read in places, the author very cleverly uses just enough words to steer your imagination in the right direction. I read this in under 5 hours but the characters have crept under my skin and could be there a lifetime. Credit to the author, very well written book which id completely recommend.

[Feistykel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if I can find the words for this one. It was brilliant. The writing was brilliant. The characters were brilliant. The emotion was palpable, and I literally could not put it down, finishing it in a mere two sittings and reading into the wee hours. I haven't done that in a long while. I loved everything about it. This is the book that inspired me to start writing again. Thank you Nicole for restoring my faith that good writing still exists.

[Bree T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tina is just a girl struggling to survive. She ran away from heartbreak and trauma at fifteen, almost two years ago now, escaping the pain of losing her younger brother to cancer. Her mother’s new boyfriend turned out to be a religious fanatic, converting Tina’s mother and working tirelessly to convert Tina. He peppered every conversation with talk of God and Jesus and forgiveness and faith and prayer. Tina knows there’s not much to have faith in, not since Tim died. One day she got on a train and never looked back, finding herself in Sydney’s notorious Cross. Now she’s just like scores of other lost teens, turning tricks for a few bucks, struggling to find somewhere to sleep, to stay warm.

One day Tina does something she’s always been warned never to do. She accepts a lift into a customer’s house, where it’s warm, on a freezing cold winter’s night. That’s a sure fire way to end up even more of a statistic than she already is and she knows it’s stupid even as she’s doing it. She just wants her money and to get out but what she finds in that house will change her life.

In country NSW on a farm in Cootamundra, Doug and Sarah are just going through the motions. Four months ago their whole lives were utterly changed forever, a beautiful high when Sarah won a ribbon for her wedding cake at the Easter Show turning into a devastating low. Doug is the one that has to carry on, to be the man, to keep things going. Sarah is stuck in a horrible place where half the days see her unable to even muster up the energy to get out of bed. She knows she is failing their daughter Sammy but she just can’t change the way she is. The pain is too great and so is the other failure.

Last year my husband and I went to the Gold Coast on our honeymoon – well it was more of a family holiday as I was 19/20wks pregnant and we also had our 2.5yo with us. We took him to Sea World on one of the days, probably in the second week we were there and when we were waiting for the dolphin show to start, I went and sat down. My husband was lying in the sun across the road and our son was with him. Until suddenly my husband was in front of me, asking where our son was. I said that he’d been with him and my husband said that he had come across to me. Except he hadn’t come back to me, he’d gotten distracted and headed off in another direction. For less than 2 minutes, he was gone. My husband went one way, I went the other and people who were waiting with us found him in probably just over a minute. He wasn’t even aware that he was missing, he’d gone to have a look at a stationary monorail. And I cannot explain the panic, the fear that set in that moment I looked around and couldn’t see him. I suspect it’s something every other parent on the planet knows well, because they’ve all experienced it. And 99.99% of the time the child is found swiftly and everything is absolutely fine. The relief sets in and it becomes one of those stories you tell for humour.

This book is about the 0.01% when it does not end fine. When the child isn’t found. When everything changes forever.

As a parent, it’s impossible to watch your kids 24/7. There will be a time when you look away. There’ll be a time they dart ahead and are lost in a crowd. It’s just the way things are. For Doug and Sarah, this is what happens at the Easter Show, when Sarah is being presented with her ribbon. Doug wheels out her cake, Sarah accepts her ribbon and their two children are nearby, except that when they go back to the pram, only their daughter Samantha is there. From then on, her whole life changes. Her happiness fades and everything she has, all her hope revolves around one word: please.

The Boy Under The Table is gritty, disturbing realistic fiction grounded in amazingly real characters and a scenario that plays upon one of the greatest fears out there. This book is every nightmare you’ll ever have, every fear you’ll ever have involving your children wrapped up in one. But also at the same time, it’s more than that. It’s also about someone who ended up in a place she shouldn’t be, someone who didn’t turn around and walk away from something that didn’t concern her. It’s about someone who went back and helped and in one action forged an unlikely, beautiful friendship. There were many things that broke my heart in this book, many things that had me choked up and a scene that had me sobbing. The writing is simplistic and unadorned, but it is powerful and effective. It is a stark story, not always easy to read, not the sort of book that you slot onto a re-reads shelf, ready to pull down at a moment’s notice. But it is a fabulous book, it is something that should be read – it’s a story that will move you.

I felt for just about everyone in this book – for Doug and Sarah who looked away for sixty seconds and entered months of hell because of it, for Tina and the lot the world had dealt her, even the kids she hung with in the Cross. They were all there for a reason, all there because they’d been failed on some level, somehow. This book should feel more hopeless than it is, but there’s still somehow something beautiful through it, a story of people who lose things yes, but who also gain. Tina is an exceptional character. At seventeen she’s still partially a child but she’s also more adult than someone five times her age. She’s brave and strong and amazing. A character I don’t think I’ll forget.

[Carmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down, particularly in the second half, it was very addictive. The story was sad but uplifting, it made me angry, but by the ending I was so happy that I had read it. It is well written and very much worth the read. I highly recommend it.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read. This book could of kept going or should I say I wanted it to keep going. This was so true to word about places in NSW, Australia. I loved reading this book from start to finish. very descriptive but it didn't deter you from the story

[Beccabeccabooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this heart breaking story, we focus on the disappearance of eight year old Lockie and the homeless teenager Tina who found and ultimately saved him. The pair are equally as troubled and in dispair, which in turn forms an unlikely and very special bond.

We also meet Doug and Sarah, Lockie's parents whom understandably are also grieving for their lost son. There's also Pete, the local cop and his wife Margie, who's just at loss at what to do. There's no doubt that this golden boy is very much treasured not only by his family, but also the wider community.

There's some very distressing scenes that will make you so very angry. The cruel person who took Lockie treated him in the worst possible way. It's also revealed what his future plans were for the boy, which is very disturbing indeed.

I really loved the friendship that sparked between Tina and Lockie. Understanding grief, Tina takes her young charge under her wing. Even though she's struggling herself, Tina's sheer determination to bring Lockie home is to be celebrated. She's one very strong, brave and very kind young woman.

The Boy Under the Table may be one of Nicole Trope's earlier titles, but it's just as brilliant as her more recent ones. In fact, I'm going to say it's one of my favourites of hers.

🌟🌟🌟🌟✨/5

[Dany Galletas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lockie es robado de sus papás por un "policía" en una feria donde su mamá iba a concursar con un pastel. El tipo resulta ser un pedófilo, se descubre que en su patio tiene cuerpos de niños. En la trama coincide tina con el policía puesto que tina es prostituta a sus 16 años la cual tiene problemas con su núcleo familiar después de haber perdido a su hermano pequeño tim por el cáncer. Ella acepta ir con el y en su casa ve a un niño amarrado debajo de la mesa. Termina su servicio y después les cuenta a sus amigos que va a regresar por el niño. Regresa por el, el policía la descubre y ella lo mata. Se logran escapar y posteriormente tina se da cuenta de todo lo que ha sufrido el niño pues lo ve todo lleno de hematomas, sangre y observa que fue abusado por el tipo.
La historia se desarrolla con el objetivo de regresar al chico a su casa, enfrentándose a la dura realidad de no tener dinero, pero tina hace de todo para poder alimentar al niño y comprar los boletos del autobús para poder llevarlo a casa.
Al final llegan a casa del niño y se entiende que tina se queda con la familia a vivir un rato con ellos mientras poco a poco lockie se va reintegrando a la sociedad y hablando de todo lo que le sucedió. También se entiende que confiezan que mataron al tipo pero no va a haber problema pues fue en defensa propia.

Fue buena la historia cruda y contundente, siento que si pudo ser un poco más dramatizada pero la autora decidió contarla más cruda, se puede sentir que es basada en una historia real pues no tiene tanta ficción.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading many of the positive reviews by previous readers I must say I agree with all that was said. This was the first book by Nicole Trope that I have read and I enjoyed every page of it. I read it in a day and when I wasn't reading it, the characters were etched in my mind. I certainly recommend it for anyone that enjoys a thriller.

[Sonal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite book by Nicole Trope so far! Absolutely heart-wrenching and at times difficult to read, but also difficult to put down! Told from alternating points of view, you really felt for all of the main characters and your heart broke for them. I've always highly recommended this author, but this is a must read!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most UN-PUT-DOWNABLE books I've ever read.

[Noel Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book , I could not put it down and I had tears in my eyes at the end

[Gail Gentile · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic page turner I literally couldn't put down. Excellent, thrilling and emotional. Can't wait to read more by this author.

[Karen Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping, horrific story of lives that are shattered through the kidnapping of an 8 year old boy. The pieces of those lives involved are gradually put together, and begin to heal through a series of incidences. Well written, and worth a read.

,

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was engrossed, couldn't put the book down. Fascinated with the initial storyline and was desperate to know the outcome, great read! Love this author and im now starting my third book by her!

[Linda Surritte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story and characters....