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21 days and 12:26:24
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Failure to Protect: A Nadia Cole Thriller
Not yet published
Expected 25 Aug 26Win a free kindle copy of this book!
21 days and 12:26:24
100 copies available
U.S. only
The apartment was clean. The mother was sober. The report was a lie. The system took her daughter anyway.
Four-year-old Alma Varela has a braid her mother plaits every morning, a wall of crayon drawings, and a gray stuffed rabbit she carries from room to room. Caseworker Nadia Cole knows the difference between a home in trouble and a home being performed, and this one is neither. It is just a family.
The anonymous report says neglect. Everything Nadia can see says the opposite. She writes it up unfounded. Twice.
Then a third report comes in, and the system stops asking whether it's true.
Nadia can prove the call was false. She proves it too late. A man is already carrying Alma down the stairs, and the rabbit is on the floor where no one thinks to pick it up.
The foster home is rated excellent. Within weeks, the drawings stop. The talking stops. A four-year-old learns that asking for anything changes nothing. Until one morning, in a dark room, she says the only thing she has left.
I want to go home.
To get Alma out, Nadia will have to break every rule she has followed for six years. And the reason she cannot let this child go is the one thing she has never told anyone.
She was one of these children once.
Failure to Protect is the first book in The Horizon Cases, a Nadia Cole thriller, from the author of The Privilege .
For fans of Jodi Picoult, Lisa Jewell, and Lisa Scottoline.
Four-year-old Alma Varela has a braid her mother plaits every morning, a wall of crayon drawings, and a gray stuffed rabbit she carries from room to room. Caseworker Nadia Cole knows the difference between a home in trouble and a home being performed, and this one is neither. It is just a family.
The anonymous report says neglect. Everything Nadia can see says the opposite. She writes it up unfounded. Twice.
Then a third report comes in, and the system stops asking whether it's true.
Nadia can prove the call was false. She proves it too late. A man is already carrying Alma down the stairs, and the rabbit is on the floor where no one thinks to pick it up.
The foster home is rated excellent. Within weeks, the drawings stop. The talking stops. A four-year-old learns that asking for anything changes nothing. Until one morning, in a dark room, she says the only thing she has left.
I want to go home.
To get Alma out, Nadia will have to break every rule she has followed for six years. And the reason she cannot let this child go is the one thing she has never told anyone.
She was one of these children once.
Failure to Protect is the first book in The Horizon Cases, a Nadia Cole thriller, from the author of The Privilege .
For fans of Jodi Picoult, Lisa Jewell, and Lisa Scottoline.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication August 25, 2026
About the author
A.R. Hollowell
6 books78 followersA.R. Hollowell writes psychological thrillers about impossible choices: the kind that keep you up at night, not because they are frightening, but because you are no longer sure what you would have done.
The stories live in the space between what is legal and what is right, where ordinary people get caught inside the systems built to protect them and have to choose when every option costs something. There are no clean answers, and that is the point. Readers who love the moral weight of Jodi Picoult and Lisa Scottoline tend to feel at home here.
The current series, the Hollowell Moral Thriller Series, begins with The Privilege and continues with The Testimony, with more to come.
When not writing, A.R. is usually flying a drone, building something new, or watching a movie with family.
Readers who want to know what comes next can follow A.R. Hollowell here
The stories live in the space between what is legal and what is right, where ordinary people get caught inside the systems built to protect them and have to choose when every option costs something. There are no clean answers, and that is the point. Readers who love the moral weight of Jodi Picoult and Lisa Scottoline tend to feel at home here.
The current series, the Hollowell Moral Thriller Series, begins with The Privilege and continues with The Testimony, with more to come.
When not writing, A.R. is usually flying a drone, building something new, or watching a movie with family.
Readers who want to know what comes next can follow A.R. Hollowell here
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
A R Hollowell knows how to write books that reach you all the way to your soul. This is one that does just that. It gripped me from the beginning, as it will if you are a mother. The roller coaster of emotions kept me turning the pages. The horror I felt knowing that something like this could and probably does happen. Someone reports anonymously, a child being neglected, crying, and awful smells coming from their apartment. A caseworker visits and sees a clean home, a happy child and a terrified mother providing all documentation requested. The report is filed. When nothing happens, another anonymous call is made escalating the allegations.
What follows is a book that will wreck you emotionally. A book you can’t stop thinking about. A book that will stay with you long after you have finished reading.
Thank you to the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
What follows is a book that will wreck you emotionally. A book you can’t stop thinking about. A book that will stay with you long after you have finished reading.
Thank you to the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy
What do you do when confronted with a lie, while working within a system that runs on protocols, algorithms, and standards with no room for nuance? That is the question for Nadia Cole, a family services caseworker assigned to to investigate a hotline call against a mother concerning child neglect.
A.R. Hollowell dives into this question head first in this slow-burn legal procedural. He asks this question, and more, as he explores the world of weaponizing “the system” against neighbors. How would I react? What would I do? How would I feel if I was the target? If it was my child fed into the machine of faceless bureaucracy?
Very well written, and conveys the emotional swings of heartbreak, frustration, triumph, disappointment, and resilience.
A.R. Hollowell dives into this question head first in this slow-burn legal procedural. He asks this question, and more, as he explores the world of weaponizing “the system” against neighbors. How would I react? What would I do? How would I feel if I was the target? If it was my child fed into the machine of faceless bureaucracy?
Very well written, and conveys the emotional swings of heartbreak, frustration, triumph, disappointment, and resilience.
Review of advance copy
I received an advance copy of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily. I have read this author before and enjoyed his stories. This usually causes a dilemma as I have certain expectation for books that follow to deliver. This didn't disappoint, but fell into two categories rather than just psychological thriller for me. Yes it's a psychological thriller but is also a case of domestic sadness with legal implications.
The short chapters kept me turning the pages about a young child wrongfully put into foster care. It is the story of a flawed Social Services system. It's the story of a dedicated woman, Nadia Cole, fighting the good fight. 4 stars
The short chapters kept me turning the pages about a young child wrongfully put into foster care. It is the story of a flawed Social Services system. It's the story of a dedicated woman, Nadia Cole, fighting the good fight. 4 stars
July 23, 2026
This book was given to me as an ARC by BookSirens and The Author here is my voluntarily review.
5⭐️ This story hit me on such an emotional level that I found myself thinking about it even when I wasn’t reading. This story really struck the mom in me with every page . There were moments that made me so angry 😡 knowing that it happens , there were moments that broke my heart, moments that gave me just enough hope to keep turning the pages. This is one of those books that stays with you because of how deeply it makes you feel. Definitely worth reading. Once you start you can’t stop reading.
5⭐️ This story hit me on such an emotional level that I found myself thinking about it even when I wasn’t reading. This story really struck the mom in me with every page . There were moments that made me so angry 😡 knowing that it happens , there were moments that broke my heart, moments that gave me just enough hope to keep turning the pages. This is one of those books that stays with you because of how deeply it makes you feel. Definitely worth reading. Once you start you can’t stop reading.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Started Failure to Protect this morning & could not put it down! short,face paced chapters leaving you questioning your own morals. Tore at my heart strings a lot because I’m a mother also. The way the story unfolded was heartbreaking but extremely well written! Another amazing book! 5 stars from me 🌟
If you haven’t gotten the ARC copy, get yours as soon as possible! I hope you all enjoy as much as I have 🙂
If you haven’t gotten the ARC copy, get yours as soon as possible! I hope you all enjoy as much as I have 🙂
Review of advance copy received from Author
I started this book early this morning and didn't stop reading until I had finished. The chapters are fast and sharp. The plot is emotionally absorbing and tugged on all my heart strings. It had me asking myself what I would do in this situation. It's well written and built.I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I was given the opportunity to obtain an ARC...This book will have you going through a Rollercoaster of emotions. I enjoyed the telling of the story from the different POVs of all involved in the case.
If you want an un-put-downable novel to read, this is it.
This is my 4th A.R. Hollowell book and he has definitely gained a fan in me.
If you want an un-put-downable novel to read, this is it.
This is my 4th A.R. Hollowell book and he has definitely gained a fan in me.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Equal parts suspenseful and heartbreaking, Failure to Protect is the kind of story that stays with you long after the final page. Thought-provoking, emotional, and impossible to put down, it’s a memorable series opener with plenty of heart.
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC-reader.
I was so excited to actually get a copy of this since this is my field of work.
What a great story, from all points of view!
I was so excited to actually get a copy of this since this is my field of work.
What a great story, from all points of view!
Review of advance copy received from Author
Oohh WOW what an emotional roller coaster of a book this is ... but I have to admit its absolutely brilliant and who else now is ready for Book 2 x so well written with how it came across .. I ❤️ it x
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews