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The Boy in the Photo
Read the chilling and completely heartwrenching story of a mother's worst nightmare: her child being stolen—and what happens when he returns.
Six years ago
Megan waits at the school gates for her six-year-old son, Daniel. As the playground empties, panic bubbles inside her. Daniel is nowhere to be found. Her darling son is missing.
Six years later
After years of sleepless nights and endless days of missing her son, Megan finally gets the call she has been dreaming about. Daniel has walked into a police station in a remote town just a few miles away.
Megan is overjoyed—her son is finally coming home. She has kept Daniel's room, with his Cookie Monster poster on the wall and a stack of Lego under the bed, in perfect shape to welcome him back. But when he returns, there is something different about Daniel . . .
According to the police, Daniel was kidnapped by his father. After his dad died in a fire, Daniel was finally able to escape. Desperate to find out the truth, Megan tries to talk to her little boy—but he barely answers her questions. Longing to help him heal, Megan tries everything—his favourite chocolate milkshake, a reunion with his best friend, a present for every birthday missed—but still, Daniel is distant.
And as they struggle to connect, Megan begins to suspect that there is more to the story. Soon, she fears that her son is hiding a secret. A secret that could destroy her family . . .
Six years ago
Megan waits at the school gates for her six-year-old son, Daniel. As the playground empties, panic bubbles inside her. Daniel is nowhere to be found. Her darling son is missing.
Six years later
After years of sleepless nights and endless days of missing her son, Megan finally gets the call she has been dreaming about. Daniel has walked into a police station in a remote town just a few miles away.
Megan is overjoyed—her son is finally coming home. She has kept Daniel's room, with his Cookie Monster poster on the wall and a stack of Lego under the bed, in perfect shape to welcome him back. But when he returns, there is something different about Daniel . . .
According to the police, Daniel was kidnapped by his father. After his dad died in a fire, Daniel was finally able to escape. Desperate to find out the truth, Megan tries to talk to her little boy—but he barely answers her questions. Longing to help him heal, Megan tries everything—his favourite chocolate milkshake, a reunion with his best friend, a present for every birthday missed—but still, Daniel is distant.
And as they struggle to connect, Megan begins to suspect that there is more to the story. Soon, she fears that her son is hiding a secret. A secret that could destroy her family . . .
304 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 2019
12881 people are currently reading
14069 people want to read
About the author
Nicole Trope
43 books1,880 followersNicole 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,269 reviews
March 31, 2021
Megan's husband Greg, was physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive, claiming he loved her and that he'd do anything for her, all the while beating her down in every way. Megan and her husband eventually divorce, with Greg constantly trying to get back in her good graces, making it clear that Megan was the one who destroyed their family.
Then one day, when their son, Daniel, is six, Megan goes to pick him up from school. Daniel is gone! Greg had picked him up, without authorization to do so, and that is the last Megan sees or hears of Daniel for six years. The story conveys clearly, the heartbreak of losing a child to abduction by the other parent, wondering what he is doing at all times, wondering what he looks like as he grows, wondering if he remembers you, a constant hole in the heart and in life and no desire or ability to move on, when the only thing that can jumpstart life again is the return of the child.
But when Daniel returns, at the age of twelve, all is not well. It's not just all those years missed, big milestones in a child's life, but Daniel is so very different than the six year old boy she knew. Megan can hear Greg's hateful and manipulative words coming from Daniel's mouth, and most of them are directed at her. There is a very real sense of danger about Daniel and a feeling that there will never be a time when Megan's new family can feel settled and "normal" around him.
Megan is now married to Michael, the detective that was assigned to look for Daniel, a kind, caring, man who is light years away from her ex-husband Greg, in every way. Megan and Michael have a six month old daughter Evie, and it's clear that Daniel is disturbed that Megan went on with life without him, just like his father told him would happen.
There were things that I figured out before the reveals but that in no way diminished my enjoyment of this story. The long years of worry, heartbreak, feelings of guilt for having a child kidnapped by an ex, felt so real and then the "new and different" Daniel was heartbreaking too. Daniel came back disturbed and disturbing and the reader has to wonder if he can ever have a normal life again or if years on the run has harmed him in ways that can never be repaired.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC.
Then one day, when their son, Daniel, is six, Megan goes to pick him up from school. Daniel is gone! Greg had picked him up, without authorization to do so, and that is the last Megan sees or hears of Daniel for six years. The story conveys clearly, the heartbreak of losing a child to abduction by the other parent, wondering what he is doing at all times, wondering what he looks like as he grows, wondering if he remembers you, a constant hole in the heart and in life and no desire or ability to move on, when the only thing that can jumpstart life again is the return of the child.
But when Daniel returns, at the age of twelve, all is not well. It's not just all those years missed, big milestones in a child's life, but Daniel is so very different than the six year old boy she knew. Megan can hear Greg's hateful and manipulative words coming from Daniel's mouth, and most of them are directed at her. There is a very real sense of danger about Daniel and a feeling that there will never be a time when Megan's new family can feel settled and "normal" around him.
Megan is now married to Michael, the detective that was assigned to look for Daniel, a kind, caring, man who is light years away from her ex-husband Greg, in every way. Megan and Michael have a six month old daughter Evie, and it's clear that Daniel is disturbed that Megan went on with life without him, just like his father told him would happen.
There were things that I figured out before the reveals but that in no way diminished my enjoyment of this story. The long years of worry, heartbreak, feelings of guilt for having a child kidnapped by an ex, felt so real and then the "new and different" Daniel was heartbreaking too. Daniel came back disturbed and disturbing and the reader has to wonder if he can ever have a normal life again or if years on the run has harmed him in ways that can never be repaired.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC.
July 4, 2019
What would you do if your abusive ex-husband stole your son? What if you couldn't find him for years? What do you do when suddenly, six years later, he turns up?
Megan has been looking for her son Daniel ever since he wasn't there when she went to pick him up from school. There is no trace of him, or her ex-husband. Her media and online appeals have come to nothing. Then one day she gets the call, Daniel has been found. Her relief and excitement are soon tempered by the realisation that Daniel is no longer the happy child she once knew. He is traumatised and damaged, having been fed a pack of lies by her now deceased ex. Daniel is uncommunicative and distant, though he shows glimpses of the child he once was. She knows Daniel knows more about his fathers death than he is letting on, but doesn't realise that his secret could well destroy the whole family!
I did enjoy this book. It was quick and easy to read. However I really failed to connect fully with the characters, and found the plotline predictable. It was clear what was going on very early in the piece, and therefore there were no surprises in it for me. I like a thriller with twists and turns I don't see coming, and sadly, for me, that wasn't this book.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Megan has been looking for her son Daniel ever since he wasn't there when she went to pick him up from school. There is no trace of him, or her ex-husband. Her media and online appeals have come to nothing. Then one day she gets the call, Daniel has been found. Her relief and excitement are soon tempered by the realisation that Daniel is no longer the happy child she once knew. He is traumatised and damaged, having been fed a pack of lies by her now deceased ex. Daniel is uncommunicative and distant, though he shows glimpses of the child he once was. She knows Daniel knows more about his fathers death than he is letting on, but doesn't realise that his secret could well destroy the whole family!
I did enjoy this book. It was quick and easy to read. However I really failed to connect fully with the characters, and found the plotline predictable. It was clear what was going on very early in the piece, and therefore there were no surprises in it for me. I like a thriller with twists and turns I don't see coming, and sadly, for me, that wasn't this book.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 10, 2019
One of the worst things that can happen to a mother is to have her child abducted and never know what happened to him or whether she'll ever see him again. That's the anguish Megan had to live with for six years after her six year old son, Daniel was abducted by her abusive, controlling ex-husband Greg. But now Daniel has been returned to her as a silent, hostile adolescent who has been filled with the hate and bitterness of his father and the lies he told him about his mother. With his father now dead and Megan re-married with a new baby, she is struggling to reconnect with her son and find the sweet little boy that she remembers.
This is such an emotional and heart-breaking story of a family struggling to hold it all together. Megan's new husband, the detective who was originally in charge of Daniel's case, is so understanding and compassionate in a situation that many men couldn't handle. Megan is having difficulty coping with her feelings and reactions, wanting to smother her son with love but knowing she has to stand back and give him space to deal with grieving for his father and just hope he will gradually come to trust them. Daniel is also struggling with his feelings as he comes to realise that he has had his childhood taken from him and a lot of what his father told him is twisted and untrue. The author really has painted a thoughtful and provocative picture of what it would be like to have your child returned to you, hostile and angry, after six years on the run with a controlling and antagonistic parent. And to top it all off, she has delivered an explosive ending that will blow your socks off. Highly recommended.
With thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for a digital copy to read.
This is such an emotional and heart-breaking story of a family struggling to hold it all together. Megan's new husband, the detective who was originally in charge of Daniel's case, is so understanding and compassionate in a situation that many men couldn't handle. Megan is having difficulty coping with her feelings and reactions, wanting to smother her son with love but knowing she has to stand back and give him space to deal with grieving for his father and just hope he will gradually come to trust them. Daniel is also struggling with his feelings as he comes to realise that he has had his childhood taken from him and a lot of what his father told him is twisted and untrue. The author really has painted a thoughtful and provocative picture of what it would be like to have your child returned to you, hostile and angry, after six years on the run with a controlling and antagonistic parent. And to top it all off, she has delivered an explosive ending that will blow your socks off. Highly recommended.
With thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for a digital copy to read.
December 5, 2019
3.5★
“Greg could be charming and convincing when he wanted to be. Megan knew that better than anyone. She had found herself easily persuaded out of her own opinions and thoughts for years.”
[My notes don't include any spoilers, as the promotional material for the book clearly describes the situations I've alluded to.]
Megan had been charmed into marrying him and then convinced to stay for several years, in spite of increased misgivings. She adores her little boy, Daniel, and the two are very close. But Daniel also loves his dad, which makes it especially hard to consider a break-up.
But when push comes to shove, literally, she calls it quits. Greg moves out and sees Daniel on alternate weekends, saying he’s too busy with work to manage anything more. He seems desperate to win her back, to bring her back under his control, to make them a family. He swears he is devoted to her and only her.
She was never good enough for his parents, however, who still live in England. His mother writes to Megan, begging that she allow Daniel to continue to visit them from Australia and not punish them with the split.
Then the unthinkable. One day after school, Daniel is not at the gate and she’s told his father picked him up. The book then moves back and forth between the early days of their marriage to six years later, when Daniel is located, and then occasionally flashes back to Daniel living with his father in Australia or elsewhere.
I enjoyed this particular passage. Anyone who’s ever hurried a schoolboy to get ready will recognise a kid like this.
“In the living room, six-year-old Daniel is dressed in his sports pants. Bare-chested, his ribs protrude, fighting with his collarbones for angles in almost comical opposition to his chubby cheeks.”
There’s something heart-achingly endearing about the angles and elbows and ‘wings’ on active little boys. That’s how she remembers Daniel, so six years later, at 12, she realises she’s missed the transformation.
Megan has survived the six intervening years with the help of her parents, family, friends, and particularly from a couple of Facebook friends she’s made through the blog she writes about missing Daniel. They share stories and commiserate about their lost kids. She also leans on the detective who never gave up looking for Daniel.
“‘Okay,’ agrees Megan, unable to comprehend the practicalities. This is one of the things she has come to rely on Michael for: his ability to bullet point any situation so that it can be managed. She will follow his instructions because she can’t think for herself right now.”
She is often reduced to sobbing and running, but not so often that it interferes with the flow of the story, if I can put it that way. We know how awful it is, but the story keeps moving along, pulling readers with it.
I realised fairly early most of what had happened, but I enjoyed it and I’m sure the author will gain a lot of new fans with this one.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the preview copy from which I've quoted.
“Greg could be charming and convincing when he wanted to be. Megan knew that better than anyone. She had found herself easily persuaded out of her own opinions and thoughts for years.”
[My notes don't include any spoilers, as the promotional material for the book clearly describes the situations I've alluded to.]
Megan had been charmed into marrying him and then convinced to stay for several years, in spite of increased misgivings. She adores her little boy, Daniel, and the two are very close. But Daniel also loves his dad, which makes it especially hard to consider a break-up.
But when push comes to shove, literally, she calls it quits. Greg moves out and sees Daniel on alternate weekends, saying he’s too busy with work to manage anything more. He seems desperate to win her back, to bring her back under his control, to make them a family. He swears he is devoted to her and only her.
She was never good enough for his parents, however, who still live in England. His mother writes to Megan, begging that she allow Daniel to continue to visit them from Australia and not punish them with the split.
Then the unthinkable. One day after school, Daniel is not at the gate and she’s told his father picked him up. The book then moves back and forth between the early days of their marriage to six years later, when Daniel is located, and then occasionally flashes back to Daniel living with his father in Australia or elsewhere.
I enjoyed this particular passage. Anyone who’s ever hurried a schoolboy to get ready will recognise a kid like this.
“In the living room, six-year-old Daniel is dressed in his sports pants. Bare-chested, his ribs protrude, fighting with his collarbones for angles in almost comical opposition to his chubby cheeks.”
There’s something heart-achingly endearing about the angles and elbows and ‘wings’ on active little boys. That’s how she remembers Daniel, so six years later, at 12, she realises she’s missed the transformation.
Megan has survived the six intervening years with the help of her parents, family, friends, and particularly from a couple of Facebook friends she’s made through the blog she writes about missing Daniel. They share stories and commiserate about their lost kids. She also leans on the detective who never gave up looking for Daniel.
“‘Okay,’ agrees Megan, unable to comprehend the practicalities. This is one of the things she has come to rely on Michael for: his ability to bullet point any situation so that it can be managed. She will follow his instructions because she can’t think for herself right now.”
She is often reduced to sobbing and running, but not so often that it interferes with the flow of the story, if I can put it that way. We know how awful it is, but the story keeps moving along, pulling readers with it.
I realised fairly early most of what had happened, but I enjoyed it and I’m sure the author will gain a lot of new fans with this one.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the preview copy from which I've quoted.
July 26, 2019
EXCERPT: She becomes aware of the silence at the other end of the phone, and without the slightest warning, a prickling sensation crawls up her arms. Her heart rate speeds up. Her breathing accelerates like it does when she's running.
'Found who?' she asks again, slowly, carefully, deliberately repeating the words.
'Daniel,' says Michael. 'They found Daniel.'
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Megan waits at the school gates for her six-year-old son, Daniel. As children come and go, the playground emptying, panic bubbles inside her. Daniel is nowhere to be found.
According to his teacher, Daniel’s father, Greg, has picked up his son. Except Greg and Megan are no longer together. After years of being controlled by her cruel husband, Megan has finally found the courage to divorce him. Hands trembling, she dials his number, but the line is dead.
Six years later
Megan is feeding baby daughter, Evie, when she gets the call she has dreamt about for years. Daniel has walked into a police station in a remote town just a few miles away. Her son is alive – and he’s coming home.
But their joyful family reunion does not go to plan. His room may have been frozen in time, with his Cookie Monster poster and stack of Lego under the bed, but Daniel is no longer the sweet little boy Megan remembers.
Cold and distant, Daniel is grieving the death of his father, blaming Megan for his loss and rejecting his family. And as Megan struggles to connect with the son she no longer recognises as her own, she begins to realise that Daniel has a secret. A secret that could destroy their family and put them in terrible danger.
MY THOUGHTS: OMG!!!!! An absolute meteor shower of stars for this one! Fantabulous! Jaw-dropping. Twisty. Emotionally draining. But so, so wonderful....
Told over two time-lines, the present when Daniel is reunited with his mother, and the time during which he was living on the run with his father, and from the points of view of Daniel and Megan, this book left me shattered and unable to start reading anything else for a couple of days.
Nicole Trope has the ability to transfer our emotions and fears and joys to the page, and to make us experience every emotion and feeling along with her characters. She has written some brilliant books previously, but The Boy in the Photo outshines every one of them.
If we could rate a book 100 stars, I would give them to The Boy in the Photo. An outstanding read.
*****
THE AUTHOR: Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature. After the birth of her first child she stayed home full time to write and raise children, renovate houses and build a business with her husband.
The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story. Her second novel, Three Hours Late, was voted one of Fifty Books you can’t put down in 2013 and her third novel, The Secrets in Silence, was The Australian Woman’s Weekly Book of the month for June 2014.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope for review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own personal opinions.
Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.
This review and others are also published on my webpage EXCERPT: I'll tell you everything that happened, starting from the beginning. My first impression of Aiden was that he was a potential thief. If only I'd listened to my instincts, I would've turned and run in the opposite direction. But that's not what I did. I walked toward him. And I will always blame myself for what came after.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: There is a stranger outside Caroline's house.
Her spectacular new beach house, built for hosting expensive parties and vacationing with the family she thought she'd have. But her husband is lying to her and everything in her life is upside down, so when the stranger, Aiden, shows up as a bartender at the same party where Caroline and her husband have a very public fight, it doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.
As her marriage collapses around her and the lavish lifestyle she's built for herself starts to crumble, Caroline turns to Aiden for comfort...and revenge. After a brief and desperate fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aiden's obsession with Caroline, her family, and her house grows more and more disturbing. And when Caroline's husband goes missing, her life descends into a nightmare that leaves her accused of her husband's murder.
MY THOUGHTS: Deliciously trashy....I read this overnight, totally unsure of where it was going. In fact, I didn't figure it out until the 80% mark, and even then I wasn't totally sure I was right.
The story is told from two points of view; Caroline's and Aiden's, and their accounts of the events differ markedly. So who is telling the truth? Aiden? Or Caroline? Or is the truth somewhere inbetween?
Have fun finding out. I did.
😍🤩😍🤩
THE AUTHOR: Michele Campbell is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School and a former federal prosecutor in New York City who specialized in international narcotics and gang cases.
A while back, she said goodbye to her big-city legal career and moved with her husband and two children to an idyllic New England college town a lot like Belle River in IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND. Since then, she has spent her time teaching criminal and constitutional law and writing novels.
She's had many close female friends, a few frenemies, and only one husband, who – to the best of her knowledge – has never tried to kill her.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Goodreads.com and my webpage https://wordpress.com/post/sandysbook...
'Found who?' she asks again, slowly, carefully, deliberately repeating the words.
'Daniel,' says Michael. 'They found Daniel.'
ABOUT THIS BOOK: Megan waits at the school gates for her six-year-old son, Daniel. As children come and go, the playground emptying, panic bubbles inside her. Daniel is nowhere to be found.
According to his teacher, Daniel’s father, Greg, has picked up his son. Except Greg and Megan are no longer together. After years of being controlled by her cruel husband, Megan has finally found the courage to divorce him. Hands trembling, she dials his number, but the line is dead.
Six years later
Megan is feeding baby daughter, Evie, when she gets the call she has dreamt about for years. Daniel has walked into a police station in a remote town just a few miles away. Her son is alive – and he’s coming home.
But their joyful family reunion does not go to plan. His room may have been frozen in time, with his Cookie Monster poster and stack of Lego under the bed, but Daniel is no longer the sweet little boy Megan remembers.
Cold and distant, Daniel is grieving the death of his father, blaming Megan for his loss and rejecting his family. And as Megan struggles to connect with the son she no longer recognises as her own, she begins to realise that Daniel has a secret. A secret that could destroy their family and put them in terrible danger.
MY THOUGHTS: OMG!!!!! An absolute meteor shower of stars for this one! Fantabulous! Jaw-dropping. Twisty. Emotionally draining. But so, so wonderful....
Told over two time-lines, the present when Daniel is reunited with his mother, and the time during which he was living on the run with his father, and from the points of view of Daniel and Megan, this book left me shattered and unable to start reading anything else for a couple of days.
Nicole Trope has the ability to transfer our emotions and fears and joys to the page, and to make us experience every emotion and feeling along with her characters. She has written some brilliant books previously, but The Boy in the Photo outshines every one of them.
If we could rate a book 100 stars, I would give them to The Boy in the Photo. An outstanding read.
*****
THE AUTHOR: Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature. After the birth of her first child she stayed home full time to write and raise children, renovate houses and build a business with her husband.
The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story. Her second novel, Three Hours Late, was voted one of Fifty Books you can’t put down in 2013 and her third novel, The Secrets in Silence, was The Australian Woman’s Weekly Book of the month for June 2014.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope for review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own personal opinions.
Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.
This review and others are also published on my webpage EXCERPT: I'll tell you everything that happened, starting from the beginning. My first impression of Aiden was that he was a potential thief. If only I'd listened to my instincts, I would've turned and run in the opposite direction. But that's not what I did. I walked toward him. And I will always blame myself for what came after.
ABOUT THIS BOOK: There is a stranger outside Caroline's house.
Her spectacular new beach house, built for hosting expensive parties and vacationing with the family she thought she'd have. But her husband is lying to her and everything in her life is upside down, so when the stranger, Aiden, shows up as a bartender at the same party where Caroline and her husband have a very public fight, it doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary.
As her marriage collapses around her and the lavish lifestyle she's built for herself starts to crumble, Caroline turns to Aiden for comfort...and revenge. After a brief and desperate fling that means nothing to Caroline and everything to him, Aiden's obsession with Caroline, her family, and her house grows more and more disturbing. And when Caroline's husband goes missing, her life descends into a nightmare that leaves her accused of her husband's murder.
MY THOUGHTS: Deliciously trashy....I read this overnight, totally unsure of where it was going. In fact, I didn't figure it out until the 80% mark, and even then I wasn't totally sure I was right.
The story is told from two points of view; Caroline's and Aiden's, and their accounts of the events differ markedly. So who is telling the truth? Aiden? Or Caroline? Or is the truth somewhere inbetween?
Have fun finding out. I did.
😍🤩😍🤩
THE AUTHOR: Michele Campbell is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School and a former federal prosecutor in New York City who specialized in international narcotics and gang cases.
A while back, she said goodbye to her big-city legal career and moved with her husband and two children to an idyllic New England college town a lot like Belle River in IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND. Since then, she has spent her time teaching criminal and constitutional law and writing novels.
She's had many close female friends, a few frenemies, and only one husband, who – to the best of her knowledge – has never tried to kill her.
DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.
Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.
This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Goodreads.com and my webpage https://wordpress.com/post/sandysbook...
March 30, 2021
Megan ,s husband Greg is mentally unbalanced, physically & emotionally abusive even though he says he still loves her & says he will do anything for her, but he always seems to beat her down all the time, now Married to Michael a detective who was on her son's Daniel going missing after she went to puck him up from school.
Then Megan tries everything to get her son back even meeting parents online who have lost children in different circumstances talks regularly which makes her cope better, Daniel was only six years old. Now she has a daughter Evie who she & Michael adore.
There is news from the police that they may have found Daniel but Daniel isn't the same boy she lost he looks dirty no shoes except flip flops on his feet hair down to his back & a very angry little boy who hates her, no matter how hard Megan & Michael try to make him at home .
Daniel is scarred Megan doesn't know how to handle his anger so takes him to a therapist which he goes once a week, but all of a sudden Daniel takes interest in his sister Eva which Megan is sceptical as he has never been interested in before. All i can say is that there were twists & turns galore in this book, it also was hard to read at times i found it confronting my emotions were everywhere this pulled at my heartstrings, it was a page turner i could not put it down a well written novel that has a dark side to it i loved every minute.
Then Megan tries everything to get her son back even meeting parents online who have lost children in different circumstances talks regularly which makes her cope better, Daniel was only six years old. Now she has a daughter Evie who she & Michael adore.
There is news from the police that they may have found Daniel but Daniel isn't the same boy she lost he looks dirty no shoes except flip flops on his feet hair down to his back & a very angry little boy who hates her, no matter how hard Megan & Michael try to make him at home .
Daniel is scarred Megan doesn't know how to handle his anger so takes him to a therapist which he goes once a week, but all of a sudden Daniel takes interest in his sister Eva which Megan is sceptical as he has never been interested in before. All i can say is that there were twists & turns galore in this book, it also was hard to read at times i found it confronting my emotions were everywhere this pulled at my heartstrings, it was a page turner i could not put it down a well written novel that has a dark side to it i loved every minute.
March 20, 2024
Six years ago, Megan’s son Daniel was abducted during school pick up by his father after a contentious divorce. The book opens with Megan receiving the news that Daniel has been found. She hasn’t seen him since he was six years old. He’s now twelve. But many questions remain, including where he’s been all this time, what happened to his father, and Daniel is highly traumatized and very unwilling to talk. In the six years since he’s been gone, Megan has remarried to Michael, the detective who has been working on her son’s case. They now have a baby daughter.
At first, I was sure I had this mystery figured out. I was completely off the mark. This went in quite a few directions I did not expect and caught me by surprise several times in the final chapters with plot twists I didn’t see coming.
At first, I was sure I had this mystery figured out. I was completely off the mark. This went in quite a few directions I did not expect and caught me by surprise several times in the final chapters with plot twists I didn’t see coming.
June 25, 2019
When six-year-old Daniel was abducted from his school, with Megan waiting outside for him to appear, she first thought he must have gone with a friend. But when she realized what had happened, the panic became uncontrollable. The police were involved; all Megan’s friends and family were contacted as well as Daniel’s friends – he was nowhere to be found. The search began immediately – the quest would be long and heart breaking.
Six years later Megan received a phone call – the one she’d been praying for for six long years. Daniel had been found. But the twelve-year-old son who returned was no longer the six-year-old boy who had vanished. Surly, blank faced, angry – Megan wanted desperately to smother him with love. But she had to step back. Daniel was faced with a stepfather and a little sister, Evie whom he’d had no idea about. He was grieving and had been told unimaginable untruths – he had no idea what or who to believe. And the years in between – Megan couldn’t begin to comprehend what he had been through…
The Boy in the Photo is an incredible psychological thriller by Aussie author Nicole Trope, with a spectacular twist at the end! Set in Sydney as well as a small country town near where I live – where I drive through often – it was eerily familiar. The twists and turns, the emotional heartbreak, the family dynamics – all came together to create an excellent read which I highly recommend.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Six years later Megan received a phone call – the one she’d been praying for for six long years. Daniel had been found. But the twelve-year-old son who returned was no longer the six-year-old boy who had vanished. Surly, blank faced, angry – Megan wanted desperately to smother him with love. But she had to step back. Daniel was faced with a stepfather and a little sister, Evie whom he’d had no idea about. He was grieving and had been told unimaginable untruths – he had no idea what or who to believe. And the years in between – Megan couldn’t begin to comprehend what he had been through…
The Boy in the Photo is an incredible psychological thriller by Aussie author Nicole Trope, with a spectacular twist at the end! Set in Sydney as well as a small country town near where I live – where I drive through often – it was eerily familiar. The twists and turns, the emotional heartbreak, the family dynamics – all came together to create an excellent read which I highly recommend.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
July 1, 2021
The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope is a thriller novel centered around a mother’s worst nightmare, her child being taken. The book is told from two different timelines of the past and the present.
Six years ago Megan was adjusting to being a single mother after divorcing her controlling and abusive husband. One day Megan goes to the school to wait for her six year old to be dismissed only to find that he was already gone from the school. Police determined Daniel had been taken by his father leaving the country and vanishing without a trace.
Now, six years later, Megan has finally began living her life again after years of living in limbo hoping and praying for her son’s return. Megan had gotten close to the detective assigned Daniel’s case and the two had married having a daughter together. When the phone call comes in the Daniel has been found Megan is overjoyed but hesitant about now having a twelve year old she does not know at all.
Having read Nicole Trope before I expected this book to have wonderful writing and sure enough it did pull me right into the story and was easy to follow as it switched between telling the story in both timelines. The one thing that brought my rating down though was I knew right away how the story would work out in the end so when it all wrapped up there were no real twists or surprises for me with it being so easy for me to work out. Since I did find it engaging and flew through the pages until I got to the end I gave the story three and a half stars despite guessing the outcome.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
Six years ago Megan was adjusting to being a single mother after divorcing her controlling and abusive husband. One day Megan goes to the school to wait for her six year old to be dismissed only to find that he was already gone from the school. Police determined Daniel had been taken by his father leaving the country and vanishing without a trace.
Now, six years later, Megan has finally began living her life again after years of living in limbo hoping and praying for her son’s return. Megan had gotten close to the detective assigned Daniel’s case and the two had married having a daughter together. When the phone call comes in the Daniel has been found Megan is overjoyed but hesitant about now having a twelve year old she does not know at all.
Having read Nicole Trope before I expected this book to have wonderful writing and sure enough it did pull me right into the story and was easy to follow as it switched between telling the story in both timelines. The one thing that brought my rating down though was I knew right away how the story would work out in the end so when it all wrapped up there were no real twists or surprises for me with it being so easy for me to work out. Since I did find it engaging and flew through the pages until I got to the end I gave the story three and a half stars despite guessing the outcome.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
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June 2, 2019The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope is a thriller I could not put down and read in one day.
Megan's six year old son Daniel is abducted from school by his dad, Megan's ex husband. The police try to find him and Megan never gives up hope of him being found.
Six years later Megan is married again and has a baby daughter. She gets a phone call to say that her son Daniel has been found.
Daniel is very different from the son she lost and blames her for everything.
This is a heartbreaking story of a mother trying to reconnect with her son and does everything she can to get him to trust her again.
A few twists and turns in this story and I correctly predicted where the story was heading but this didn't affect my enjoyment of the book.
This is the first book I have read by this author and will be looking out for more of her work.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
Megan's six year old son Daniel is abducted from school by his dad, Megan's ex husband. The police try to find him and Megan never gives up hope of him being found.
Six years later Megan is married again and has a baby daughter. She gets a phone call to say that her son Daniel has been found.
Daniel is very different from the son she lost and blames her for everything.
This is a heartbreaking story of a mother trying to reconnect with her son and does everything she can to get him to trust her again.
A few twists and turns in this story and I correctly predicted where the story was heading but this didn't affect my enjoyment of the book.
This is the first book I have read by this author and will be looking out for more of her work.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.
August 22, 2019
I received a free e-copy of The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope from NetGalley for my honest review.
Daniel was abducted at age 6. He is later reunited with his Mom. Megan, but he is not the little boy she remembered. The truth is he absolutely scares her.
An emotional, heat-breaking read.
Daniel was abducted at age 6. He is later reunited with his Mom. Megan, but he is not the little boy she remembered. The truth is he absolutely scares her.
An emotional, heat-breaking read.
June 29, 2019
4.5★s
“…she has lost an affectionate little boy and found a skittish, rigid adolescent in his place.”
The Boy In The Photo is the eighth novel by Australian author, Nicole Trope. It’s hard to imagine. Six years of wondering if she would ever see her son again. When Daniel was almost seven, Megan’s abusive ex-husband collected him from school. Greg had a passport for the boy, and it soon became apparent that he’d fed her a bunch of lies: a false address, a job he’d quit, and a mobile he wasn’t answering. His parents, in England, were hostile, but Megan was convinced that’s where Greg and Daniel had gone.
Detective Michael Kade was so touched by Megan’s plight, he couldn’t let it go. His devotion to the case gradually led to him marrying Megan, and now they had a baby daughter, Evie. But six years on, Daniel suddenly walks out of the bush, into a police station and announces who he is. He says their bush shack near Heddon Greta burnt down with his father perishing inside. And says little else.
When they arrive at Heddon Greta, Megan is anxious: how much of her sweet little boy will be left after he has been fed a diet of his father’s hateful stories? She had eventually realised Greg was a sociopath and had spent too long during the intervening years feeling guilty that she had not prevented this. The reunion with this boy who is essentially a stranger is not quite the joyful event they had hoped for.
Some of what Daniel relates doesn’t tally with the physical evidence, but after the trauma he has obviously suffered, he is reticent and they are reluctant to push him too hard. In the days and weeks that follow, Daniel runs hot and cold: sometimes he allows himself to enjoy Megan’s attention and even shares snippets from the last six years (often to Megan’s alarm). At other times, Daniel almost seems to be channelling Greg and Megan feels helpless: “I don’t know who he is now. I don’t know how to speak to him. He won’t even let me touch him”.
The story is carried by a dual narrative that is split over time: Megan’s perspective gives the reader the day that Daniel was taken, and each successive anniversary of that day, as well as the days and weeks following Daniel’s return; Daniel’s thoughts on his birthdays reveal some of his life with Greg. The heartbreak of those milestone days is expertly illustrated.
The premise that underlies this story has such marvellous potential and Trope explores it to great advantage. Even if the plot is fairly predictable (Daniel’s secret is fairly obvious from the start, as are a few other twists), Trope’s strength is her portrayal of her characters’ emotional trauma, which is so realistic, it’s virtually impossible for the reader not to be moved by her situation and anxious for her to really reconnect with Daniel.
Trope gives Megan some insightful thoughts: “What happens to a child who has had this experience? wonders Megan. How does he grow up and get married or become a father? How does he ever learn to be safe inside his own skin, inside his own thoughts?” There’s an exciting climax (although the gimmicky shock is unnecessary) and a very satisfactory end to this thought-provoking novel.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Bookouture
“…she has lost an affectionate little boy and found a skittish, rigid adolescent in his place.”
The Boy In The Photo is the eighth novel by Australian author, Nicole Trope. It’s hard to imagine. Six years of wondering if she would ever see her son again. When Daniel was almost seven, Megan’s abusive ex-husband collected him from school. Greg had a passport for the boy, and it soon became apparent that he’d fed her a bunch of lies: a false address, a job he’d quit, and a mobile he wasn’t answering. His parents, in England, were hostile, but Megan was convinced that’s where Greg and Daniel had gone.
Detective Michael Kade was so touched by Megan’s plight, he couldn’t let it go. His devotion to the case gradually led to him marrying Megan, and now they had a baby daughter, Evie. But six years on, Daniel suddenly walks out of the bush, into a police station and announces who he is. He says their bush shack near Heddon Greta burnt down with his father perishing inside. And says little else.
When they arrive at Heddon Greta, Megan is anxious: how much of her sweet little boy will be left after he has been fed a diet of his father’s hateful stories? She had eventually realised Greg was a sociopath and had spent too long during the intervening years feeling guilty that she had not prevented this. The reunion with this boy who is essentially a stranger is not quite the joyful event they had hoped for.
Some of what Daniel relates doesn’t tally with the physical evidence, but after the trauma he has obviously suffered, he is reticent and they are reluctant to push him too hard. In the days and weeks that follow, Daniel runs hot and cold: sometimes he allows himself to enjoy Megan’s attention and even shares snippets from the last six years (often to Megan’s alarm). At other times, Daniel almost seems to be channelling Greg and Megan feels helpless: “I don’t know who he is now. I don’t know how to speak to him. He won’t even let me touch him”.
The story is carried by a dual narrative that is split over time: Megan’s perspective gives the reader the day that Daniel was taken, and each successive anniversary of that day, as well as the days and weeks following Daniel’s return; Daniel’s thoughts on his birthdays reveal some of his life with Greg. The heartbreak of those milestone days is expertly illustrated.
The premise that underlies this story has such marvellous potential and Trope explores it to great advantage. Even if the plot is fairly predictable (Daniel’s secret is fairly obvious from the start, as are a few other twists), Trope’s strength is her portrayal of her characters’ emotional trauma, which is so realistic, it’s virtually impossible for the reader not to be moved by her situation and anxious for her to really reconnect with Daniel.
Trope gives Megan some insightful thoughts: “What happens to a child who has had this experience? wonders Megan. How does he grow up and get married or become a father? How does he ever learn to be safe inside his own skin, inside his own thoughts?” There’s an exciting climax (although the gimmicky shock is unnecessary) and a very satisfactory end to this thought-provoking novel.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Bookouture
March 28, 2022
Um Daniel que já não é Daniel
No que seria suposto ser um dia normal na vida de Megan, o pior acontece:
Daniel, o seu filhote de 6 anos foi raptado pelo seu ex, após a sua recusa peremptória em reatar o anterior relacionamento abusivo de ambos
Porém, passados 6 anos, eis que o ansiado regresso de Daniel acontece. Só que…Daniel já não é o mesmo:
O doce garoto de 6 anos que Megan antes conhecera fora “deletado” por um pai sociopata, e substituído por um adolescente desconfiado, agressivo e pouco comunicativo…
Depois de conviver 6 anos com a dor da perda do filho, o pesadelo de Megan prossegue num novo quadro:
Megan tem, agora, um árduo desafio que consiste em conectar-se com um Daniel desconhecido e traumatizado — um Daniel que já não é Daniel…
O Rapaz da Fotografia é um thriller com uma forte componente psicológica cuja leitura nos irá arrebatar, surpreender e comover. Quanto a mim, tem tudo o que se pode exigir dum livro do género!
No que seria suposto ser um dia normal na vida de Megan, o pior acontece:
Daniel, o seu filhote de 6 anos foi raptado pelo seu ex, após a sua recusa peremptória em reatar o anterior relacionamento abusivo de ambos
Porém, passados 6 anos, eis que o ansiado regresso de Daniel acontece. Só que…Daniel já não é o mesmo:
O doce garoto de 6 anos que Megan antes conhecera fora “deletado” por um pai sociopata, e substituído por um adolescente desconfiado, agressivo e pouco comunicativo…
Depois de conviver 6 anos com a dor da perda do filho, o pesadelo de Megan prossegue num novo quadro:
Megan tem, agora, um árduo desafio que consiste em conectar-se com um Daniel desconhecido e traumatizado — um Daniel que já não é Daniel…
O Rapaz da Fotografia é um thriller com uma forte componente psicológica cuja leitura nos irá arrebatar, surpreender e comover. Quanto a mim, tem tudo o que se pode exigir dum livro do género!
June 8, 2021
Six years ago, Megan's ex-husband took their young son out of school and disappeared. Daniel was 6 years old. She has since remarried and has an infant daughter.
Today she received a phone call ... her son had walked into a police station, gave his name and said his father was dead.
Megan has dreamed about this moment every day for 6 years. But the reunion isn't going as well as expected. Daniel seems cold and distant ... and angry. He is grieving the loss of his father and doesn't seem to connect with his family. Daniel is not the same little boy who has spent six years with a cruel father who has filled his head with lies.
But Daniel has a terrible secret that he can't share .....
It's an emotional journey, from the day he left with his father, through every anniversary date, up to and including the events of today. The story is told by Daniel and by Megan. There are some heart-breaking moments with a few surprises along the way. Watch out for the major twist at the conclusion.
Many thanks to the author / Grand Central Publishing / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological drama. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Today she received a phone call ... her son had walked into a police station, gave his name and said his father was dead.
Megan has dreamed about this moment every day for 6 years. But the reunion isn't going as well as expected. Daniel seems cold and distant ... and angry. He is grieving the loss of his father and doesn't seem to connect with his family. Daniel is not the same little boy who has spent six years with a cruel father who has filled his head with lies.
But Daniel has a terrible secret that he can't share .....
It's an emotional journey, from the day he left with his father, through every anniversary date, up to and including the events of today. The story is told by Daniel and by Megan. There are some heart-breaking moments with a few surprises along the way. Watch out for the major twist at the conclusion.
Many thanks to the author / Grand Central Publishing / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological drama. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
January 6, 2022
I work as a volunteer for a non profit in So Cal with mothers whose kids have been kidnapped by non custodial parents. The hard part isn't finding the kids, it's getting the families back together. This book is about the amount of physical, mental and emotional abuse sustained by an entire family involved in such a circumstance. Well written, but somewhat confusing at the end.
And yep, if it's 11 pm, you know it means I had to finish it tonight!
And yep, if it's 11 pm, you know it means I had to finish it tonight!
August 21, 2021
Six years ago: Megan waits at the school gates for her six year old son, Daniel. As children come and go, the playground emptying, Daniel is nowhere to be found. According to his teacher his father, Greg, picked him up. But Greg and Megan are no longer together.
Six years later: Megan is feeding her baby daughter, Evie when she gets the call she has dreamt about for years. Daniel has walked into a police station. Her son is alive and he's coming home. But their joyful family reunion does not go to plan.
When Greg takes Daniel out of school, Megan's world is turned upside down. She does everything she can to find them, even hiring a private investigator, but they seem to have disappeared without trace. But six years later, the Daniel who returns is not the happy little boy Megan once knew. He's sullen. keeping something back from Megan and he doesn't seem to like the fact that his mother has remarried and has a new baby. I did guess correctly about most of the story, some of the clues were quite obvious, but there were other things that I missed. The characters were well fleshed out. I think the author was spot on about how a mother would feel and act if there child had vanished without trace. This is an intriguing and well written book that held my attention throughout.
#Kindle #MyOwnCopy
Six years later: Megan is feeding her baby daughter, Evie when she gets the call she has dreamt about for years. Daniel has walked into a police station. Her son is alive and he's coming home. But their joyful family reunion does not go to plan.
When Greg takes Daniel out of school, Megan's world is turned upside down. She does everything she can to find them, even hiring a private investigator, but they seem to have disappeared without trace. But six years later, the Daniel who returns is not the happy little boy Megan once knew. He's sullen. keeping something back from Megan and he doesn't seem to like the fact that his mother has remarried and has a new baby. I did guess correctly about most of the story, some of the clues were quite obvious, but there were other things that I missed. The characters were well fleshed out. I think the author was spot on about how a mother would feel and act if there child had vanished without trace. This is an intriguing and well written book that held my attention throughout.
#Kindle #MyOwnCopy
December 26, 2020
While the set up was great, but the story quickly fell flat for me. Too much repetition by both characters, Megan and Daniel. I wasn't convinced that the child would be so hate-filled toward a mother whom he had loved. And I couldn't believe that Megan would be so trusting to strangers she knows only online.
In my opinion, the author never really let the monster out. With all the horrors of today's world, harsh and demeaning words aren't enough.
In my opinion, the author never really let the monster out. With all the horrors of today's world, harsh and demeaning words aren't enough.
October 28, 2019
Couldn't get through this. Maybe I'll come back to it someday, but here's my summary of the first 1/2ish....A womans emotionally manipulative and physically abusive ex husband kidnaps her young son and disappears. 6 years later her son returns..... and the woman seemingly did not realize that her manipulative, controlling, violent son-kidnapping ex husband might have told their son some lies about why he never got to see his mom anymore, why he now lived with his dad in another country and never goes to school and cant see his old friends or any other family members. How the heck could she not know that her ex HAD to have told the boy some sort of lies..... When her son asks why she sent him to live with his dad and never contacted them, instead of telling him the truth or SEEKING PROFESSIONAL HELP IMMEDIATELY, she opts to be respectful (I guess?) to her kidnapper ex husband who didnt ever send the boy to school or seem to care for the child's basic needs.... so she doesnt even hint at the truth about the boys father or why they divorced, and barely refutes the statement that she had sent her son away, and doesnt bother to detail her search or show him how hard she searched for him for 6 years. She continuously seems baffled when he son doesn't act the same towards her after his 6 years with her manipulative and emotionally abusive ex husband, yet STILL DOESNT SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP and omg I just cant keep reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2019
I spent the whole book waiting for something to happen. When it finally did, the book ended two seconds later.
This is one of those books where the author gets so caught up in building to the (super obvious) twist that she forgets to develop the characters and tell a compelling story along the way. As a result, when the twist finally came, I truly didn't care what happened to any of these people and was just ready to be done. The book had potiental but ended up falling flat.
We spend the majority of the book trapped inside Megan's head. She thinks about how much she's missed her son and how much he's changed, goes back and forth about whether she's allowed to be disappointed that he's different, wonders endlessly what he's been through and why he does this or that, on and on and on. It's actually comical at times how much of this book is simply Megan getting caught up in her own thoughts. She'll start inner-monologuing in the middle of a conversation and keep at it so long you actually forget there's another character in the room still waiting for an answer to their question.
The son was interesting and I found his reaction to trauma pretty realistic, but the author didn't really do much to explore what was going on with him. I think too much emphasis was put on making the reader wonder what he was up to and the story suffered as a result, because who wants to read a book about a character endlessly guessing what another is thinking? His relationship with Megan wasn't explored much either outside of Megan's head. They have very few actual conversations, most of which end with him predictably lashing out and Megan immediately shrinking away to wallow in more self-pity (and start contemplating her next feeble attempt at speaking aloud).
Megan goes back and forth between the extremes of finding Daniel sweet and innocent and wanting to comfort him, and wondering if he's now an irredeemable monster who is up to no good. She never seems to seriously consider that maybe there's a grey area here (the author doesn't seem to like those; the supporting characters are just as black-and-white) and overall she just seems too caught up in her own head to be much help to him.
To sum up: When I say "nothing happened", I don't mean that all we got was a simple, uneventful mother-and-son-reunite-after-years-apart story without an exciting twist. That's something I could have gotten on board with. By "nothing happened", I mean that the majority of the book could be summed up as "woman stares into space and gets swept up in yet another repetitive, anxious inner monologue, even though her last one wrapped up two pages ago".
This is one of those books where the author gets so caught up in building to the (super obvious) twist that she forgets to develop the characters and tell a compelling story along the way. As a result, when the twist finally came, I truly didn't care what happened to any of these people and was just ready to be done. The book had potiental but ended up falling flat.
We spend the majority of the book trapped inside Megan's head. She thinks about how much she's missed her son and how much he's changed, goes back and forth about whether she's allowed to be disappointed that he's different, wonders endlessly what he's been through and why he does this or that, on and on and on. It's actually comical at times how much of this book is simply Megan getting caught up in her own thoughts. She'll start inner-monologuing in the middle of a conversation and keep at it so long you actually forget there's another character in the room still waiting for an answer to their question.
The son was interesting and I found his reaction to trauma pretty realistic, but the author didn't really do much to explore what was going on with him. I think too much emphasis was put on making the reader wonder what he was up to and the story suffered as a result, because who wants to read a book about a character endlessly guessing what another is thinking? His relationship with Megan wasn't explored much either outside of Megan's head. They have very few actual conversations, most of which end with him predictably lashing out and Megan immediately shrinking away to wallow in more self-pity (and start contemplating her next feeble attempt at speaking aloud).
Megan goes back and forth between the extremes of finding Daniel sweet and innocent and wanting to comfort him, and wondering if he's now an irredeemable monster who is up to no good. She never seems to seriously consider that maybe there's a grey area here (the author doesn't seem to like those; the supporting characters are just as black-and-white) and overall she just seems too caught up in her own head to be much help to him.
To sum up: When I say "nothing happened", I don't mean that all we got was a simple, uneventful mother-and-son-reunite-after-years-apart story without an exciting twist. That's something I could have gotten on board with. By "nothing happened", I mean that the majority of the book could be summed up as "woman stares into space and gets swept up in yet another repetitive, anxious inner monologue, even though her last one wrapped up two pages ago".
July 10, 2019
Megan is divorced and is raising six-year old son Daniel. One day, when picking him up from school, he is nowhere to be found. Quite naturally, in full panic mode, Megan approaches school authorities. When it is discovered that her ex-husband, Greg, actually picked Daniel up, the police are notified, as this was not part of the custody arrangement. Despite several phone calls, along with the police's help, Greg and Daniel have completely disappeared.
Fast forward six years later. Megan has never given up looking for Daniel, having used whatever sources she could. She is now married again, with a baby, Evie. One day her now husband, Michael, a detective, calls her with the news that Daniel has been found. Equally eager and nervous, Megan prepares to reunite with Daniel.
Things are quite difficult now that Daniel is back with Megan. For starters, his head was filled with awful lies about her so he is more than guarded. Not only is Daniel now missing his father, he has a secret and odd behaviors that give both Megan and Michael pause.
The story is mainly focused on the present, but snippets of Daniel's life while living with his father are revealed. Sadly, the dangerously abusive situation that Megan experienced with Greg are in some ways being reflected in Daniel's thoughts and actions. Not only does Megan worry about her daughter's safety around Daniel, but she is worried about her own.
This was truly a heartbreaking story. Quite naturally, I was very sad for Daniel for having his childhood snatched by a cruel father, but I so worried about the adjustment period. Also of concern was whether or not Daniel would be able to trust his mother after hearing the things his father told him. This highly charged book had an explosive ending that left me in tears.
There were a few twists and turns in this compelling story, but the one at the end left me in utter shock. I hadn't read anything by Nicole Trope before so I simply was not prepared for the excellence that was laid before me.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.
Fast forward six years later. Megan has never given up looking for Daniel, having used whatever sources she could. She is now married again, with a baby, Evie. One day her now husband, Michael, a detective, calls her with the news that Daniel has been found. Equally eager and nervous, Megan prepares to reunite with Daniel.
Things are quite difficult now that Daniel is back with Megan. For starters, his head was filled with awful lies about her so he is more than guarded. Not only is Daniel now missing his father, he has a secret and odd behaviors that give both Megan and Michael pause.
The story is mainly focused on the present, but snippets of Daniel's life while living with his father are revealed. Sadly, the dangerously abusive situation that Megan experienced with Greg are in some ways being reflected in Daniel's thoughts and actions. Not only does Megan worry about her daughter's safety around Daniel, but she is worried about her own.
This was truly a heartbreaking story. Quite naturally, I was very sad for Daniel for having his childhood snatched by a cruel father, but I so worried about the adjustment period. Also of concern was whether or not Daniel would be able to trust his mother after hearing the things his father told him. This highly charged book had an explosive ending that left me in tears.
There were a few twists and turns in this compelling story, but the one at the end left me in utter shock. I hadn't read anything by Nicole Trope before so I simply was not prepared for the excellence that was laid before me.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.
April 27, 2025
Every book I've read by Nicole Trope has featured a missing child in some way. This is the only one, however, where the child was abducted by his father and held captive for six long years.
This story is not a mystery. We don't know how/why Daniel returns, but we can guess. The reveals at the end weren't surprising. I saw them coming from a mile away.
Where this book excels is exploring grief, guilt, and anger. My heart broke for Daniel. It broke for his mom, Megan, too. I thought Megan and her husband, Michael, were saints for how they talked, or rather didn't talk, about Greg (the abductor) to Daniel. There's no way I could have held in the vitriol.
I may have rated The Boy in the Photo higher, but there were too many unrealistic plot points I couldn't ignore.
This story is not a mystery. We don't know how/why Daniel returns, but we can guess. The reveals at the end weren't surprising. I saw them coming from a mile away.
Where this book excels is exploring grief, guilt, and anger. My heart broke for Daniel. It broke for his mom, Megan, too. I thought Megan and her husband, Michael, were saints for how they talked, or rather didn't talk, about Greg (the abductor) to Daniel. There's no way I could have held in the vitriol.
I may have rated The Boy in the Photo higher, but there were too many unrealistic plot points I couldn't ignore.
March 28, 2022
Yes and No
Oh boy, oh boy… poor Megan is in real bad trouble:
It’s time to pick up her six years old boy from school, but… he’s no longer there:
Meg’s abusive and controlling ex-husband went there before, and… took her sweet Daniel with him
It’s true that, lately, he was often complaining about the pain of being apart from his son and he even menaced her by saying that one day she would also know that pain, but… she thought it was nothing… just his rage talking…
However, now that she’s desperate to trace him, he seems totally untraceable — he left his job a month ago and none of his close friends recently saw him…
Gosh, did he have everything planned?!
Where the hell are you, Greg?
Why did you take our boy?…
Will Megan ever see her son again?
That’s the obvious question that will lead to this enigmatic reply:
Yes and No…
If you got curious and you’re not a cat, get your glasses and do what you have to do… 🤓 📖 😜
Oh boy, oh boy… poor Megan is in real bad trouble:
It’s time to pick up her six years old boy from school, but… he’s no longer there:
Meg’s abusive and controlling ex-husband went there before, and… took her sweet Daniel with him
It’s true that, lately, he was often complaining about the pain of being apart from his son and he even menaced her by saying that one day she would also know that pain, but… she thought it was nothing… just his rage talking…
However, now that she’s desperate to trace him, he seems totally untraceable — he left his job a month ago and none of his close friends recently saw him…
Gosh, did he have everything planned?!
Where the hell are you, Greg?
Why did you take our boy?…
Will Megan ever see her son again?
That’s the obvious question that will lead to this enigmatic reply:
Yes and No…
If you got curious and you’re not a cat, get your glasses and do what you have to do… 🤓 📖 😜
June 26, 2019
The premise of The Boy in the Photo, Nicole Trope’s ninth domestic thriller, is topical and heartbreaking.
As the school playground empties, Megan begins to wonder where her six year old son, Daniel, is. Learning he has been collected earlier by his father, her heart sinks, and it quickly becomes clear that in an act of extraordinary spite, her abusive ex-husband has taken Daniel and vanished.
Six years later, having recently married the Detective initially assigned to Daniel’s case, and given birth to a daughter, Megan receives the call she feared would never come. Her son has been found.
The Boy in the Photo unfolds from the perspectives of Megan and Daniel, revealing events that occurred during their period of separation, and the story of their reunion. It’s a heart wrenching situation, sensitively explored by the author. While Megan searches for her missing son, struggling with her enormous loss, Daniel is living an itinerant, isolated lifestyle with his father. His homecoming should be the happy ending they both deserve, but Daniel is not the loving, happy little boy Megan remembers, instead he is an angry, sullen teen, mourning his father, and contemptuous of Megan. The inevitable twist is somewhat predictable, but still thrilling.
Megan and Daniel immediately invite sympathy. Trope’s characterisation of an anguished mother yearning for her missing child, and a traumatised boy confused by his father’s unpredictable behaviour, is skilful and sensitive. I found Daniel’s attitudes and behaviours on his return to be believably rendered. I’m afraid I didn’t think the same of Megan’s however, which was a big sticking point for me. Every time Daniel acted out, and Megan was at a loss, I wondered why the two of them weren’t in intensive counselling. In no way would one hour a week with a therapist, whom Megan didn’t even trust, be responsible in these circumstances. To be fair, that probably would have been a difficult plotting obstacle for the author, but it bugged me, and honestly affected my response to the story.
Having read five of Nicole Trope’s backlist novels, all of which I’d enthusiastically recommend, I do think this story is slightly weaker. Nevertheless, I did find The Boy In the Photo to be an emotionally charged and affecting read.
As the school playground empties, Megan begins to wonder where her six year old son, Daniel, is. Learning he has been collected earlier by his father, her heart sinks, and it quickly becomes clear that in an act of extraordinary spite, her abusive ex-husband has taken Daniel and vanished.
Six years later, having recently married the Detective initially assigned to Daniel’s case, and given birth to a daughter, Megan receives the call she feared would never come. Her son has been found.
The Boy in the Photo unfolds from the perspectives of Megan and Daniel, revealing events that occurred during their period of separation, and the story of their reunion. It’s a heart wrenching situation, sensitively explored by the author. While Megan searches for her missing son, struggling with her enormous loss, Daniel is living an itinerant, isolated lifestyle with his father. His homecoming should be the happy ending they both deserve, but Daniel is not the loving, happy little boy Megan remembers, instead he is an angry, sullen teen, mourning his father, and contemptuous of Megan. The inevitable twist is somewhat predictable, but still thrilling.
Megan and Daniel immediately invite sympathy. Trope’s characterisation of an anguished mother yearning for her missing child, and a traumatised boy confused by his father’s unpredictable behaviour, is skilful and sensitive. I found Daniel’s attitudes and behaviours on his return to be believably rendered. I’m afraid I didn’t think the same of Megan’s however, which was a big sticking point for me. Every time Daniel acted out, and Megan was at a loss, I wondered why the two of them weren’t in intensive counselling. In no way would one hour a week with a therapist, whom Megan didn’t even trust, be responsible in these circumstances. To be fair, that probably would have been a difficult plotting obstacle for the author, but it bugged me, and honestly affected my response to the story.
Having read five of Nicole Trope’s backlist novels, all of which I’d enthusiastically recommend, I do think this story is slightly weaker. Nevertheless, I did find The Boy In the Photo to be an emotionally charged and affecting read.
February 16, 2022
JAKIE TO BYŁO DOBRE!!!
Dawno nie czytałam takiego thrillera psychologicznego, który zaangażowałby mnie od pierwszej strony i nie puścił aż do końca... Jestem mile zaskoczona i gdybym była matką to teraz, po skończeniu książki, poszłabym przytulić moje dziecko...
GENIALNE!
Dawno nie czytałam takiego thrillera psychologicznego, który zaangażowałby mnie od pierwszej strony i nie puścił aż do końca... Jestem mile zaskoczona i gdybym była matką to teraz, po skończeniu książki, poszłabym przytulić moje dziecko...
GENIALNE!
July 1, 2019
OMG...WOW! What a fantabulous first read for me by Aussie author Nicole Trope! Set in Sydney and the small Hunter valley town of Heddon Greta (which, admittedly, I'd not heard of till I read this book), THE BOY IN THE PHOTO is fast paced, edge-of-your-seat and an emotional rollercoaster that was a thrill ride from beginning to end.
Megan's son Daniel is 6 years old when he is abducted from school by his father. The day was like any other but when Megan went to collect Daniel from school at the end of the day, she is horrified to discover that her abusive ex-husband Greg has taken Daniel. She calls Greg - his phone is switched off. She calls his landline - but receives the message that the number is no longer connected. Megan informs the police and she is questioned. But Daniel is never found. But Megan never gives up hope that one day he will be.
Six years later and Megan has married again and has a 6 month old baby daughter, Evie. She receives a phone call from her husband Michael, a detective, to say "They found him." Megan struggles to connect his meaning. Found who? "They've found Daniel."
After six years in hiding, Daniel walks into the police station at Heddon Greta claiming who he was, that there had been a fire and his dad was dead. With nothing but the clothes on his back and an old mobile phone in his hand. Megan and Michael jumped in their car and drove the couple of hours north of Sydney immediately. Megan could not contain her excitement or her disbelief. Daniel was coming home! But was he?
Now 12 years old, Daniel is very different from the son Megan lost. Gone is her beautiful little boy who giggled and laughed along with her. In his place, a silent, sullen and angry young adolescent. The years have hardened Daniel and made him bitter and resentful towards his mother, spurred on by the lies his father fed him. He clings to his old mobile phone as his last link to his dad and refuses to let it go, even though it has no SIM card - which was lost between the police station and the burning shack he'd shared with his father. But Megan knows her little boy is still in there somewhere and is determined to find him beneath the layers of hurt of his hardened exterior.
Megan has difficulty coping with her feelings - wanting to smother him with cuddles and love on the one hand but knowing she needs to give him space to deal with his grief and a whole new way of life as well. All she can do is smile and be gentle with him, hoping that bit by bit he will gradually come to trust them. The one thing she finds positive is his interaction with Evie. He plays with her and talks to her when he thinks she isn't looking, and Megan smiles to herself flooded with relief and hope that he can find a way to reconnect to her through his little sister. It's only when he interacts with his mother does the ghost of Greg emerge from his lips and Megan finds herself shaken that he could still have that effect on her all these years later.
Throughout the re-connection of mother and son and the days after, Megan's husband Michael - who was the original lead detective on the case into Daniel's abduction - is understanding and compassionate where most men probably would have run. He is her voice of reason and keeps her grounded when she thinks she will never get through to her son. Daniel appears indifferent to Michael one day and tolerant of him the next, an obvious conflict of his own emotions. Yet he hurls his own childish logic at Megan about being a family with his dad "if only she didn't stop loving him". The pain and confusion that Daniel feels is understandable, given the circumstances he grew up in...even if we feel like tearing our hair out in frustration alongside Megan. How any parent can alienate a child from their other parent with such hate is beyond me. This is something of which I am familiar, with my husband's own children taken by his ex-wife and then drilled into them by her and her mother how much of a this or that their father was. After 6 years (also) of this type of conditioning, the trouble we had with those children after their mother died was inexplicable. But the circumstances was a lot different than the case here in that the children were almost feral (sadly), and we were in a fight with the children's grandmother for custody - a fight we couldn't win, because she had always been in the children's lives and we had not...through no fault of their father's. They hated their father, thanks to their mother, and even today almost 20 years later, the wounds have never truly healed and the children are still strangers.
As Megan struggles to reconnect with the son she no longer recognises as her own, Daniel slowly reaches out only to snatch his hand back again. And Megan feels as if she is going one step forward and two steps back. There are times she gets a glimpse of the little boy she knew but mostly he is a stranger. And if it weren't for the DNA she would doubt he was he child, he is so different. But Megan also remembers all too well what the years of conditioning at Greg's hand could do.
It isn't long that Megan begins to suspect that Daniel has a secret. One that could destroy their family and put them in terrible danger. Who started that fire that claimed Greg's life? And why did Daniel have so little marks on him, having run 10km from the burnt out shack? What terrible secret is he hiding?
Told over two timelines, THE BOY IN THE PHOTO begins in the present day with snapshots of Megan's grief and Daniel's time with his father in back to back chapters. Cleverly outlined in the gradual build-up from abduction to Daniel's return, we are privy to Megan's pain as each year goes by with no sign of her son as well as life from Daniel's perspective from the excitement at going on holiday with daddy at 6 to that excitement having worn off and now growing impatient with having to remain in hiding in later years. We see Megan's pain, the friendships she makes online with two particular parents whose children were also taken by their exes and the being able to share her feelings with those in a similar situation, knowing that they truly understand what she is going through. We see, too, Daniel's excitement when his father picks him up from school change to bewilderment and confusion regarding his mum when he learns she didn't want him anymore. On every year we get a glimpse of both Megan and Daniel's journey over those six years, entwined with the present day as Megan struggles to reconnect with Daniel.
Although I didn't foresee how it would play out at the end, I did correctly guess probably the biggest reveal leading to that ending. Still, it didn't spoil it for me. I simply suspected it and figuratively punched the air exclaiming "I knew it!" when it was revealed. Honestly? I don't think it was obvious...I just picked it up and thought "that could work"...but wouldn't be disappointed if I was wrong. I thought it was also a very clever addition.
THE BOY IN THE PHOTO is an excellent read with some really clever twists. It is an emotional journey but beautifully written. I simply couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it!!
As my first read by Nicole Trope and set in the city in which I live, it was refreshing to discover her style is of a similar calibre to some of my favourite British thriller writers - K.L. Slater, Shalini Boland, Kerry Wilkinson - and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
I would like to thank #NicoleTrope, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheBoyInThePhoto in exchange for an honest review.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
Megan's son Daniel is 6 years old when he is abducted from school by his father. The day was like any other but when Megan went to collect Daniel from school at the end of the day, she is horrified to discover that her abusive ex-husband Greg has taken Daniel. She calls Greg - his phone is switched off. She calls his landline - but receives the message that the number is no longer connected. Megan informs the police and she is questioned. But Daniel is never found. But Megan never gives up hope that one day he will be.
Six years later and Megan has married again and has a 6 month old baby daughter, Evie. She receives a phone call from her husband Michael, a detective, to say "They found him." Megan struggles to connect his meaning. Found who? "They've found Daniel."
After six years in hiding, Daniel walks into the police station at Heddon Greta claiming who he was, that there had been a fire and his dad was dead. With nothing but the clothes on his back and an old mobile phone in his hand. Megan and Michael jumped in their car and drove the couple of hours north of Sydney immediately. Megan could not contain her excitement or her disbelief. Daniel was coming home! But was he?
Now 12 years old, Daniel is very different from the son Megan lost. Gone is her beautiful little boy who giggled and laughed along with her. In his place, a silent, sullen and angry young adolescent. The years have hardened Daniel and made him bitter and resentful towards his mother, spurred on by the lies his father fed him. He clings to his old mobile phone as his last link to his dad and refuses to let it go, even though it has no SIM card - which was lost between the police station and the burning shack he'd shared with his father. But Megan knows her little boy is still in there somewhere and is determined to find him beneath the layers of hurt of his hardened exterior.
Megan has difficulty coping with her feelings - wanting to smother him with cuddles and love on the one hand but knowing she needs to give him space to deal with his grief and a whole new way of life as well. All she can do is smile and be gentle with him, hoping that bit by bit he will gradually come to trust them. The one thing she finds positive is his interaction with Evie. He plays with her and talks to her when he thinks she isn't looking, and Megan smiles to herself flooded with relief and hope that he can find a way to reconnect to her through his little sister. It's only when he interacts with his mother does the ghost of Greg emerge from his lips and Megan finds herself shaken that he could still have that effect on her all these years later.
Throughout the re-connection of mother and son and the days after, Megan's husband Michael - who was the original lead detective on the case into Daniel's abduction - is understanding and compassionate where most men probably would have run. He is her voice of reason and keeps her grounded when she thinks she will never get through to her son. Daniel appears indifferent to Michael one day and tolerant of him the next, an obvious conflict of his own emotions. Yet he hurls his own childish logic at Megan about being a family with his dad "if only she didn't stop loving him". The pain and confusion that Daniel feels is understandable, given the circumstances he grew up in...even if we feel like tearing our hair out in frustration alongside Megan. How any parent can alienate a child from their other parent with such hate is beyond me. This is something of which I am familiar, with my husband's own children taken by his ex-wife and then drilled into them by her and her mother how much of a this or that their father was. After 6 years (also) of this type of conditioning, the trouble we had with those children after their mother died was inexplicable. But the circumstances was a lot different than the case here in that the children were almost feral (sadly), and we were in a fight with the children's grandmother for custody - a fight we couldn't win, because she had always been in the children's lives and we had not...through no fault of their father's. They hated their father, thanks to their mother, and even today almost 20 years later, the wounds have never truly healed and the children are still strangers.
As Megan struggles to reconnect with the son she no longer recognises as her own, Daniel slowly reaches out only to snatch his hand back again. And Megan feels as if she is going one step forward and two steps back. There are times she gets a glimpse of the little boy she knew but mostly he is a stranger. And if it weren't for the DNA she would doubt he was he child, he is so different. But Megan also remembers all too well what the years of conditioning at Greg's hand could do.
It isn't long that Megan begins to suspect that Daniel has a secret. One that could destroy their family and put them in terrible danger. Who started that fire that claimed Greg's life? And why did Daniel have so little marks on him, having run 10km from the burnt out shack? What terrible secret is he hiding?
Told over two timelines, THE BOY IN THE PHOTO begins in the present day with snapshots of Megan's grief and Daniel's time with his father in back to back chapters. Cleverly outlined in the gradual build-up from abduction to Daniel's return, we are privy to Megan's pain as each year goes by with no sign of her son as well as life from Daniel's perspective from the excitement at going on holiday with daddy at 6 to that excitement having worn off and now growing impatient with having to remain in hiding in later years. We see Megan's pain, the friendships she makes online with two particular parents whose children were also taken by their exes and the being able to share her feelings with those in a similar situation, knowing that they truly understand what she is going through. We see, too, Daniel's excitement when his father picks him up from school change to bewilderment and confusion regarding his mum when he learns she didn't want him anymore. On every year we get a glimpse of both Megan and Daniel's journey over those six years, entwined with the present day as Megan struggles to reconnect with Daniel.
Although I didn't foresee how it would play out at the end, I did correctly guess probably the biggest reveal leading to that ending. Still, it didn't spoil it for me. I simply suspected it and figuratively punched the air exclaiming "I knew it!" when it was revealed. Honestly? I don't think it was obvious...I just picked it up and thought "that could work"...but wouldn't be disappointed if I was wrong. I thought it was also a very clever addition.
THE BOY IN THE PHOTO is an excellent read with some really clever twists. It is an emotional journey but beautifully written. I simply couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it!!
As my first read by Nicole Trope and set in the city in which I live, it was refreshing to discover her style is of a similar calibre to some of my favourite British thriller writers - K.L. Slater, Shalini Boland, Kerry Wilkinson - and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
I would like to thank #NicoleTrope, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheBoyInThePhoto in exchange for an honest review.
This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.
June 27, 2019
Hesitation... Trepidation... Fear was what I felt as I turned the pages of this book. Parental kidnapping was the initial plot arc. Megan and Greg were divorced when Greg kidnapped the 6-year-old Daniel and disappeared. It took another 6 years for Daniel to come back, but... Who was the boy who had returned? They shared the DNA but Megan wasn't sure there was anything left of her sweet boy. She was scared now for her daughter Evie and husband Michael.
Nicole Trope managed to combine emotions and suspense in this story, weaving them both together to make them shimmer on the pages of this book. I read this with my heart in my throat feeling all the emotions that Megan experienced with joy, sorrow, fear, and despair. How was a mother to reach a child who had been brainwashed to believing lies about her by the father? The story wrenched these emotions from my heart, but my brain was aware of the vein of danger that ran in the periphery of this book. A lot of Daniel's story had loopholes. What was he hiding?
Snapshots of his life and Megan's were shown, written as chapters, giving me a wider understanding of how the mother and son coped with their loss in the intermittent 6 years. I guessed the twist, it was quite obvious, but that hardly deterred me from enjoying the winding road of the story.
One of my midnight reads, I was so happy losing sleep over it!!
Nicole Trope managed to combine emotions and suspense in this story, weaving them both together to make them shimmer on the pages of this book. I read this with my heart in my throat feeling all the emotions that Megan experienced with joy, sorrow, fear, and despair. How was a mother to reach a child who had been brainwashed to believing lies about her by the father? The story wrenched these emotions from my heart, but my brain was aware of the vein of danger that ran in the periphery of this book. A lot of Daniel's story had loopholes. What was he hiding?
Snapshots of his life and Megan's were shown, written as chapters, giving me a wider understanding of how the mother and son coped with their loss in the intermittent 6 years. I guessed the twist, it was quite obvious, but that hardly deterred me from enjoying the winding road of the story.
One of my midnight reads, I was so happy losing sleep over it!!
June 7, 2021
The author says that she “doesn’t write about what she knows, she writes about what she fears” . . .Everyone knows how tricky relationships can be.... especially after divorce, and when it involves children. The situation Megan finds herself in is entirely believable since we have seen it on newscasts on TV...read it in newspapers...and may even encountered it among family and friends. The story gives you an itchy, prickling feeling while reading that didn’t easily disappear when the book was closed. It puts the reader in the middle and makes you ask yourself what you would do in this situation. The plot is unforgettable. The writing is excellent and engaging...and the characters are all “too human”.
July 6, 2020
This book is mostly a character study of three major characters with very little plot. Most of the book had little action and sad to say, it was quite boring. I am often surprised at the end of a book because of unexpected twists. I’m afraid I saw this one coming early on. I do not recommend this book!
September 7, 2020
Parental kidnapping mystery
Pretty good book. First time I have read this author and I would read her again. It was hard to read about that little six year old boy that was taken and the totally confused preteen that returned. His life was hard. His Father was a monster and you knew how conflicted that little boy was. He had no idea who to trust. Megan the mother was a good person. She left Greg her ex due to mental and physical abuse. And so to hurt het, he took the child. And he really hurt the child. So sad. I could see where this was going from the beginning but it still was a good read. And as I said I would read this author again. There were times I was just afraid for all of them! I couldn't stop reading it. Poor little boy.
Pretty good book. First time I have read this author and I would read her again. It was hard to read about that little six year old boy that was taken and the totally confused preteen that returned. His life was hard. His Father was a monster and you knew how conflicted that little boy was. He had no idea who to trust. Megan the mother was a good person. She left Greg her ex due to mental and physical abuse. And so to hurt het, he took the child. And he really hurt the child. So sad. I could see where this was going from the beginning but it still was a good read. And as I said I would read this author again. There were times I was just afraid for all of them! I couldn't stop reading it. Poor little boy.
June 17, 2019
5 stars!
What a great read and so well written. I enjoyed that this story went a different direction than some of the kidnapped/return home books and Lifetime movies go in.
The author created deep and intense characters and everyone had a purpose in the book.
This was an emotional read and I found myself wanting to just hug my five year old because this book hit on a mother's worst fear.
Excellent read with some twists! Highly recommend.
Thank you to the author, the publisher, #Bookouture and Netgalley for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.
What a great read and so well written. I enjoyed that this story went a different direction than some of the kidnapped/return home books and Lifetime movies go in.
The author created deep and intense characters and everyone had a purpose in the book.
This was an emotional read and I found myself wanting to just hug my five year old because this book hit on a mother's worst fear.
Excellent read with some twists! Highly recommend.
Thank you to the author, the publisher, #Bookouture and Netgalley for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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