I read this book in a day,it was an easy read and I felt the story flowed well.Alison abducts a child believing she can give her a better life and in reality in so many ways she does.Lucy is successful academically,but always has an underlying anxiety that something is not right.Strangely the book does not make you feel angry with the abductor...although you totally understand that she has committed a terrible crime,the writer encourages you to have a lot of empathy for her and creates a very real,believable person. I think perhaps the reactions of the real family years later as the truth emerges are a little unrealistic as their understanding and kindness to the abductor of a daughter/sister is at times unbelievable.For this reason,although I liked the book and would recommend it as a good read,I gave it 4 stars not 5. I certainly look forward to reading more from this author!

Finding Lucy was an addictive read when Alison discover a little girl she decides to abduct her and call her Lucy I could not put my kindle down for wanting to find out what happens next!

Thank you Netgalley, HQ Digital and the author for the chance to read an ARC of this book.

The story is all about a child abduction but this time told from the perpetrators point of view. I felt it was quite a shallow view there were no strong feelings expressed and no depth to the characters really. I also don't think it was a dark psychological suspense as it was described. Not would I compare it to the authors in the blurb.

Altogether i felt apathetic about this book by the end. I had carried on reading to the end hoping it would live up to its description but unfortunately it just didn't.

I received this book "Finding Lucy" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. I did like the story concept but a lot of the story was not believable. Everything just came out great in the end with everyone happy and no one upset - really upset - that a young child was taken. The story just happily went along - no major twists or turns. I want to be kept guessing and trying to figure out what is going to happen - not so with this book. Forgiveness was just too easy for everyone in this book. There could have been some twists with Ryan planning to expose everything? I don't know, I wanted more suspense in the book I guess.

Allison and her mother lived a quiet life. Isolated, no friends, her mother did not encourage her with young modern people so when she lost her mother she was quite alone.

But Allison longs for a child and so carefully prepares a diabolic plan to snatch a child. She does this so successfully that people who do remember vaguely a woman with a child, describe the infant very specifically as a boy. Allison delves into history at the cemetery and finds a name of a child who has died fitting into the same age and sex category and Lucy Brown emerges.

Lucy's life is calm and quiet till one day during a playful hypnosis pieces of a puzzle begin to unravel. Allison explains it as being an adopted child, the same way she was. It does not ring true however and as Lucy grows up leaves for university, finds a partner and then has a child of her own, the entire process blows up in the most horrific way forcing Allison to confront her past.

This was a real insight into how far a person could go to take what one wants, without thinking of ethical or moral issues.

A really interesting read. A missing child story but definitely different to the many out there. A story told from the perpetrators side. I really enjoyed the well written characters with all their flaws. Touching on mental health and how this affects people through life. A good saga with a thought provoking tale. A good satisfying ending.

I really enjoyed this one! The plot was consistent and moved along at a great pace and the characters were well developed.

1985

Alison Brown, age 40, desperately wants a child. Having just lost her beloved adoptive mother, Alison is so lonely for her. Alison has considered other means of having her own child, but none are acceptable to her.

She moves to a home in Newcastle, furnishing it for herself and a child and meeting her new neighbors. She tells them that she is a widow with a young daughter named Lucy, who will join her soon. Now, Alison goes on the lookout for a child to take and finds Stacy, a two-year-old girl girl in a poor part of town. The child is playing outside alone and Alison just takes her home. The child’s parents are dysfunctional with a number of children some of whom have been taken by the child welfare service. Lucy is happy that she has saved Lucy from that.

It takes some time for Lucy to settle in, but by the time she enters school at age four, she is calling Alison Mummy, yet to herself she wonders who Stacy is. As the years go by, Lucy realizes that her mother is very protective but thinks that’s how mothers are. It’s when Lucy heads to university that she enjoys having new freedom and a chance to grow up without Alison hovering over her.

When Alison becomes gravely ill, secrets come out and Lucy’s world explodes.

This is a mesmerizing book that make readers really think about what secrets that people may be hiding and the state of their mental health. I enjoyed reading the book and found that the author created an amazing character in Alison. Well done!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It's rare we come across a completely original story in the crime genre and i'm afraid this is another which makes use of the missing/abducted child trope. However, this book views it from a wholly different angle to many others, namely by looking at it from the perpetrators perspective. If you enjoy unpredictability and plot twists, this may not be the book for you. I found that the story was a little too straightforward with a distinct lack of about-turns or surprises. So much so, that although there are very clear crimes being committed here, it still felt a little lacklustre and almost more womens fiction than thriller or suspense. I don't read or enjoy womens fiction/chick lit, but if you do you may wish to give it a go. In my opinion, this is a very tame novel.

The writing leaves a lot to be desired and much of the dialogue was clunky and unrealistic - I certainly don't think it reflects what a "normal" human being would say in the same situation, making it difficult to relate to the characters. With an emotional story such as this you would expect it to tug at the ol' heartstrings, but unfortunately it was sadly lacking in that department too. Also, the ending may be a nice way to conclude the book, but for crime readers it was rather a let down. Crime/mystery/thriller fans are notorious for accumulating questions about the plot in their minds, and as there was such a minute focus on the backstory explaining various aspects of the novel, I found a great many important and major questions were left without reply. I don't wish to be harsh as I know how much work goes into each and every book, but I don't really feel this is a must-read if i'm totally honest.

Many thanks to HQ Digital for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This is a good read on the whole but there were times I felt it lacked something. Compared to other novels of the same genre, this wasn’t quite at their level.

I found this to be an OK book but not as gripping as I had expected from the description

Very well written. Its a dark book but draws you in and you will love it. Its interesting and keepsyou on the edge of your seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Having read the synopsis, I was keen to get started.
The writing style flowed well and made for easy reading. Needless to say the concept is, and was in this book thought provoking and sad. The narrative highlighted the anguish felt by all the characters as the drama unfolded. The story was a straightforward account of how the situation played out. The ending did draw to the most satisfactory of conclusions possible, but it felt a little disappointing. For no real reason, I was expecting some sort of twist or sting in the tail, but the last few pages felt a bit drawn out and deflating. That may be me being a bit over critical though of what was otherwise an absorbing read.

Hmm, I was not impressed with this one. I was hoping that, like the blurb said, it was like reading books by a few other authors I am familiar with. I do not want to be mean at all but. That actually is just not true. While the storyline was well thought out the writing left something to be desired. There was not enough backstory or history on some issues to understand what was happening in some cases. Finley probably should have had someone else proofread this before publishing it. Now, I did like some of the story. I just felt that it lacked the emotion that one would get or feel when a child is stolen. This is something that happens all of the time unfortunately and many books have been written on this subject matter. I think that void the non emotional aspect and the non history of some issues is why I just cannot give this novel 5 stars.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/ publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

3 stars ⭐️ out of 5

Quite a toss up was this book. Parts were believable and others not. Good storyline, but not too thrilling.

This book was interesting from the word go .
It was Stacey was taken for Alison Brown and she change her name to Lucy .
She grow up until she was 25 and figured it all out as Alison is poorly .
I find books like this one very rare and well to read .
I thank Netgalley for the ARC

First of all, it should be said that this book has a great concept. We see a lot of missing/taken children in thrillers/mysteries, but this one is a different perspective to usual. We get to spend time in the mind of the person who takes the girl, and that's quite uniquely done here, especially given the reasons behind it all.

That said, I didn't really enjoy reading the book. Everything was explained very straight forwardly, with little emotion or descriptions. At one point Lucy/Stacy described herself as "very very upset" but there was nothing to explain exactly how she was feeling that way. I just felt like I was being told everything, and this lack of depth meant I didn't connect to any of the characters at all.

Still, it is a unique story, and one that I'm sure will be enjoyed.

This was an OK read for me. It's quite a sad story, I felt for Alison and obviously Lucy but it's not one I would read again. It just lacked something.

I could not put this book down! I loved It! The two main characters were written very well. I'm not one to read novels about missing children, but this one held my interest.
I wasn't sure, but I had thought maybe there might be a surprise ending, but there was none. It's about a woman who takes a child when she is young, about their life together and the suffering this knowledge brings. Even without the surprise ending I wasn't disappointed.

Alison has lived with her adoptive mother for most of her life, except for a brief time away at university, which ended in disaster. In fact her life has been full of ups and downs and she is not the most gregarious person. When her mother passes away she feels lonelier than ever. She makes plans to change her life forever. She is unmarried but she considers that she can give a child a good, safe, secure life. She trawls the streets in run down areas hoping to give a neglected, poor child the chance to live with her. A forever daughter. A stolen daughter.
Her plans are meticulous. The collection of her little girl is faultless, without any hitches at all. Her rescue of little ‘Lucy’ is perfect, just as she knew it would be. Lucy now has a better mother, a better home, she is loved and cared for and she has everything a child could ever want. Alison has a beautiful daughter; they are a family at last. Her meticulous planning has reaped a rich reward. So their life together begins. But how will it all end? This is the story of Alison and Lucy, but be prepared to read late into the night and early in the morning – in fact every minute you have to spare.
I thought this novel had everything. The storytelling was seamless, vivid and cleverly delivered. The characters were brilliantly created and developed throughout the story. I felt as though I knew them myself, indeed that they were my friends. It was just perfect. I loved the issues within this story: loneliness, love, fear, friendship, need, family and mental illness. I absolutely drank it all in and wished there was more. I hated finishing the story I enjoyed it so much.
I received this novel through my membership of NetGalley and from publisher HQ in return for an honest review. Thank you for my copy which I thought was an excellent read. It’s a very well deserved 5* review from me because it was the complete package. Highly recommended.