This book kept me on the edge of my seat. Full of twists and turns, interwoven in a tale of kidnap, terrible ordeals, love and hate. Moves along at a good pace with an unexpected ending.
My thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Five well deserved stars for this shockingly super creepy thriller!

Wow! A compelling and page-turning story of abduction, cruelty and mystery. Imagine living in a cabin in the woods, windowless and isolated, everything you do is meticulously scheduled including bathroom visits. I’m not going to give much away.....

Lena Beck, 23 a petite, blonde student disappeared without a trace after attending a party until 5 a.m. thirteen years earlier.

A woman is brought into hospital, critically injured in a hit and run. The young child that’s with her claims to be living in a cabin in the woods with her mother. Is the injured woman Lena Beck and have they both escaped from their captor?

What a tangled web of darkness and intrigue this story tells. It’s expertly written, creative and contains a suspenseful plot that I found utterly haunting.

If you love a thriller with a mystery that’s not predicable you’ll love this one!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book, especially as it deals with the aftermath rather than the day-to-day imprisonment of the woman and two children. I've come across a few stories about the return of a missing person but for me this was exceptional. I loved the writing style and the setting but most of all I thought the characters were very well drawn. Jasmine is strong and courageous although she's also flawed and not always likeable. I had lots of sympathy for Matthias who has never in thirteen years given up hope of finding his daughter and is frustrated by the lack of progress made; and Hannah's Aspergic-type view of the world, largely created by her experience, is both charming and chilling. She's very knowledgeable about facts but is in other ways naive and appears much younger than her thirteen years. She lives by rules: "You always have to be helpful" - but shows no real emotion when comparing the sound of a watermelon being dropped on the floor to the sound of someone's head being bashed, and sometimes talks in her "lion's voice."
Throughout the story is the mystery of what happened to Lena and Jasmine, and who was responsible for the abduction, which is gradually teased out through the two timelines until the explosive ending. If you enjoyed The Missing, series 2 on TV, I think you'll love this.

OMG, This is one gripping, complex, engrossing reads that I have read in a very long time. The story certainly keeps you on your toes with twists and turns every which way. With an ending that just comes from nowhere. Absolutely brilliantly plotted, as you read you wonder who is who, there’s not a bit of this book that slows down in pace. It totally engages the reader from start to finish.

Told through perspectives of some of the characters, initially Lena, Matthias, Hannah and the Jasmin. Lena had disappeared 13 years earlier, at the age of 23, her father Matthias and mother Karin had never given up hope. But what was Lena like really? Her father portrayed her as a good girl with top grades who was going to go on to become a teacher, but her friends portrayed her as a party girl, who liked to drink and take other chemicals.

When Matthias’s longtime friend And police officer, Gerd calls to say they think they have found Lena, Matthias won’t listen and wait for confirmation as to whether it is her or not, he and Karin get in the car and drive to the hospital where Lena is being held after being hit by a car. But is this Lena? the young girl with her Hannah is the splitting image of Lena at 13, Matthias wants answers, he has always wanted answers, at times he becomes quite hotheaded, but who wouldn’t if their daughter had disappeared. Gerd has always promised he would bring her home.

I am not going to go into any more of the story because I wouldn’t want to spoil it, but this is such a gripping read, so many things that you just don’t see coming. It’s a brilliantly woven puzzle. With terrific characters.

If you read one thriller this year, I highly recommend this one without a doubt.

Thanks to #netgalley and #Quercus for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

This is a really conflicting one for me.

The book itself was brilliantly and beautifully written but it just wasnt for me! I can only write and review honestly so here goes.

I've read quite a few 'captured' books over the past couple of years and just didn't feel that this one added anything new.

I found the first half alot more engaging than the second half and found myself having to keep scanning back to keep track of what was going on.

BUT I would still recommend to others that hadn't read too many on thos theme (I think I've basically over read this story now)

Definitely a 'it's not you its me' rating.

2.5*

Thanks to netgalley and Quercus Books for the ARC.

A very dark and disturbing tale. Full of suspense and actually a very sad story. The characters are great and my heart was broken for Hannah and Jonathan. The story moves at a good pace and the ending is unexpected.

I read this book via netgalley and give it my honest opinion.
I don't normally Thrillers but this book had me entranced from the start! A story that you will not want to put down, it will leave you on the edge of your comfy reading chair!
Twists and turns will keep you gripped to the end, a book of kidnap, trauma, love and hate!
I wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who loves a thriller and urge anyone who doesn't, to just give it go anyway!

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for this advanced reader's copy. I'm delighted that I was on holidays when I picked this book up as I couldn't put it down. Deliciously twisty tale.

Dear Child is a very gripping story ,quite harrowing in parts .A story of abduction initially but also it does explore the trauma let behind when some one is found.Very interesting and I found the ending very unexpected.Many thanks to the Publisher the Author and NetGalley for my review copy in return or an honest review .

This is an intriguing story about a girl who was abducted 13 years ago.
After a road accident where a woman and her ‘daughter’ are taken to hospital, the story of the abduction unfolds. Who is the woman and what, if any, is her connection to the child?
When the abducted girl’s parents are called to the hospital, the story of abduction and the resulting trauma arising from it begins to unfold.
Although the story is a bit drawn out, I loved the ending and it’s well worth sticking with it.

Dear Child is a book of kidnapping and escape, love and hate, secrets and twists. It’s a translation from the original German book, but it loses nothing by this. I normally avoid translations as I find they’re often clunky, but Dear Child was utterly absorbing.

Devastating, harrowing and terrifying, Dear Child will keep you up at night as it switches from different perspectives. A recommended read for anyone who loved Room.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is one of those books that I couldn't put down, I had to keep on reading.

Lena has been missing for 13 years, a student in Munich, she never arrived home after a night out. Her father has never given up looking for her.
Then there is a phone call, a woman called Lena is in hospital, but is it Lena and who is the girl with her?

The story is told from three points of view. Matthias the father, Lena and Hannah a thirteen year old girl who is obviously very bright and precocious.

There are parts to this book which seem very vivid, the writing is very descriptive, especially with Hannah and how she sees things.

There are a few areas which don't sit right, makes you worry about German police procedure and mental health care, but definitely worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.

Elly Griffiths writing as Romy Hausmann has produced a story which seems simple on the face of it: a man keeping a woman and children prisoners in a locked room. But there are so many more threads to it than that, as the story flits back and forth, and a surprising twist at the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the characters came to life off the pages and the storyline was unusual yet credible.

This is an interesting and dark story about kidnapped women and repercussions. Written from the points of view of two of the victims, and a victims father it is suspenseful and claustrophobic. The final denouement is a little disappointing but otherwise a good read.

This was a good take on the recent spate of 'captured' books in that it focussed on what happens after escape. I enjoyed it, it was a pacy read and I was interested to know what was going to happen. Although the first third was rather confusing with different names/scenarios and I was a little unsure who everyone was. Also I found the change of pace with the daughter's first person chapters quite jarring and annoying.
But there were some really good 'show don't tell' reveals which I enjoyed and made more horrific when conveyed quite innocently and simply.
My main problem with the book however was the reveal of the captor, the newspaper editor wasn't a main character and there was nothing to indicate why it would be him and we weren't invested enough in him for that to be a big or exciting shock. I would almost have preferred for the captor to be an unknown.
Otherwise an interesting read.

Lena has been missing for over 4000 days, when her parents get a call to say a lady has turned up at the hospital and matches her description with a child. Lena’s parents arrive but is it her? Where has she been and who has kept her for all this time?
This was a book of three parts for me, the first I whizzed through and enjoyed. The middle I hated and found boring and then the last I loved. I’m glad I kept at it but it didn’t grip me in the way I hoped.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

My thanks to Netgalley and publisher Quercus Books for the ARC.
Wow, this is a psychological thriller and a half! It certainly gives the little grey cells a good work-out as the reader is led down one path and then has to backtrack their thinking. A gripping read and so well written.

A 23yr-old student, Lena Beck, is missing, having not returned home from a party in Munich, Germany, over 13 years ago. Her parents Matthias and Karin have lived only for the day she is found - 4825 days in fact they have waited for word from Gerd Bruhling, Chief Inspector heading the investigation. A late night phone call from Gerd gives fresh hope - a woman called Lena - according to her daughter Hannah, has been the victim of a hit and run accident near the Czech Border. She bears certain similarities to missing Lena.

Lena has been stripped of her identity; has 2 children Hannah (13) and Jonathan (11). They are confined in a log cabin as if they were survivalists - forcibly cut off completely from the outside world. Papa controls everything they can or cannot do - the rules have to be obeyed. They are locked in, there is no daylight and anything useful as a weapon is locked away, until...…….. one day...……..

Told from Lena's point of view in the first instance, before the accident, the story unfolds then with Hannah's and Matthias's views. I will not write any more for fear of spoilers, but suffice it to say, there's lots of red herrings, and twists in this tale. Beware, though, there is some physical violence as well as the darkest of psychological abuse.

Excellent thriller, thoroughly recommended.

I found this quite tricky reading to begin with as couldn't seem to get into the flow of the story but, my god, am I glad I stuck with it! The way the story tripped and changed was really great and I didn't see the "baddie" for who it could have been!

This was a compelling read. I was riveted from the start to find out about Lena and what had happened to her. The characters were very relatable and the story I felt moved quite quickly which kept my interest.

Totally different to what I was expecting, Dear Child is such a deep, nuanced novel about the different types of trauma that come with abduction, obsession, and fear. Absolutely riveting.