Annie lives alone with her fifteen year old daughter, Isla, who has anxiety after her parents divorce. One day, Annie receives an email, clicks the link and sees the video of her daughter’s funeral. She quickly rushes to her daughter’s room to discover she is alive and well.

Then, a woman calls her demanding £1000 each month to be delivered to a Cayman bank account. If Annie doesn’t comply, then her daughter will die.

Michael lives with his son, Aaron. They are both grieving after Michael’s wife and Aaron’s mother died of cancer. Lucy ran a successful hairdressing business and when Michael goes over her accounts, he discovers that for the last 23 months she was making payments to a bank account located in the Caymans.

Michael is immediately confused and suspicious. Just how well did he know his wife? When he cancels the direct debit, he doesn’t know that it will set off a string of incidents that will put his son’s life in danger…

What a BOOK!

I was gripped from the first page all the way to the end. I immediately felt for the main characters, as they were likeable and relatable – just normal people, trying to do their best for their children.

This book asks a question of how far would you go to protect your child. Annie and Michael certainly take us on a journey!

I definitely recommend this book.

I love M.J. Arlidge’s Helen Grace series and I am familiar with his writing. Andy Maslen is an author new to me, and I will certainly be reading more of his books.

Thanks to Orion Books for approving my NetGalley request to read and review this book.

I admit to being a fan of Mr Arlidge's work both on his own and when co-writing books with other authors and this is another to add to the ever growing books that I have enjoyed.

With excellent characters and an intriguing story line, this is a gripping, fast-paced psychological thriller that pulled me in from the start and didn't let go until I had swiped the last page. An excellent story with twists and turns that worked well.

As well as being a cracking read, this book also makes you think how much information is shared online with not a thought from most but if this book doesn't make you go and check your settings or stop and think before you post, nothing will!

Highly recommended and thanks to the authors, Orion Publishing Group and NetGalley for enabling me to read and share my thoughts of this thrilling book.

Read this in a couple of sittings because it was so fast paced and the way the characters were drawn . From surly, deceitful teens, to frantic mother to blasé father to the deliciously wonderfully evil villains.

Absolutely loved the cat and mouse element of this book. It was filled with many OMG moments and felt really contemporary as it posed questions about the amount we share on social media and also teen mental health.
The thought what would I do in this situation still teases me as I just have no idea. The dilemma of how far would parents go to protect their child is always intriguing, but for me the most intriguing aspect of this book was the psychology of the villain and the backstory that was revealed as the novel progressed and that was very chilling

This is a fast paced thriller which had me gripped from the start.
Annie is sent a video of her very much alive daughter’s funeral, which is the beginning of an intense fight back against blackmail and coercion. She learns she is not the only parent to be targeted and with Michael’s help, they take the blackmailers on.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC.

When Annie receives a video showing her at the funeral of her daughter she is shocked, her daughter is still alive. However then comes a demand for a payment to keep her daughter safe. Annie will do anything to save Isla but the divorce has hit her hard. Michael has recently lost his wife but when he discovers an unknown standing order he cancels it, not knowing that his adopted son is now to be killed. Behind it all is a pair of con artists and blackmailers who have successfully bled paople dry for years but maybe they have met their match in Annie and Michael.
I am a longstanding fan of Arlidge's writing but had not read anything by Maslen before and was interested to see how this collaboration would work. The answer is - very well! This is a fairly seamless story which whizzes along at a furious pace. It's completely unbelievable, totally unrealistic but is a breathless ride which is really addictive. I devoured the book in a long afternoon!

“Your Child Next” by M.J. Arlidge and Andy Maslen is a harrowing thriller that taps into every parent’s deepest fears. I enjoy reading the novels of both these authors so when I heard about this collaboration novel I was keen to read it. This novel expertly combines psychological tension with a fast-paced narrative, delivering a gripping tale of blackmail, desperation, and the lengths a mother will go to protect her child.

Annie’s life has been a series of challenges since her husband left, leaving her to care for her teenage daughter, Isla. Isla’s behaviour has changed drastically, and Annie fears the worst, believing that her daughter might harm herself. These fears are intensified when Annie receives a chilling video, footage of herself crying at Isla’s funeral. Horrified and confused, she rushes to check on Isla, who is alive, but the sinister message is clear, someone is threatening her child.
Annie soon discovers she is not alone. Other parents have been targeted, their children’s lives hanging in the balance. The stakes are high, and the mysterious sender of the video has a clear warning, comply or suffer unimaginable loss. Annie faces an impossible choice, whether to meet the demands or risk unmasking the blackmailer.

This is an excellent psychological thriller that deals with parental fear, psychological manipulation, and moral dilemmas. The atmosphere is tense and I was left feeling nervous for what was about to happen as Annie deals with the situation.
Annie is both vulnerable and resilient as she deals with her love for Isla while trying to unravel the truth. A story that is every parents worst nightmare, full of suspense, emotion and intrigue. Good characters and well paced make this an exciting read.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of M.J. Arlidge, and having joined up with Andy Maslen, I believe this book is one of the best. Full of the necessary twists and turns, it is excellently written and a recommended read.

Your Child Next never lets up for a second. It races along from one exciting scene to another and then smacks you in the face with even more.

Our two main protagonists - Annie and Michael - don't know each other. But they are both being blackmailed (directly or in Michael's case it was his late wife who had been targeted) and asked to hand over £1,000 a month in order to protect their teenage children. If they don't, the kids will be put in danger. The kids of course, don't believe any of it, but then they wouldn't, would they.

Our two 'villains' are Maya, with her red leather biker's jacket and lips to match, and her psychopathic partner Ollie. We discover their relationship later on. Mostly, they use others to do their dirty work (Ollie is too unpredictable to be trusted), by threatening them with - yes you guessed it - their children's safety. And it works. What could be worse than turning your parental anxieties against you? Apart from kidnapping your dog - and yes they've done that as well.

Now personally, I would have gone straight to the police, even if I was warned not to, but no-one ever does in these stories. And if they had, it would have changed everything. Because we love a story where ordinary people take the law into their own hands.

I believe it's hard to write 'action' scenes but in Your Child Next the author/s handle it very well without getting bogged down in the realms of confusion as is often the case. Like watching a game of Twister at an alcohol-fuelled party, it can be hard to work out who's down on the floor and who's balanced on one arm and a leg before tipping over into the abyss (in the book not the game of Twister). I can definitely see this being made into a TV series, it would be perfect.

Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour and to NetGalley for an ARC.

Fast-paced, intense, twisty and compelling, Your Child Next is a nerve-shredding thriller gleaming with malice that is guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat.

When Annie receives a disturbing email that has deep-faked her daughter’s death, she thinks it’s some kind of sick joke. But who would do such a thing? The answer soon becomes clear when she receives a call from someone claiming they are behind the video. They demand she pays them £1000 every month and if she doesn’t, or if she contacts the police, they will make the video a reality. Terrified and with no idea how she will meet their demands, Annie realises she has two choices: find a way to comply or unmask them.

M. J. Arlidge has been an auto-buy author for me for many years. His Helen Grace series is one of my favourites and he’s a thriller author I’ll always recommend. But this was my first time reading one of his co-authored books and I will admit I wondered if it would affect how much I enjoyed reading it. Especially as I’d never read anything by his co-author, Andy Maslen. But I needn't have worried; this book was every bit as intricately woven, cleverly choreographed and skillfully layered as I’ve come to expect from Arlidge. Dripping with suspense, it kept me guessing and I was hooked from the first page to its heart-stopping finale and devoured it in just two sittings.

Told from multiple points of view, the book is filled with characters who are richly drawn, fascinating and flawed. Themes of mental health problems, grief, trauma and fear are examined through the characters. It also explores the pitfalls of social media, the dark underbelly of technology, and poses moral dilemmas, asking just how far you’d go to protect the ones you love.

Sinister, chilling and utterly addictive, Your Child Next is a first-class thriller not to be missed.

What a brilliant read.

I’m so happy that I was approved to have early access for this. I was immediately hooked. The twists and turns were great, the chapters were great too, they weren’t too long.
You got to know the characters and their backstory too.
It was a brilliant read and I hope this does well in publication. Thank you

I’ve been a big fan of M J Arlidge for years and try to read everything he writes, so I was excited about the release of Your Child Next, co-written with Andy Maslen.
The story begins with a woman called Annie. Her daughter Isla, 15, suffered from anxiety in lockdown and after Annie separated from her husband Grant, Isla got worse. Now Annie’s received a terrifying faked video of her daughter’s funeral. Who did it? Was it Grant? But then she receives a phone call demanding she pay £1000 a month into a bank account in the Cayman Islands. If she fails to do this, or tells the police, her daughter will die.
Meanwhile, Michael is now a single father to adopted son Aaron, 18, after his wife Lucy died. Sorting out all her paperwork, he finds something surprising in Lucy’s bank statements. She was sending £1000 a month to a bank account in the Cayman Islands. He goes to the bank and demands the payment is immediately cancelled…
Can Annie and Michael protect their children from this threat?
Well, I was straight into the story, wanting to know more, the writing hooks you in straight away. As always with M J Arlidge’s novels, there is so much tension building and intrigue, that you immediately want to know what’s going on.
You learn about characters and events quickly, each perfectly-sized chapter opening another layer of the story. You’ll certainly never become bored, as twists and turns come along, one on top of another.
I’m a huge fan of Matthew’s Helen Grace series, but really enjoyed this collaborative novel. Another exciting read and a real page turner.

Thank you, NetGalley and Orion Publishing, for the ARC of this psychological thriller 'Your Child Next.' The book was a collaboration between writers Andy Masler and MJ Aldridge. I was pleased to learn about Master, an author new to me. Arlidge has long been a favourite with his Helen Grace series. The writing was smooth, seamless, and engaging, with plenty of suspense and increasing tension.

The story warns against sharing too much personal information on social media, such as photos, addresses, and everyday routines. Criminals, predators, and blackmailers are lurking online and may use such information for criminal acts.

Annie is emotionally and financially struggling as a newly single mother. Her husband recently left her and their teenage daughter, Isla. There was a custody dispute that caused bitter feelings between both parents. Annie has always been a strict, protective mother who wants the best for Isla, and things are about to worsen. Isla seems to become emotionally distant from her mother and suffers from anxiety attacks. She has missed her more lenient father but resents that his new girlfriend is close to her age and is replacing her time spent with him.

Annie watches a video that is panicking her. She is horrified to view herself crying at Islas's funeral and is puzzled as to why the deepfake video was made and sent to her. She blames her ex-husband as she does not know anyone else who dislikes her enough to do such a thing. After reassuring herself that her daughter is unharmed, Annie receives a phone call demanding 1,000 pounds to be sent monthly to an account in the Cayman Islands. If she misses a payment or notifies the police, Isla will die, and the video will become a reality.

In another household, Michael lives with son Aaron. His wife and Aaron's mother has died. He finds records that show she has been secretly transferring 1000 per month to the Cayman Islands. He stops the payments, which puzzled him, and his son is struck and seriously wounded by a hit-and-run driver. Annie believes the driver was the same man who terrified Isla by following her. Annie and Michael decide to team up and hunt down the blackmailers and stop the extortion.

The identity of the blackmailers is known early in the story. They are a couple of ruthless, cold-hearted, deranged, and probably psychopath villains. They kill without remorse. They force a homeless veteran with PTSD to work for them.

Michael and Annie are in jeopardy, and some actions and events seem farfetched. This was not a deterrent, as I was highly entertained. The book is due for publication today, January 16, 2025.

This is a tense and chilling thriller that will tap into your parental anxiety and send it soaring!

Annie is recently divorced and trying to balance keeping her teenage daughter, Isla, safe, while giving her enough freedom to spread her wings and fly. When Annie receives an email with a faked video of herself sobbing at Isla's funeral, she is terrified. She soon discovers that some seriously psychotic blackmailers are behind the video and they know everything about Annie, Isla and their lives. That alone made me think about social media and how much of our lives we reveal on there - yikes!

Annie simply doesn't have the money to meet their demands and so she chooses to fight back, but she may have underestimated the lengths the blackmailers will go to to keep their secret safe. The plot is excellent and very well executed, with lots of fast paced action.

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, M. J. Arlidge, Andy Maslen and Orion for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a great thriller.
Annie can’t believe her eyes when she opens an attachment which shows her crying at her teenage daughter’s funeral. She races to Isla’s room and she is fine but she starts to panic. Worse is to come when a demand is received for £1,000 to be paid a month, or else her daughter will be killed.
The two people targeting Annie are cold, heartless people and have no qualms in arranging for people to be killed.
Michael and his son Aaron have also been targeted and when Annie contacts him, they decide to try and stop these people.
This is a great read.
Thanks to Orion Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this book.

When two heavyweights get together to co-write a book, it can go one of two ways. Either their egos get in the way of a successful collaboration, or their geniuses spark off each other to produce fireworks. Happily, the latter is the case with this pacey thriller chiller from MJ Arlidge and Andy Maslen, whose writing is so seamless, it’s impossible to spot the joins.

Imagine being a single mum and receiving a deep fake video showing you crying at your teenage daughter’s funeral. Accompanying the video is an ultimatum: set up a £1,000 monthly transfer to a bank in the Cayman Islands or your daughter will be killed. Such will also be her fate if you involve the police.

I may have struggled a bit with this initially, as there are a lot of characters, and it’s not clear at first how they are all connected. However, once everything fell into place, I was quickly sucked into Annie’s living nightmare and the impossible choice she faced: either meet the blackmailer’s demands or try to unmask them on your own.

There are three things that really made this book stand out for me: the characterization, the plotting, and the spotlight the authors shine upon the perils of social media culture.

The two scammers, especially, are brilliantly portrayed: cold-blooded psychopaths who will stop at nothing to keep the money rolling in. They felt scarily real. Equally convincing were distraught mother Annie and recently widowed Michael, a fellow ‘mark’, whose son Aaron is also targeted. It was impossible not to feel their spiraling anguish and panic. Nor can I forget war veteran, John. Dishonorably discharged, suffering from PTSD, and reduced to living on the streets, he’s the blackmailers’ puppet.

Once it takes off, the plot is propulsive, unfolding at a scorching pace. Dark, gritty and twisted, and definitely not for the squeamish, it builds to the kind of frantic, explosive denouement that has you flipping pages like a demon. I couldn’t have second guessed it if I’d tried.

How far would you go to protect your child? The blackmailers who are threatening the parents of young children are about to find out. When one mother receives a video thru her email of her daughter's supposed funeral, she thinks it's a scare tactic from her ex husband who doesn't like the custody agreement. But she soon learns that is not the case. Then a man learns that his deceased wife was being blackmailed. Soon this pair of parents team up to find and take down the blackmailers. But they find it is not so easy since they cannot call the police and when it is all over, they find that there were lots more families being mentally tortured and extorted. And they also learn that the reason the blackmailers had the information for the blackmail was due to all the on line posting the parents themselves did about their children.

The fear of not doing enough to protect your child is very scary, this added with the suspense and tension had me hooked throughout.

Your Child Next is a gripping psychological thriller set in Birmingham. Parents are being blackmailed for money in exchange for keeping their child safe. Annie and Michael join forces to identify the perpetrators. The book raises current concerns regarding the dangers of sharing information on social media and the use of deep fake videos. A well-written, fast-paced story with strong characters. Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Very enjoyable read. I have enjoyed books by M J Arlidge before and this was another great read. Interesting characters and a satisfying conclusion. Recommended.

Since Annie and Grant split up things have been difficult between her and their teenage daughter Isla and Annie is worried about her. Then Annie receives a video of her crying at a funeral which appears to be Isla's, she doesn't know what to make of it as Isla is upstairs in her bedroom, but she runs up to check anyway, relieved to see she's alive and well. She soon realises the video is a deep fake and, after receiving a call from an unknown number, discovers that it will become a reality if she doesn't comply with their demands and she's not the only parent that's being blackmailed. They've been warned what will happen if they involve the police, so do they give them what they want or do they do a little detective work of their own?

Your Child Next is the third in a five project collaboration by M J Arlidge and other authors and this time it's the turn of Andy Maslen. I've read most of the Helen Grace series by Arlidge and the first in the Kat Ballantyne series by Maslen, so when I saw they were doing this one together I was looking forward to seeing how it would pan out. It's every parents nightmare, the thought that someone is out to harm your child and will do anything for money. It also highlights the harm that oversharing on social media can lead to. This story starts off right in the action with the video that Annie receives and just keeps on building throughout the book. It's a fast paced read that, at times, requires you to suspend belief at where it's all heading, but fiction wouldn't be fiction if it was always plausible now would it? This is a great read by Arlidge and Maslen that is seamlessly written and keeps you on the edge of your seat willing the parents to outsmart the blackmailers.

I'd like to thank Orion and Netgalley for the auto approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.