This was a psychological thriller about a woman who is approached in Melbourne, Australia and told she is a child who went missing in Kentucky, USA. The story moves between the two countries a chapter at a time which can be confusing but there are lots of twists and turns to the story which maintains interest.

Fantastic book... interesting to see how the story developed and the unexpected twist at the end was a real surprise. Difficult book to put down because I just wanted to know what was coming next

The premise of this book really appealed to me, and the writing was good. However, what put me off was that the answers I wanted kept getting bogged down in flashbacks and time differences and time leaps and new characters and too many different scenes and timelines. I just lost interest in trying to piece together too many pieces of the jigsaw. For example, the book starts in Australia and ends up in Kentucky with two different timelines going on. By halfway through there were no clues or hot trails that I wanted to follow up and the back and fore stuff got very confusing so I lost interest.

I read this every night for a week, and by the time a whole day had passed, I'd forgotten who was who and had to read the last few pages again

Brilliant debut novel. Well written although it took me a while to really get into it. Once I had, I was gripped and read well past my bedtime to finish it. Great book.

Had me gripped from the start. So many plot turns and you really dont see the whole story until it hits you, you get hints 9f the plot but nothing major until it all smacks you in the face!! An exceptional story that I couldnt put down until I'd devoured the lot!!!

The gripping story of a child abduction told over two continents and two time periods. It was well-paced and well-written and, unlike similar books, the ending didn't disappoint.

What do you do when someone tells you that your whole life has been a lie! Thats what happens to Kim, who is told that she is really a kidnap victim, taken from her US home when she was a small child. Her investigation into this could prove dangerous.......

This was such a great idea for a book - really inventive.
Happily for the longest time I absolutely couldn't work out where we were headed and the author managed to keep this suspense and mystery until the very end. I was thrilled that Dean was Travis as I hadn't seen it coming at all.
The reactions of all involved in such an extraordinary situation felt real and authentic and I loved the detail of 90s religious US! Plus the use of the two timelines worked well as they revealed a little more to each other as we went along.
The only things that jarred with me were the reactions of mother Molly and sister Emma in the present day, I didn't feel they responded to the return of a lost child realistically. Although I understand now the author was trying to signpost that Molly knew more than she was letting on.
Still, it was a great pacy read, easy to get through, quite thrilling and as I say inventive.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and the author Christian White.
I really enjoyed this twisting and mysterious thriller! A great story with lots of revelations that I didn’t see coming. The author switches between the past (Manson, Kentucky) and the present (Australia and Manson) very seamlessly and leaves many chapters on such compelling cliff-hangers that you can’t help but read another.
Would recommend for a gripping holiday/poolside read.
After reading the Author’s Note and Acknowledgements you can see that Christian White is also a very lovely person! All the more impressive that this is his first novel. The very well-deserved winner of the Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award. 4 stars.

Excellent story, cleverly switching between what really happened in the past and trying to unravel the truth in the present. Totally believable characters add credibility to the plot and will keep you guessing to the very end as you try to find the truth with them.

Not my favourite book in this genre but readable nonetheless. The story was well written and I enjoyed the way in which it was written; both in the past and current day. The characters were well written and nicely padded out. I probably wouldn't reread but it was a decent book.

This book was a great page turner and I managed to finish the book pretty quickly, Absolutely enjoyed this book from start to finish and d can't wait to read another book from Christian White in the distance future. The book is very similar to other books I have read before but somehow this book stood out from the crowd and felt like a breath of fresh air

Thankyou to Netgalley for my copy. This is my honest review.

Small town Mason, Kentucky and two year old Sammy Went disappears without a trace from her home after being put down for a nap. No sign of Sammy is ever found but twenty years later in Melbourne, Australia, photographer Kim Leamy gets a visit from a complete stranger claiming that Kim is the missing Sammy. Kim is incredulous at first but as she delves further into the story she goes down a deep rabbit hole of secrets, lies and small town mystery, questioning everything she thought she knew.

There’s a deeply woven plot throughout this book with lots of little strands and the author does a great job of tying them together at the end. The characterisation is really good. There’s quite a few secondary characters but they all give weight and motive to the main characters and are really enjoyable to read. The author has a real feel for small town life and does a great job of portraying the towns sinister side, it’s genuinely chilling at points which I didn’t really expect. It reminded me of Jane Harper at points, that uncanny ability to portray the claustrophobia of a small town. There’s no fairytale ending but I think that would have been a bit of a cop out given the subject matter. I don’t want to give too much away so if you like your mysteries then you could certainly do with picking this book up. Highly enjoyable and highly recommended.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

I liked the idea of this book, especially as the plot unfolded. Sometimes I felt I wanted the author to give me a little more depth rather than skirting on the outside. Overall a good read and I was satisfied with the ending.

The premise of this story pulled me straight into its pages and lived up to its hype. A dark, tense book with twists and turns galore and a great, blood curdling and unexpected finish. Despite it moving a little too slowly in places for my liking, I did enjoy this great debut and look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ARC for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book. The author does a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat. Mingling suspense with crime while not being over the top. did not see the ending coming. It tyed the story together very well. An enjoyable read.

Slow starter but worth the effort. Intriguing read about a missing child, which switches from past to present.
As the story unfolds it brings some unexpected twists, it keeps you guessing to the end.
I will be looking out for Christian White’s next novel.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars

Have to say that I struggled with this book. It started with a great premise, but for me, the pace was slow, there were no likeable characters or even any that you could engage with on any level, and the religious snake angle was just odd.

Sorry.

I couldn’t put this book down once I’d started it. It’s gripping, interesting and a little bit different.
Definitely a 5* and I’ll be looking forward to more from this author.

I read all the reviews that said this was a slow start but worth it once you were in and I'm sorry to say I didn't find that. It felt really difficult to get into and I don't think the end was rewarding enough. I really wanted to learn more about the characters and get to know each of them better but I felt like the focus was too heavily fixed on their surroundings instead.
Lots of other people seem to have really rated the book so i think maybe I'm just in the minority on this one.