Cover Image: Have You Seen Her

Have You Seen Her

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Member Reviews

On Bonfire Night, Anna takes her eyes off Laurel for one second. That’s all it takes for her to disappear. Hours pass, and then days, and Laurel still hasn’t been found. Her parents, Fran and Dominic, are frantic and cannot stop the cracks in their relationship from growing, while Anna has her own secrets to hide. Someone knows what happened to Laurel, and they’re not telling.

This is one of the most believable thrillers I’ve read. The characters and the plot (including all the twists) were completely logical and plausible. Mystery and thriller novels usually have some inevitable eye-roll moments, but Have You Seen Her manages to avoid that.

It is very well written. The story is gripping and easy to read, making it hard to put down. It’s told from Anna’s perspective (the nanny), who has a really strong narrative voice. She’s likeable enough to generate empathy, but is still mysterious and suspicious enough to stay interesting. And the ending is so satisfying.

I thought the characters were pretty good. Everyone seems guilty in some way, so it was difficult to guess who was actually responsible for Laurel’s disappearance. Fran and Dominic were awful in their own ways but entirely realistic, while Anna was an interesting main character. My only criticism is that Dominic was arguably too hateable. I wanted him to be guilty.

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Rating: 4.5/5*

This is an amazing, gripping read, a real page-turner that I didn't want to leave until I discovered what had really happened to Lauren, a young girl who goes missing whilst attending a fireworks display with both her Mum, Fran, and her nanny, Anna. The story is told from the point of view of Anna and is so full of twists and turns it is a tense nightmare with surprising revelations, accusations and is totally unputdownable!

From the very beginning, the reader is drawn into this fast paced story which keeps the reader guessing to the very end. It is a shocking, tense, thrilling read and that ending - wow! The characters are well developed, flaws and all, and their relationships are tested and put under scrutiny as the search for the missing child continues. There are fears, secrets, hidden motives and manipulations that keep the reader on the edge of their seat.

I have absolutely no hesitation in highly recommending it to anyone who enjoys dramatic, suspense-filled psychological thrillers. I requested and was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest review after choosing to read it.

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Another absolute cracker from the Queen of the dark and twisty. I didn't breathe for the first few chapters! Lisa Hall never lets up on the tension, and this one is not different. Fabulous.

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A tense thriller with plenty of twists and turns throughout. The characters are well developed. I did feel at times that the book was a bit rushed and jumped ahead quite a lot. However, the twist at the end was good and overall the book is very engaging.

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Have You Seen Her was a book I was excited to read and delivered above my expectations....and they were high!
Anna is nanny to Laurel and lives with her and Fran and Dominic. Anna has taken Laurel to the community bonfire with her mum, Fran following on later and dad, Dominic to meet them all there after he’s finished work. Fran arrives and goes to the toilet, Laurel follows and for every parent the nightmare starts as Laurel never met up with her mother and has disappeared. A search party ensues but Laurel is not found and here the fingers start to point at different people and the secrets start to arise.
This was a really, really good thriller that I finished in less than a day, I have read other books by Lisa Hall and they have all been good but this is my favourite and will look out for her next.
I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

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This was a really engrossing thriller, that I could not put down until I got to the bitter end. There was one red herring after another, and so many twists and turns. Everyone had secrets, everyone lied. I had so many characters fingered for the abduction of the little girl, Laurel – suspected, then discarded as the next suspect crashed onto the scene. I even – at one stage – thought the narrator (the nanny, Anna) had done it while in a fugue state, a split personality or something. After all, that seemed as likely as anything else.
There were a number of pathologically obsessive individuals in the story – obsessed by love for a man, a woman, a child, or themselves – that lead them to (in my opinion) completely irrational actions. However, that does not necessarily make them guilty of the crime.
When a child goes missing, it is impossible for anyone in Britain to not think of Madeleine McCann, and the media storm that still surrounds her disappearance. And, indeed, the book makes several references to that case. The book is every bit as much about the way in which the general public reacts to news about missing children, as it is about the fate of Laurel. How we judge, based on what we read or hear in the media, on our own prejudices, on our own beliefs of what constitutes good parenting: “And, of course, people will be judging Fran and Dominic (and you, a spiteful voice whispers in the back of my mind) – look at how we all jumped on Kate and Gerry McCann” and “People like to have someone to blame, someone to pin things on. It makes life feel safer for them…like, if they have someone to blame, then it can’t happen to them.”

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Overall this is a good read. When Laurel disappears there is a police search and a few suspects. The plot is good. I thought though that it was a little predictable and slow in places.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

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An intriguing if slightly predictable mystery. Slow to start but a little rushed at the end. I’m enjoying this trend of narrators with dark secrets!

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Another brilliant book by Lisa Hall.Gripping from the first chapter and such a compelling read.A child disappears from a Bonfire Night Party,every parents worse nightmare and so the twists and turns begins .It seems that everyone is hiding something ,a superb psychological thriller that keeps you guessing right until the end . Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

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A fascinating story that keeps you hooked from the beginning through various twists and turns until revealing the conclusion. Definitely recommended.

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After reading “Between You And Me” and “The Party” other books by Lisa Hall. I was very excited to receive a copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

Fran is at a Bonfire night event with her daughter Laurel and Nanny Anna when Laurel goes missing. It’s every parents worst nightmare, you take you’re eye off you’re child for 1 second and they disappear, forgetting that’s all it takes!! They soon realise someone has taken her.

The parents Fran and Dominic seem the perfect couple, they have a beautiful daughter, big house and are admired by all. Who would want to take their daughter?

This book had me gripped from the start. There are lots of secrets and red herrings along the way. I love when you read a book and you keep changing you’re mind on who the bad guy is, for me everybody seemed guilty and dishonest with their own secrets to hide.

A must read that’s fast paced and is a thrilling book to read with its twists and an ending that won’t disappoint!! I’m almost disappointed I’ve finished this book as I was so drawn into this story.

I have read several books about children going missing,but this has to be 1 of my favourites!!

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The premise of this book was positive, a young girl who goes missing at a busy school event. Anna, the nanny, is hiding something from her past and various dodgy characters are thrown into the mix. Unfortunately I found myself disappointed in this one as I have loved this author's previous books. It is just an ok read, there are a few twists and turns and a pretty explosive ending but I didn't feel we get to know the characters enough to really care about them and the story did drag on at times.

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Bonfire night and four year old Lauren goes missing.
The police hunt begins and still Lauren is nowhere to be seen. Eventually with no leads the police start to look closer to home.
Anna- the nanny
Dominic - the father a highly respected heart surgeon
Francine - the mother and actress.
They all have secrets and some are darker than the others. Have these secrets got something to do with Laurens' disappearance? Where is Lauren and who took her?
I was gripped from the first to the last page I HAD TO KNOW!!!!!! So many suspects, so many secrets and lies WOW. As for the ending WHAM definitely not what I was expecting. A really good psychological thriller which had me constantly guessing who is telling the truth. An easy five stars and so Highly Recommended.
I would like to thank the author, HQ and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

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I’ve just finished this book and I’m speechless about that ending....
Obviously I won’t say what happens but I wasn’t expecting that.
This is a gripping psychological thriller which has many twists and turns throughout the book.
Laurel goes missing at a firework display and her mum, Fran, and her nanny, Anna, are desperate to find her.
Her dad was meant to meet them but never arrived at the fireworks, and is shocked to hear that Laurel is missing.
An investigation is launched and as more and more information comes to light, the Police make an arrest.
Have they arrested the right person though?
I’ll let you read to find out what really happened to Laurel...
Thanks to HQ and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

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A young girl goes missing at the local bonfire night. She was with her mother and her nanny. One minute she was there, the next she had disappeared. The longer it takes to,find out what happened to Laurel, it just makes everyone more suspicious. The story is told from Anna's (the nanny) point of view. I didn't like Laurel's mum and dad (Fran & Dominick), they were too self centred for my liking. There are many curve balls in this quite pacy read. This is a well written book with a realistic plot with a more than satisfactory ending.

I would like to thank NetGalley, HQ and the author Lisa Hall for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This is a very readable story, with characters that resonate. After a couple of chapters you realise that the person being watched is Anna, and a person involved in the abduction is sorry for her as it is not her fault. Anna is nanny to Laurel, she works for Fran, an actress, and Dominic, a surgeon. Theirs is a fiery marriage, and neither spend a great deal of time with their four-year old daughter. Anna has taken Laurel to the primary school firework display. Fran follows after them, but Dominic, who had promised his daughter the he would be there, fails to turn up. Fran arrives, then decides to go to the toilet, and Laurel chases after her, both of them disappearing from Anna’s sight. When Fran comes back, Lauren is not with her - she hasn’t seen her. Lauren has vanished.

The story continues with the police hunt for the little girl, the people who feel the need to play a part in the search for reasons that are maybe a little suspect, and with a particular emphasis on the disintegration of the relationships between Dominic, Fran and to some extent Anna . But Anna has secrets of her own, that she is terrified will be exposed by the police Investigation, which all adds to the palpable mounting tension.

There are twists and turns aplenty, with Anna conducting mini-investigations of her own, finding out things that the police have sometimes missed. The ending is totally unexpected, quite shocking in various ways. I am not entirely convinced that it would be the end, as the police would surely discover the truth. That said, it is an excellent point for such a tense psychological drama to end. Very much worth reading.

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Anna takes her eyes off Laurel for a split second at the local school firework display. Laurel tries to catch up with her Mum up and in what appears to be every parent’s worst nightmare, Laurel has disappeared.
The local community pull together and assist the police search. Despite a few minor leads, Laurel isn’t found. Over the next few months we follow the police investigation and Anna's involvement with the family. Laurel’s parents are rather affluent and I found that during the course of this book I moved between liking them, feeling empathy for them and disliking them in equal measures.
The book is a fast paced tale which gains momentum along the way. There is a very real and totally believable plot which sucks you in and urges you to read on. There are some great twists and in typical Lisa Hall style, you think you have got the ending and she pulls the rug out from under your feet one more time.

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A great read. A little girl goes missing during a bonfire night display. How could she just disappear in the middle of all those people. Anna the nanny only took her eyes off her for a minute. She was a minute away from her Mum. A really gripping story as the police get involved and there seem to be no leads. The Parents, Fran and Dominic, are going through hell. You can feel their pain. Anna is telling the story and it seems she has a past to hide. Other people are acting suspiciously. Lots of twists and turns leading to a great ending I didn't see coming.

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A gripping story with the gradual discovery of various characters who might be a suspect in kidnapping Laurel. Most of the characters are indirectly inked to Laurel's mother ,Fran and dad,Dominique.Towards three-quarters through the book, you can see traces of evidence unfolding indicating who the real kidnapper is. The nanny ,Anna, too has a completed past which is highlighted throughout the book.

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It's Bonfire night and Laurel's primary school are having a fireworks display, she is there with her mum Fran and their Nanny, Anna. She follows her mum to the toilet but Fran comes back alone, claiming Laurel was never with her. Where did she go when Anna turned back to watch the fireworks and where is she now? A major search is launched and every parents nightmare becomes reality for Fran and Dominic. When the police begin questioning, everyone comes under suspicion. Anna has a secret from her past that she doesn't want to be revealed, but she's not the only who has something to hide.....

I have read all of this author's books and loved them all, in true Lisa Hall style this one is packed full of twists and red herrings from the off, I was hooked from the first sentence of the prologue to the last one of the epilogue and read it in less than a day. I was convinced I knew who it was a couple of times but then that twist would come and throw me right off the scent again and again, when it was finally revealed I had guessed but it still came as a shock that this person could do something like that and why they did it. But the ending....that was class, loved it. Another belter of a book from Lisa Hall.

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

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