I loved this book from the first page I was hooked.

I liked the way it jumped from the present situation of the family and compared it to twelve years before.

It was extremely realistic as this type of kidnapping has happened and has been reported on in the press.

Wow. What did I just read? Brilliant and thrilling. I could not put this down.
A British combination of The Lovely Bones and Room.
Told from the perspective of Maggie and each of her family members this author drew you in to empathise with each character and see the story from their perspective.
I really did not want this to finish and would also love to see this as a film.
I give this an easy 5 stars

😳😱🤬
Whooow what have i just read??
As a mother, you'll do everything to protect your child and i mean everything.
This story sucks me in from the first page and i couldn't stop reading till the last page.
I must admit that it's my first read by the author but won't be the last.
The writing it's great and the plot it's so real to the point that i remember a news story from maybe ten years ago that happened in Austria about a man that sequestrated his daughter and abuse her for years right in the house with his wife and other children. A horror for our days.
It's a great book that needs recommending and a story, although triggering, that needs to be told.

Fast paced, engaging, and truly gripping. This is the second book I've read by this author and won't be the last.
Highly recommend this one - a really well written and thought provoking novel.

This is an immediately engaging page-turner suspense that you will need to finish as quickly as possible.

Maggie has been a prisoner in a basement for twelve years. Her son is about to turn three. He's her third son to turn three. The other two were taken away on their third birthday, never to be seen again. She must escape in the next few days or lose her child, and with him her hope and sanity.

What follows is a tense tale as we see flashbacks and point of views from Maggie herself, her father, brother and the police. But you never get lost in the story. It's these points of view that differentiates the story from others on similar topics that stay close to the victim alone. This showcases the larger effects a kidnapping can have on a family and beyond.

I picked this book up one afternoon and had finished it by early evening. It's either short or masterfully constructed - maybe somewhere between the two! It's not necessarily the most complex psychological suspense you're ever going to read, but it is compelling.

I loved this book! Heartbreaking in places and heart pounding in others. Definitely recommended and one I would read again.

This book was amazing. Utterly gripping, one I will think about for some time yet. Can not recommend more highly - definitely in my top 10 reads of the year.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for letting me read this book.

I found this book at times hard to read. Not because I didn’t like it, more because of the subject matter. I found myself slowly drawn into the story about Maggie who was abducted when she was 15 and held captive for 12 years. The book describes brilliantly Maggie's thoughts, feelings and how she coped whilst being held. She knew she had to escape with her young son before his 3rd birthday which was seven days away. The book also tells how Maggie’s parents and her brother cope with her disappearance and how it affects them during that time. I really found this book gripping and hard to put down. It was wrote so very well and I had so much empathy for Maggie and her family, and the book at times really played with my emotions. It raced to a ending where Maggie was found and reunited with her family, and for the last part of the book I kept thinking please let her escape, please let her be found and her abductor caught. I would recommend this book to others. 5 stars.

I honestly could not put this down I was so invested in it I was even having bad dreams about it! I have enjoyed every Alex Lake book and this was no exception. It was really well written and the concept was really clever. I enjoyed how it drip fed the backstory in from different points of view as well. Fantastic! Thanks to Netgalley, the author and HarperCollins for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A fast paced, gripping page turner. I flew through this book. Well written with multiple points of view. I thorough enjoyed the story, as emotional as it was, and couldn’t stop reading. This was my first Alex Lake book, but definitely won’t be my last! Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

I've read some really enjoyable books this year and this one is right up there with the very best of them. I was totally captivated by this story from beginning to end. Maggie was abducted as a 15 year old and nothing has been heard from her since. We know that her kidnapper has fathered her three children and that when the first two reached their 3rd birthday they were taken away never to be seen again. Now her third son Max is about to turn 3 and Maggie must try somehow to stop him being taken from her. The story is told from Maggie's perspective but also explores how her parents and brother are coping without her. We also become aware that the kidnapper has insinuated himself into the lives of Maggie's family. I hadn't realised that the author is from the town where I live and it was strange seeing places I know well in the book. I look forward to reading more of Alex Lake's books.

Wow, what a brilliant book, one which I just couldn’t put down. The book opens in the present day and the countdown to Max’s third birthday. We learn straight away that Maggie was abducted and has been kept a prisoner in a basement for nearly twelve years. In this time she has given birth to baby boys twice previously and each time they have reached their third birthday her captor has taken them away and she hasn’t seen either of them since. Maggie is dreading that this is going to happen again in seven days when it is Max’s third birthday and is planning how she can stop it and try to escape with Max. This story tells about the impression of Maggie’s abduction, nearly twelve years previous, has had on her parents, brother and the police officer who was investigating the case. The tension builds as Max’s birthday draws nearer and we are left wondering how on earth she will escape. This is a book full of suspense and will have you holding your breath. One of my favourite reads so far this year, don’t miss it.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Motherhood should be joyful. But for Maggie, motherhood is simply a three year long countdown until the day her next child is taken. Twelve years ago, at the age of 15, she was kidnapped, and over the years she has bore her captor two children, both of whom were taken from her on their third birthday. And now it seems history is going to repeat itself once again, as her precious son Max’s birthday is only a week away...

Wow. Just wow. This book is absolutely incredibly. The tension is razor sharp, and I sped through the whole book in one sitting. I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Room, but the premise itself, as well as the way it is executed, is very unique and so the comparison to me is not a case of like for like, just a basic similarity.

This is one of those books that actually makes you stressed as you read it. As every day passed, I was reading faster and faster, just desperate to find out what would happen. The writing was honestly just incredibly, I’ve never before read a book where the tension is so tangible, and I have immediately ordered several of the authors backlist to follow up with!

I also loved the fact that the book included diffferent narratives: rather than focusing just on Maggie and Max, we also get an insight into her father, her brother, and the policewoman in charge of investigating the case. All four of these perspectives cover the time from when Maggie was first taken to the present day, so you get a real insight into all elements of what really happened and why, and also how it impacted those left behind.

All in all, I am just stunned by how great this was. It has been a long time since I’ve read a thriller this good, and the premise is just mind blowing. Do yourself a favour and read it immediately - you won’t regret it.

Disclaimer - I was provided with an advance copy of this novel by NetGalley for review purposes. This has not affected my review in any way and all opinions are my own.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. Although a harrowing story at times I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. It was an emotional and brilliant book.

This is a very powerful story not least because of its grimness. The perpetrator is not a mystery,revealed half way through but the way he is intertwined with the captive's family is cleverly and convincingly carried out. The story of the young woman held captive for years,her motherhood to three boys each to be removed when he turns three is chilling. The effect of all this on her family is treated sensitively. The story builds up to a tense climax which will keep any reader enthralled. The message is that it is worth persisting through the grim beginning to read a compulsive,well written tale. I strongly recommend it along with Alex Lake's other achievements.

Not for the sensitive of disposition, this book will have you reading into the early hours once you begin the first page. Absolutely compelling reading and my heart was in my mouth throughout. Maggie Cooper was abducted aged fifteen, and has been held captive for almost twelve years. During that time she has given birth to three children, fathered by her captor. As they reach their third birthday's the children are removed, never to be seen again. The book opens seven days away from her son, Max's third birthday, and this time Maggie is going to fight tooth and nail in order to prevent her captor taking away her son.

As the book moves backwards and forwards in time we learn how her disappearance has devastated her parents, Sandra and Martin, as well as her brother James, who over time, becomes unable to bear the pain and turns to heroin. DI Wynne, tasked with investigating the abduction, suspects a Colin Best who lives in the area and is known to the police as a paedophile, but without enough evidence, has always got away with it. We, as the reader, now know who Maggie's captor is and he has us screaming in frustration and disgust as he infiltrates himself into Maggie's family's life.

As the day of Max's birthday arrives, Maggie uses her initiative and what little she has available to her, to form a weapon that she can use to attack Best. As the book moves towards its climax, it becomes impossible to put the book down and we are willing the police to find Maggie and Max before it is too late. Do they? You'll have to read this fantastic book to find out.

Not my normal read but had me drawn in from the start. Maggie has been abducted and given birth to 3 boys whilst I'm captivity. The first 2 were taken from her t he day they reached the age of 3 but she is determined that it will not happen this time. She has kept a calender and is counting down the seven days to his birthday and trying to figure out a plan to stop him being taken from her like the others.
Loved the way it is written from the perspective of all the different people in her life and the detective who never gives up on the case. Great ending and will certainly read more of her books.
Thanks HarperCollins and Netgalley.

Wow! What an absolutely fantastic book. I totally loved it from start to finish and it had me gripped the whole way through. It brought up so many emotions in me and I felt angry and frustrated and it kept me on tenterhooks. I couldn’t wait to finish it but was also gutted when it ended. Definitely one of my favourite books this year. Totally brilliant

12 years ago Maggie was kidnapped . While held captive she has given birth to three children two have been taken away on their third birthday. Max her third baby is about to become 3 . Maggie has seven days to escape and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Will she be able to out wit her abducter.
Edge of the seat book
Thanks NetGalley

A lot like room. Like a lot. I still enjoyed it though. It was tense and nail biting. I think the room was a bit more realistic in showing you the after effects of trauma lile this.