A mystery thriller that hooks you with an intriguing premise but leaves you with more questions than answers. The story begins with Anna, a 15-year-old girl who mysteriously vanishes after being seen exiting a plane, walking into a restroom, and then seemingly disappearing into thin air. This isn't the first time Anna has gone missing—ten years ago, she was kidnapped by her own grandmother. The plot thickens when, at the same time Anna goes missing, her 6-year-old half-brother Oakley also vanishes after his mother arrives late to pick him up from football practice. Is it a coincidence, or is there something more sinister at play?

The author crafts a narrative full of twists, turns, and suspense as we follow this dysfunctional family grappling with their own secrets while trying to assist the police in solving the kidnappings. However, despite the compelling setup, the novel struggles to deliver on its promise.

While the mystery is intriguing, the story is bogged down by too many red herrings and an abundance of meaningless dialogue, which makes it difficult to stay invested in the characters. The plot twists, rather than heightening the tension, often feel forced and confusing. In the end, Here One Minute had the potential to be a gripping thriller but ultimately left me feeling underwhelmed and disconnected.

Good book, I loved the idea and it kept me guessing and coming up with theories ,most of which were completely wrong ! I liked the short chapters, and it fairly whizzed along. I enjoyed reading it. Good characters, and a great plot.

With many thanks to Netgalley for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.
This is a tense, fast paced story with some great characters. Well written with short, clearly defined chapters giving the book a nice flow. Thought I had it worked out but Alex Lake had me well and truly thwarted. An easy and enjoyable read

wow alex lake has done it again.

Thanks to the publishers and net galley for this arc.

This book had me gripped from start to finish and I absolutely loved it.

When Anna doesnt appear from the flight she has taken her parents are horrified as its the past repeating itself. What is going on and who is behind her disappearance?

5 stars

I have read most of Alex Lake's books and really enjoyed them, so was delighted to be able to read an advance copy of Here One Minute. The plot grabbed me, as did the book from the opening page.
Anna is 15 years old. Mature enough for her mother, Julia, to be happy for her to travel alone to stay with Anna's father in Manchester. But despite boarding the plane in Heathrow, Anna does not arrive in Manchester. What has happened to Amna? How is it possible for someone to disappear from an airport/ planes which surely have the highest levels of security in the UK! This book was utterly intriguing. I was determined to try to work it out before the reveal! I whizzed through it trying to be oh so clever, but it is impossible to work everything out!
Alex has pulled off another excellent book here. Such a page turner. Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. The story is centred on a broken family whose children are seemingly kidnapped. It’s a complete mystery how they have both gone missing at the same time from 2 different places. Story is told from many of the characters perspectives which I really like. Great thriller with multiple twists throughout

A tense and exciting thriller that keeps you turning the pages until the shocking ending. Lots of twists and turns and shocks, a great read!

Absolutely brilliant. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this author’s books. I found it very hard to put down. I’m now going to check out which books of this author that I’ve not yet read and do some catching up.

WOW! I am going to have to go back to read the first book about Anna. This book was amazing! Anna gets on a plane to visit her father and disappears. Meanwhile, her little brother disappears from practice. There were so many people I suspected in this book, but I guess now looking back, it was always obvious on the kidnapper. So many twists in this story. So many little storylines which lead the reader to think all these other innocent characters were in on it. I powered through this. So good!

I loved this! As a general rule, I despise missing child novels as they're so overdone, but this really brought something new and different.

The writing style was really enjoyable, I like how even minor characters got their own little backstories, to me that made the whole thing more absorbing. I also loved that the chapters had headings! I'm not sure when chapter headings stopped being a regular thing, but I enjoyed seeing them.

The story itself was really fascinating to follow - I love an impossible mystery so Anna managing to disappear in an airport with heavy security and CCTV really caught my attention, and I just had to see how it would all play out.

I would absolutely recommend this book.

If you enjoy a tense thrilling read this is for you.
Just enough main characters and fabulous build up to how it all happened.
This is in my top five of the books i have read this year and i cannot praise enough.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

I read my first Alex Lake book about 5 years ago, and let me tell you, I'm still outraged by one of the characters!
So, I went into this one with high expectations.
Did not disappoint.
Some fab characters, and tense moments.
The worried parents, the false leads, and the nail biting run up to the end.
Took me a while to put the clues together, but thrilled to get there before the book told me.
All really well done.