ARC recieved from Netgalley:

I don't usually like to give less than 4 star reviews for books because authors put so much love, time, effort and money into their books. But I had to give a 3 star for this one.

I'll get directly into what I liked and didn't.

What I liked:

- the blurb was great. It was captivating from the first sentence and drew me in completely. If all the blurbs of mystery/thriller books were like this, I'd love it.

- nice cover. Even though i received an arc, the cover was nice to look at.

- chapters were short. A quick and easy read. Each chapter is around 5-6 pages and by 3-4 chapters, I was already on the 16th or 18th page. I was a bit intimidated by the number of chapters in the beginning but that didn't hold true anyway. The quick jump in povs was also very convenient and kept it interesting instead of boring with the same povs.

- the insight into the problems that are faced by the african-american community especially the men. Being an asian POC person myself, I can understand the frustration and anger that racism can cause. It was very insightful and shed a different light on a topic I'm not well-versed in (but definitely would like to learn more about).

-there was good insight into the mind of the serial-kidnapper. His thought process was well-described and it felt like you were in the mind of the kidnapper himself. They also avoided the usual stereotype of the kidnapper being mentally unstable due to the usual "mother/gf/wife/sister trauma" that made him like this, etc. And the kidnapper was quite young too so that was a change.

- the connection between Ron and Jenny was so heartwarming and soulful. While it did go into overly-sappy territory sometimes, it was nice to read about a dad's love for his only daughter and the lengths that parents, fathers and mothers can go to for their kids.

What I had mixed feelings about:

- the stereotypes. There's an african-american girl, a white girl, an asian girl, a mexican girl and a native american girl. They all follow the usual stereotypes. Rich white girl doing ballet. Poor black girl. Asian girl with hip-hop hating strict parents. Illegally immigrated mexican girl, and the native american girl with a 'typical' name.

Now, while I liked the representation and understoof why all these girls were chosen by the deranged kidnapper, I felt like it played into racial stereotypes way too much. It would've been nice if the girls had different personalities that wasn't based on their races. It left me feeling a bit "icky" but maybe that was the intention of the author?

What I didn't like:

- everything was too..emotional (??). 40% of the book is spent with people crying all the damn time. It was annoying to say the least. Now, don't get me wrong, Im a huge advocate of people expressing their feelings and shraing their trauma to heal, but people your kids are missing!! You need to search for them, not tear up at every toy you see.

-half the book was spent with Ron looking at Jenny's stuff, reminiscing and crying. This is a thriller book, I want the mystery and the gripping suspense, not 10 chapters about trains and how the kid colour coordinates her sweaters. I appreciate the emotion, except I went into this book expecting a mystery, not an emotional trip.

- the language: the kids sound like 25 yo not 11 yo.

"She wanted to stand, could sense his impatience, but the weight on her shoulders combined with the burden she carried in her heart, prevented her from rising from the cot."

"Rebecca skated toward a water fountain, took a sip, and stared at the vast ocean glistening under the sun, sailboats gliding effortlessly along its smooth surface. This tranquil scene was as beautiful as the entire day had been. Rebecca couldn't remember the last time she had been alone with her..(dad/father).."

These do not sound like 11 year old kids. It's been a bit more than a decade since I was an 11 year old, but even as one that read a ton of books, me or anyone else around me definitely did not speak or think like this.

-some parts were too descriptive. On one page, you have the suspense of a girl getting freshly kidnapped and then you turn the next page only to be faced with 6 pages of the dad talking about trains and Disney movies. Half the descriptions could've been cut off and nothing would've changed in this book.

- the book did not live up to the ominous nature that was suggested by that excellent blurb.

- there was too much of political stuff instead of mystery.

- some logistics did not make sense. Ron says he is very poor and cannot afford to get his car door fixed or have a phone for his kid and him. But he can buy video games and have 2 air purifiers running 24/7, 365 days a year? I'm not american so my calculations are purely based off what I saw on the internet.

The cheapest phone plan is apparently $15. Which Ron can't afford. Ok but running an air purifier all day long for a month costs atleast $20. 2 air purifiers is $40. Plus the video games he was looking to buy.

You're telling me that this guy can't afford a $15 phone plan but can afford to pay for air purifiers to run 24/7, buy expensive video games, buy a room full of plushies and toys and trains and train tracks for the kid? It's either poor planning and writing or poor budgeting. I'm sorry, I know that it's a very minute detail but it annoyed me for some reason.

-towards the end, I skipped everything that wasn't dialogues. The descriptions and the trip down memory lanes wasn't interesting enough and felt very irrelevant.

- the abusive storyline of Rebecca's dad (Todd). I appreciate that the author touched a very difficult subject, but I felt that it added nothing to the plot. Tod doesn't attend his daughters play/ballet performance because his dad abused him?) I can understand his mental trauma and the need for healing, but this is just thrown in your face in the middle of the story with no beginning or connection to the story.

- I really really really couldve done without the 10 pages of Thomas the Tank Engine. I love Thomas and Gordon but I did not need to see them referenced every 5 pages. Kids these days don't even watch Thomas the tank engine. They're into TikToks and that Skibidi thing.

- I didn't understand the guys motive? Why did he really kidnap them? To raise them on a farm as his child brides and establish a "pure society"? To make the follow his biblical ideologies? I didn't get it?

- the ending felt very unrealistic? They couldn't find him until the adoption guy realised out of the blue that some random guy came in 5 years ago looking to adopt girls of different races and that rang a bell? THAT'S how they caught him? There were so many better ways sprinkled throughout the story. When he was buying clothes and shoes, when he ordered the gown..and they found him because of the adoption guy who got himself killed?

It felt rushed and the author decided to throw in a random plot to wrap up the story. The story itself picks up as a "mystery/thriller novel" after the last 50-51%.

There was so much potential towards the end but alas.

Overall, I would say it's a one time read. I would recommend only if youre looking for an emotional book with a bit of mystery thrown in. If your looking for a true, gripping mystery, I would suggest looking elsewhere.

Review also found on my goodreads account (sorry not sure how to link it here to this review sorry).

An excellent read full of suspense and heart stopping moments. The genre is fairly common, young girls being abducted, one by one, by a perpetrator with a backstory and an aim he thinks is perfectly reasonable and logical. The details, however, have a real feeling of originality and there are plenty of quirks to the storyline which really held my attention, coupled with a lot of tension.
Two of the fathers of kidnapped girls join forces to investigate themselves and as an unlikely mix of backgrounds and characters they add a lot of interest and emotional weighting to the story. The different and very strong characters of the girls who join forces in such a time of adversity were also brilliantly written.
I loved the pace of the story and some of the details were very clever (no spoilers so won’t elaborate) The writing style was also very engaging and easy to follow. I definitely recommend.

Sounded much better than it was. I ended up skimming it until they found the girls. Didn't even finish it or read the middle. Writing was fine-just wasn't into it.

This is better than I thought it would be. It was well-written, primarily a tale of an unlikely bond formed between grieving fathers. There was a noticeable lack of gratuitous details, for which I was thankful. Nothing earth-shaking here, but a solid offering.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being given freely.

At first I was like omg this book is so sad I just can't do sad books! But then it got very interesting! And oh my heart! it about beat out of my chest! The suspense!! Jeez my heart still pounding! Great book! It had everything! High suspense, intrigue, action packed, kidnapping, grooming, gas lighting, great detective work by the fathers! Great ending! And a few twists and turns! Never give up! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I highly recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

This was the first book I read from this author and it was a perfect read!! A Lot of times I can guess what's going to happen, but this book was totally unpredictable. We love that these fathers had for their girls was amazing they never gave up. Such a touching story. If you get the chance to read this book you will not be disappointed.

I typically avoid books where children are endangered or abused, but the description of this book, with the two dads banding together to find their missing daughters, sounded worth reading. Still, I was very ready to pitch this one if it got too disturbing. There were definitely some disturbing themes, but thankfully, the author avoided being overly descriptive, and I was able to read the entire book without pitching it. In fact, I read the entire book in one night!

There were some parts of the plot that were a little too convenient. Also, I hate that child abuse is so prevalent in books and movies. However, this was a good story, and, thanks to the author's skillful writing, I couldn't put it down, didn't pitch it, and finished it in one night without feeling emotionally scarred.