This book didn't exactly turn out to be quite what I'd expected but I still enjoyed it.
A family on a cruise ship in The Med have a child abducted from their cabin in the early hours of the morning.
Forty years on and the family are still tormented by the loss of their son.
The story is split between events leading up to the fateful night, the night itself and subsequently events forty years on when a stranger appears in Dublin claiming to be the missing son, but is he really Robert ?
Be prepared for loads of twists as the story knits together and one massive twist that i certainly didn't see coming.
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC

One of the reviews for this book states ‘one of the greatest twists I’ve ever read.’
So I was expecting something that I wouldn’t naturally guess. Unfortunately, I did guess it fairly early!
However, that didn’t remove any enjoyment I had for the book. If you set aside reality, you can immerse yourself in the trials and traumas of young orphan girls and parents whose children are missing. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you want to read another chapter even when you think you need to put the book down.
Sharp characters, interesting scenes and environments. Simple dialogue. Not that that’s a bad thing!
I enjoyed the book and would recommend.

Just one note to the publishes that this really does need proofreading, there are names misspelled and in some cases the wrong use of names altogether.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.

Well this was a real page turner that had me hooked from the prologue.
Told over a triple timeline, I couldn’t stop guessing how all the characters linked.
1983 - Kimberley and Jason wake up in their cabin aboard The Carousel, to discover their 2 year old son Robert has disappeared. 40 years later, he’s never been found.
2023 - Lily, Kimberley and Jason’s daughter, has grown up in the shadow of her missing brother, watching her parents marriage break up as they try to carry on without him. Now a psychotherapist, a new client called Zach appears, with a claim that stuns them all.
1963 - Sally is 5 years old, when she arrives at Sunshine House Orphanage. Scared and alone, Elsie takes her under her wings and the 2 girls become inseparable.
A story about love, heartache and hope, with a great twist at the end.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

1984. On board The Carousel cruise ship in the middle of the Mediterranean, two-year-old Robert vanishes from his cabin while his family sleep soundly beside him. Despite the frantic efforts of his mother Kimberly and stepfather Jason, he is never found.

2024. Lily balances a busy career as a psychotherapist with her responsibilities as a wife, mother and mediator between her divorced parents. Her older brother Robert’s disappearance has cast a dark shadow over Lily’s family her whole life.

But when a new client, Zach, tells Lily about his shocking childhood memories of an imaginary ‘other mother’, Lily’s belief that Robert drowned all those years ago starts to crumble. And she, Kimberly and Jason will soon have to face up to the truth of what happened on that cruise ship. Is Zach delusional? Or has someone known all along what happened to Robert?

This is an engrossing and emotional read, which crosses over from thriller into family drama at times and offers some interesting twists.

The ending. Wow. I kept trying to think what the big twist could be and my brain just couldn't work it out. It was brilliantly done. Can't recommend this thriller enough.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Headline for an advance copy in return for a fair and honest review

A great and very emotive read, an extremely captivating book and storyline. My first by this author, I would certainly look to read previous and future novels by this author. Thanks for early access.

Fantastic read, it had so many twists and turns that I found it difficult to put down. Very easy read, and everything came together in a way that I didn't expect. It was my first book by Carmel Harrington, but it definitely won't be my last.

The Stolen Child is a fantastic read, each chapter urging you on to read ‘just one more’. Carmel Harrington has written this emotional family drama brilliantly, with elements of a thriller and plenty of twists and turns along the way. It was fast paced and the characters were very real in the way they were portrayed.
Although I guessed the storyline part way through, this wasn’t detrimental to my enjoyment of the book. I absolutely loved it and look forward to reading many more by this author.

What a blockbuster of a book, a right page turner. This book kept you on the edge of your seat, not knowing where it was going to go.

Robert (Zach) what an ordeal he went through, who was he really?

Well written book down the ages of two girls and their families, who belongs to who you ask yourself and why did it happen?

Thank you Netgalley for letting rad this book.

The Stolen Child by Carmine Harrington is a gripping and evocative psychological thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The story weaves a complex narrative of mystery and suspense, centered around the disappearance of a child and the devastating impact on a family. Harrington’s writing is both poignant and tense, capturing the emotional turmoil of the characters while gradually revealing twists that leave you questioning everything. I was kept gripped all the way through the book. I loved the story of the characters and the twists.

This wasn't quite what I expected.
I was thinking it was going to be more crime/thriller based, but what we got was more family drama that at times felt like a soap opera.
It was still a decent read. Plenty of twists and turns, and head shaking trying to figure out how the two timelines fitted together.
Enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Review for my copy of The Stolen Child by Carmel Harrington.
I always think when I read a review saying you won't believe the twist that people are exaggerating, but you WON'T BELIEVE THE TWIST.
The story is told across nearly sixty years and goes back and forth between the different time periods.
It is every family's nightmare to have a child go missing, and when there is no resolution after 40 years hope is gone.
ISN'T IT!!!
To say I enjoyed this book feels wrong because parts of it are so desperately sad, but I couldn't put it down, I was so invested in finding the truth.
Another great read from Carmel.

An engrossing read about a little boy going missing on a cruise ship. Gradually we learn of how lives have been until this point and we move to the future and how everyone involved is coping. It’s a really well structured tale with some great twists and I read it quickly.

What a story, told over 2 time periods it starts with the arrival of Sally at a children’s home and meeting Elsie, the story gets going when Sally is 18 and leaves care, running consecutively is Kimberley and Jason’s story. A child stolen, lost, overboard from a cruise, a families search for the truth and then a twist in the last portion of the book. Fabulous.

When Kimberly and Jason discover their two year old missing from their cabin on a cruise ship they are determined to find him, not realising that he may be lost to them forever. Decades pass, and the family is haunted by fears of what Robert's fate might have been.

When it is more or less accepted that they will never know the full truth, there is an unexpected breakthrough of sorts. But can new arrival Zach's theory be believed?

This is an engrossing and emotional read, which crosses over from thriller into family drama at times and offers some interesting twists. It gets 3.5 stars. Worth checking out.

In 1984, Kimberly wakes up while on a Med cruise to discover her two-year-old son Robert has vanished. She and husband Jason do everything possible to track their child down, but to no avail.
Flash forward 40 years and in 2024, the couple’s daughter Lily, a therapist, is juggling a career with motherhood – with playing referee between her warring, divorced parents. However, a client suggests what could have happened to Robert all those years before, turning life as she knew it on its head.
If secrets have a way of being exposed, what is being suggested is that someone on board the cruise ship knew what happened to Robert. Imbued with the wit and warmth we’d expect from Carmel’s writing, once you start, you’ll not want to stop until it’s completed.

The triple timeline was such a great feature of this book.

So many fantastic characters in this story, good seeing how the relationships developed, expertly balanced with some completely unlikeable characters who had me impatiently waiting for them to get what they deserved

I only came across Carmel Harrington as an author last year when it was announced that she was going to make an appearance at our bookclub meet up. We read her book "A Mother's Heart" in advance of the meet-up and I was blown away! It was one of my favourite books of 2024 and I was so eager to read Carmel's upcoming release "The Stolen Child" (Due to be published 27th Feb 2025). I was delighted to receive an ecopy via NetGalley.

Carmel writes intergenerational family dramas SO well and this book has all that PLUS it's an emotional thriller. I couldn't have loved it any more! My heart was in my mouth for the entire book with the twists and turns that the storyline takes.

The triple timeline was such a brilliant feature of this book. It allowed for the story and its characters to be totally fleshed out, while also adding to the pace of the story and kept me wanting to read more.

I fell in love with many of the characters in this story, and adored seeing how some relationships developed. This is, of course, expertly balanced with some completely unlikeable characters who had me gritting my teeth and impatiently waiting for them to meet their comeuppance.

A phenomenal read from start to finish! Highly recommend!

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Stolen Child. All opinions are my own.

OH MY GOSH!!!!! This book is blooming brilliant!! Branded an emotional thriller, I think it's a perfect description! My eyes welled , as much as I gasped!!!

I love Carmel Harrington's books and have read them all. What I love about them is the emotional intelligence with which they are written, the warmth and the thought provoking themes. This book is no different, despite it being an utterly compelling thriller, making for an exciting but poignant, empathetic read.....no mean feat!!!!

I adore a dual timeline and this book gets bonus points for a triple timeline, spanning decades!!! How the author kept on top of everything is beyond me, but the transitions between the time periods were seamless and deliciously cliffhangery, propelling me forward right to the last page.

I love this book, due out 28th March; massive recommend from me, get it on your pre-order list.

P.s there are notes at the end of the book from the author and her son ,talking about the inspiration for the book, that are so lovely (if not a little horrifying, you'll have to read them see what I mean!)

Another brilliant book by Carmel Harrington.

Elsie and Sally have been friends since the care home and promised to look out for each other all their lives. This story goes back and forward between Sally and Elsie in the care home to the present day when Kimberly and her family are on a cruise and her son is abducted. I read this book in one sitting a brilliant read!

I don’t really know how I feel about this book. The subject matter is harrowing but I just could not form any connection to the characters. The book was very slow to get going, and I know the background stories were all needed, but it felt like not much happened until the final 20%. If I had received this as an ARC I probably wouldn’t have carried on reading it.