Sam Vickery’s One Big Happy Family is an emotionally charged domestic thriller that dives headfirst into the complexities of love, loyalty, and betrayal. What begins as a seemingly ordinary family drama quickly escalates into a tense and tangled web of secrets, with a love triangle at its explosive core.

Vickery expertly weaves together the personal and the psychological, crafting characters whose emotional depth and flawed choices keep the reader on edge. The twists come fast and without warning, each one more shocking than the last, building a sense of unease that lingers right up to the final page.

With its high-stakes family dynamics and relentless tension, One Big Happy Family is a gripping, fast-paced read that will appeal to fans of twist-filled thrillers. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions and revelations—one that refuses to let go until the very end.

This was such an intense read as everything shifts in a split second, causing panic and fear, which then spirals into suspicion and rising tension. Definitely gripping from start to finish.

I love all The Books by Sam Vickery but this is the best! Absolutely unputdownable. I could barely sleep cause i couldn’t wait to see what would happening next! I. Highly re comment it a true rollercoaster of emotions!

As far as the genre goes, "One Big Happy Family" is a decent read. There's mystery, there are red herrings, there is tension. However the trope that's tied to the resolution is, in my opinion, quite tired and overexploited. The who and why of the little girl kidnapping was quite unsatisfying because of how often this trope was utilised in such literature. This novel is hence okay but not very memorable.

First, I want to thank Sam Vickery, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review.

Once again Sam Vickery brings us another incredibly emotional read in One Big Happy Family. This is a book where you will want to rush and hold your little loved ones close and not let go. Yes, this is a book that is every parent's worst nightmare come true! Oh Sam surely pulled on my heartstrings and thensome with this book.

Sam’s book was fast paced and immediately engulfed my attention into the story! I couldn’t imagine how this main character must have felt that day on that beach!! That scene I played in my mind like I was living it on the sidelines.

I had a heart for many of the characters and the situations they were put in during this story. However, Macey I think I felt for the most. She was Ana’s sister and there the day the incident happened. However, she was in total shock and had not get out of it. I wanted to reach out to that character. And reach into the book and give her a big hug.

Blown away by the climatic ending that you never saw coming!!

This was a tense, fast-paced read that had me hooked from the start. When Carrie’s young daughter goes missing at the beach, suspicion quickly falls on everyone—her ex, his new fiancée, and even extended family.

Told from alternating perspectives, you’re never quite sure who to trust. The characters are flawed, sometimes frustrating, but always compelling. I loved the twists, the emotional tension, and the way the truth slowly unraveled.

A great domestic thriller that keeps you guessing till the very end!

I would like to thank Bookouture & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review

I really enjoyed this book by Sam Vickery. The story focuses on the main character, Carrie, who is trying to juggle working life and being a mother.
I loved the twists throughout the book, and it had me gripped to the end.

I absolutely love Sam Vickery, her writing is so addictive and you know you will be in for a treat. One Big Happy Family was another fab book that I could not put down , I absolutely loved it.

Carrie is having a picnic on the beach, her toddler is playing at the edge of the water and when she turns around her daughter is gone. her ex husband has a new girlfriend and she suspects she had something to do with the disappearance.

One moment of distraction can change your life forever.

Carrie is struggling. She is an overworked emergency room doctor in Britain, with three young children. Her husband, Jimmy, has left her for a younger, sexier model, and the new, aspiring step-mother is more than eager to show how much more adept she is with the children.

So, when Carrie’s toddler goes missing during a picnic on the beach, chaos ensues and pre-existing rifts between Carrie and her ex widen. This twisty story, told though the eyes of Carrie and “the other woman” moves quickly, as Carrie fights to retrieve her daughter.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy - all thoughts are my own.

I requested this book having never heard of the author so my review is completely unbiased. However having read this, I have since downloaded all of her books on Amazon. Absolutely loved this. It had me completely engrossed the whole way through and not wanting to put it down. The characters were realistic and likeable and there were twists the whole way through. Highly recommend this.

This was a good holiday read. It felt a bit frenetic at first with Carrie’s narrative seeming disjointed. The main characters were certainly well rounded out by Sam so that you feel you get a good sense of them. Lots of dodgy actions, leading to lots of possibilities as to what happened to Ava. I did suspect the protagonist early on but that could have twisted very easily so well done to the author for keeping us guessing. I thought the kids were credible and it was great to see bad behaviour exposed and people able to move on. That’s a little cryptic but I don’t want to spoil the story flow for any readers. Overall a very enjoyable read. Four stars

This was a good story, despite the fact that I thought all of the primary characters were varying degrees of horrible people. It centers on Carrie, whose young daughter Ava goes missing on a beach trip. Carrie's soon-to-be ex-husband Jimmy, and his new fiancée Leah are zero help and there is a lot of suspicion between this love triangle around what might have happened.

The author really makes you feel what these characters are feeling, even if you don't agree with them. I thought the mystery in the book was sound, though the police work seemed rather unbelievable. It is hard to say whether I disliked Jimmy or Leah more, but seems like those 2 were made for each other. I felt sorry for the kids for being stuck in the middle of the immature oneupmanship between the various parts of the family. I was surprised with the villain was revealed, though once it happened it all made complete sense. The author did a good job of making so many different characters suspicious that it was hard to separate what they might be capable of to what they really did, which I really enjoyed. I can't say I enjoyed the end of the book, but can't really say more without potentially spoiling.

Overall, this was a fast-paced and tense read with lots of mystery alongside believable red herrings. I would recommend to those who enjoy mysteries and domestic suspense. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another tense domestic drama from Sam Vickery! A missing child, an almost ex-wife, a wanna-be new wife and a recent friend who seems to just show up. Lots of drama going back and forth taking a while to get to the truth and who took the child.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

I was so happy for Carrie at the end. Jimmy was a piece of work, but I thought the ending worked out perfectly for everyone and I definitely did not suspect who the actual culprit was. A fantastic read.

One Big Happy Family by Sam Vickery is a clever psychological thriller that plays on the worst fear of any parent.

A day at the beach takes a tragic turn when Carrie loses her toddler daughter Ava after a moment of distraction. Her older daughter Maisy goes mute when Carrie frantically questions her, and a desperate search yields no results. As Carrie grapples with this unimaginable loss, she begins to question the actions of those closest to her while they, in turn, wonder if she is a competent parent.

This one will keep you guessing until the very end, and is a compelling, chilling read from start to finish. What really happened to little Ava?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC.

A very engaging thriller where the twists keep on coming. With lots of loathsome characters it will keep you turning the pages. Lots of suspense and misdirection, the confusion creates a beautifully tense and tight story.

I'm sure a lot of people have experienced the heart stopping moment when you realise your child has gone missing but fortunately they are usually found very quickly. However Carrie Gold is not as fortunate when her two year old daughter disappears from the beach. Carrie is divorced from her husband Jimmy and shares custody of the children with him. Jimmy is now living with his girlfriend Leah who, in Carrie's eyes, is becoming far too close to the children and seems keen on having them live with her.and their father. After Ava disappears footage emerges of an older woman on a bus with a child that looks like Ava. Carrie is convinced that this is Leah's mother and that she has something to do with the disappearance.
This is an enjoyable read with alternating chapters from Carrie and Leah's perspectives. You are never quite sure who is telling the truth as both women seem to have secrets and Jimmy is less than useless!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity of reading an advanced copy of this book..

ha! holy moly this book was one of the best ive read in a while. it takes it so much further than a thriller because the emotion behind it all is top notch too. youve got the missing child but also the dynamics or undercurrents of just whats going on behind this family.
the tension builds both in plot and relationships and you are constantly trying to figure out who is right or wrong? are any of these people actually doing the right thing or is there something more sinister going on?
can you imagine turning around and your child is gone,vanished! this is what happens to Carrie.
Carrie has split from her ex who is now with a new woman Leah. its quick and feels complex between them all from the off and Sam does excellently at portraying the feelings of Carrie at this point.
but what would you do? did her daughter go to the sea as they are on the beach? or did someone take her from under her nose?
the story is then told in dual pov and i loved how you deviated with questioning of characters depending on whos point of view you were reading. but slowly with the help of both Sam feeds us the snippets we need to watch the story unfold.
all the pov of what happens to this family when their little girl disappear were done to perfection both young and old. i was getting a heartbreaking feeling the more i read and was in high stakes suspense the more i read. it was just brilliant. and the shocks both big and small kept coming and from left field alot of them.
its not always necessary for a book to have twist the surprise you or you dont guess. but this one did and it was done in just the best kind of ways. this has gone right up their to the top of my current lists. you need to read this book. bravo to Sam for this is one author that knows their stuff!

One Big Happy Family turns a day at the beach into tragedy for Carrie because when she turns around her baby girl Ava is gone. This is more than just a thriller it is a family drama with plenty of emotional turmoil and hidden agendas. I loved the plotted twists of which there are many but the biggest surprise twist was really a surprise for me because I had not predicted it. The characters are all too my eyes selfish making them unlikeable but it was exciting trying to work out the games they were playing with each other. A missing child is always a high adrenaline pumping read and in this book the author takes it beyond expectations!