Only Child by Casey Kelleher
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Published by Bookouture on October 7, 2022
Genres: Psychological Thriller
Pages: 319

Audiobook Narrator: Jasmine Blackborrow
Audiobook Length: 8 Hours and 26 Minutes

Source: the publisher through NetGalley

I received this book for free from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This book may be unsuitable for people under 18 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

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Synopsis

The police are here. The feeling of pure dread swirls in my stomach as a million scenarios start playing out in my head. My whole life I’ve expected something bad to happen to my daughter. It is as if part of me has been expecting it. As if I deserve it.

Fifteen-year-old Kayla is the apple of her parents’ eyes, their beautiful only daughter. They tried for so long to have her that she was even more precious when she arrived. But deep down, her mother Sherrie has always been terrified that their worst fear would come true: that Kayla would be taken from them.

Then one day – just as Sherrie had dreaded – Kayla fails to return home after a sleepover. In desperation, Sherrie and her husband Richard call Kayla’s friends. They scour the streets, their search becoming more and more frantic. Until the police arrive and deliver the shocking news, when their worst nightmare comes true: someone has their daughter.

As Sherrie and Richard grill friends, family, and even each other, Sherrie starts to wonder, has the secret they’ve been hiding all these years finally caught up with them?

Because Sherrie and Richard are living a lie. A lie so huge, so shocking, that it could destroy the one thing they hold most dear – their daughter.

And if the truth comes out, their family will never be the same. But if it doesn’t, they will never see their precious girl again…

A totally unputdownable psychological thriller that will have you gasping out loud until the very last page. If you love Lisa Jewell, K.L. Slater and T.M. Logan, you’ll be obsessed with Only Child.

I worked out the ending halfway through, but that did not shake my interest one bit!

In fact, I believe it enhanced the story holding the knowledge I had, and a couple of the twists still turned a little unexpectedly, but I never wavered in knowing. Of course I won’t tell! Spoil you? No way! This book was a page-turner and a thrill every second, particularly after about the 68% mark. You need to be prepared to not put it down.

My only teeny tiny complaint was that the author focused mostly on the women and girls in the story without giving as much attention to Richard. I would have liked to have known him better. He was a bit cookie-cutter. Maybe that was on purpose? I don’t know. That was the one thing I couldn’t figure out.

Even with that, it was still a definite five-star read for me, and I highly recommend it.