Once begun, this is a difficult book to put down when real life interrupts reading life. This is the story of a missing child, Ben Finch, told from the perspectives of his frantic single mother, Rachel, and the lead detective in the case, Jim Clemo. The histories of the peripheral characters are also fascinating in their reactions and motivations relating to a missing child.

The book follows Rachel as she copes in the week following the disappearance of her son and endures the cruel judgments by the press and social media. Any parent can only imagine the fear and panic when a child is missing, and it is palpable in this novel. The characters are very well drawn and the heart-stopping conclusion is logical. This is a remarkable debut novel by a talented author, Gilly Macmillan, whose career I shall follow with interest. I am grateful to LibraryThing to be an early reviewer of this book.

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Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It's an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry until Ben vanishes. The story is told in two POV, Rachel and the investigator, DI Jim Clemo. The book starts out slow but soon takes off and deals with the pain and panic of having a missing child. In the end the kidnapper was a surprise to me. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in The DI Jim Clemo series, The Odd Child. I recommend this book to those who love thrillers.

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