The gripping & harrowing story of parents who are very involved with their kids and do everything they can to keep them busy and out of trouble. Even though social media rules are in place their daughter gets mentally snared by a young man on the web. They will stop at nothing to keep her safe from being physically snared as well.
I received an advanced review copy of this book from The Great Thoughts Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

Telling our stories are so very important for healing and for helping others. What the Baldwin family went through is a nightmare many fear. John and Mack share their incredible story with such grace and wisdom won the hardest of ways. This book is excellent and needs to be read by everyone and open discussion that may save other young people and families. Highly recommend! I received an advance copy from Great Thoughts Ninjas. All opinions are my own.

An unbelievably true tale about almost losing his young eighteen year old daughter to a slick young Albanian man from Kosovo. It seemed so innocent when Mackenzie begins to communicate with Aadam online. He convinces her that they belong together. He explains the Koran and convinces her to convert to a Muslim even though her parents are Christians that are actively involved in their church. She begins to plan to go to Kosovo to be with him since he has convinced her that they are engaged. Her parents can feel her slipping away, but they have no idea of the depth of deception she has succumbed to without their knowledge. She has planned to leave the day after her graduation. Her parents are desperate for help, but they do not know how to help her. One day Mackenzie's father receives a phone call from one of her friend's fathers explaining her plan to flee the country to get married. What follows is the twenty-five days that the Baldwin family has to try to make sure their eighteen year old daughter doesn't run away. This story is told in alternating viewpoints by Mackenzie and her father. The family could have kept this story to themselves, but they chose to share it with others in the hopes that it may help someone else!
I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

Wow what an eye opening book! It took great courage for the Baldwin family to tell their story. This book is very relevant today as everything is done on the computer. I feel this book should be read by every teenager so they can understand the dangers that can be found on the internet. I am so glad the Baldwin family had a happy outcome. I received an advanced review copy of this book from The Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

As a mom to two young girls, this book gripped me. I was in full anxiety mode the entire time. I cannot imagine the turmoil John and Stephanie went through trying to save their daughter. Mack was so young, so headstrong, so SURE that Aadam was a good guy. But what do you really know about someone you meet online and have never truly met?

To come to find that your daughter is planning on running away is one thing. To find out that she is engaged to some manboy and planning to run to a foreign land known for sex trafficking, organ harvesting and the desire to do ANYTHING for US citizenship is downright terrifying. What do you do? She’s 18. She’s an adult. If she wants to convert to Islam, she’s allowed. If she wants to leave the country, unfortunately- she’s allowed. But when you know, you just KNOW your child is in danger, you will do anything on God’s green earth to get her back. Even if it means getting the FBI involved. Because you only have 25 days before she’s gone.
MacKenzie, sweet girl, I wanted to ring your neck with how stubborn you were in this book. But you were so young, so naïve. You experienced infatuation to a dangerous degree. Putting Christianity vs. Islamic faith aside, you were in deep. And for not the love and determination of your parents, who knows where you would be today.

All parents need to have this book and keep it handy. It shows that no matter what you do, no one, no family, is perfect. If you find yourself with a stubborn, willful woman (or man) child, have them read this as well. Truly a moving and thought provoking read. Thank you to the Baldwins for sharing your story.

Thank you also to the Great Thoughts Ninja Team for the honor of reading and reviewing this book. All opinions are my own.

Could.not.put.down! As a parent, I bit my nails, I cried, I worried, I cheered as I read this amazing story. Thank you to the Baldwins for sharing something so personal and so IMPORTANT. You allowed me to accompany your family through the pain of reliving the most frightening experience I can imagine,- nearly losing a child. What makes it even more terrifying was that this child was voluntarily, willingly, even eagerly walking away into a unbelievably dangerous situation. There is much to be learned between these pages; it won't be comfortable and easy but it will be worth it!

As a mom of a fifteen year old and an eleven year old daughter, this book hit close to home. So much of this book could have been describing my family, my girls.

This is a book that every parent needs to read. I am so thankful this family had the courage and faith to tell this story. I have already told my oldest daughter and husband that they will be reading this book. My younger daughter will read it when she is a little older.

Mack's story shows how easily a situation like this could happen. Her parents demonstrated unwavering and unconditional love for their daughter.

I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

This was one intense book. I wanted to read Almost Gone because this happened right in my backyard. I live 20 minutes away from Plano, TX where Mackenzie Baldwin grew up and this situation went down. I commiserated with and felt deep empathy for her parents as I read from her father John's perspective and as these events unfolded for him and he and his wife figured out what was going on and had very little time to put a plan into place that would ultimately save their daughter from what could have been a very bad situation. I commend Mackenzie for being strong enough to share her story in hopes that it might help other girls her age from making the same mistakes. What I took away was to never assume your kids won't do something no matter how far fetched it is, no matter how many times you have told them not to or talked to them about the danger of things, even a smart kid at 17 or 18 years old can fall victim to the pitfalls of internet relationships. I was happy this story had a happy ending and the Baldwin's shared the whole thing, painful as it must be, to help others. I recommend this book to anyone who reads non-fiction.

This is a true story about a loving Christian family who almost loses their 18 year old daughter to a man she meets on the internet. The story is told in alternating chapters by the father, John, and his daughter Mackenzie. The Baldwin family had always been a strong Christian family who spent a lot of time together. As her senior year in high school was starting, Mackenzie started to pull away from the rest of the family and starts questioning her faith as she started trying to learn more about Islam. Her parents had no idea what was going on with her and by the time they found out, it was almost too late to save her. She had started talking to a young man, Aadam who despite telling her at first the he lived in NYC, actually lived in Kosovo. He encouraged her to learn more about Islam and as time went on became very controlling of her life. She was planning to run away from home and meet him him in Kosovo because she couldn't imagine life without him. When her parents found out from several of her girlfriends, they had less than a month to save their daughter from leaving the country to marry someone she had never met. This book is about their struggle and is a real warning for parents whose children spend time on the internet. Everyone is not who they pretend to be on the internet and parents need to be vigilant about what their children are doing on social media. This was a scary story but one that I'm afraid happens way too often.

I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own

Warm and touching story of a families deepest crisis. Parents and teens involved in struggle would appreciate. Bit of suspense to the story as well. Quick read, positive message!

Almost Gone
John and Mackenzie Baldwin
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was an honest and scary look at a family who almost lost their daughter. Good Christian home, loving parents and a daughter who almost gave it all up for a person she had never met. Told from both the father and daughters viewpoints, the story details how Mackenzie met Aadam, a Muslim man living in Kosovo on a random chat website. How they talked for over a year and the plans they made. It's an incredible story and one that I'm sure is, sadly, not that unusual. The parents heartbreak and confusion and surprise was real. This would be a good book to read with your daughter. Thank you to Netgalley and Great Thoughts Ninja Review Team for the advance copy.

I received an advanced review copy of this book from The Great Thoughts Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own. This is a book that needs to be read by everyone. Our eyes need to be open to the fact that in this the age of technology we need to be hyper vigilant in what teenagers are seeing and doing on the internet. Big cheers for this family in sharing their story and extra big cheers for Mac in stepping forward to tell her story.