Little Girl Gone by Stephen Edger is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Harper Impulse and Killer Reads, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

My Synopsis:
2-year old Carol-Anne is missing. Alex Granger pulled into the car-park, left her daughter in the car for two minutes while she went to get a ticket, and when she returned, Carol-Anne was no longer strapped in her car-seat in the backseat. And so the nightmare begins.

Alex’s husband Ray is a detective. Surely he and the team can find Carol-Anne. But there is no evidence, no clues. With a miscarriage behind her, Alex cannot imagine life without her daughter. Her mental health is being brought into question, and with a marriage already on shaky grounds, Alex and Ray may not survive this.

When Alex gets a message from the kidnapper, no one really believes it is reliable, but Alex knows in her heart it is true. But the message gives her an ultimatum, and Alex will eventually have to decide how far she will go to get her daughter back.

My Opinions:
Loved this book. Edger created characters to love and characters to make you wonder. He created a plot with twists and turns and with red-herrings at every corner. He took every parent’s worst nightmare and increased the tension. I think he had the ending right (although he left me with a few unanswered questions, but that’s okay).

Would definitely recommend this one.

Well this book starts full on, Alex makes a decision to leave her 2 year old daughter in her car in the car park while she goes to buy a ticket......on her return Carol-Anne has vanished, disappeared without a trace....!
Its a very tense first few chapters and the fear and guilt from Alex is palpable
Enter Alex’s hubby, Ray, a Policeman, unlikeable but he gives an interesting view on being a victim instead of dealing with other peoples crimes, of course he finds not being able to intervene almost impossible and this causes friction between him and colleagues
I have to say I found it kinda weird he carried on working, on other cases, whilst his daughter was missing and the parts of the book that dealt with this other case he was working on got me thinking ‘who cares, his daughter has been taken, whats he doing even dealing with another case?’, nonetheless it is part of the book
The story had some interesting characters, none I particularly warmed to but that wasn’t the point am guessing, they were believable and real, even if you wouldn’t want them on your friends list on Facebook!!
The Family Liaison Officer sent to the house had a surprising back story and really a book could be written about her and what happens next in her life
The writing style was clear and good and made sure you understood what was happening in the investigation and didn’t get too complex in ‘police chat’, something I always appreciate
After the fast start the book paced itself to an enjoyable level and then whizzzzzed right back up to manic for the last part of the book where it was fast, furious and ever changing and yes until a new word is invented I have to say full of twists and good ones!, the ending being cleverly ended and not as I expected!
A good story that I enjoyed and was harrowing when intense and pleasurable to read all the way through
8.5/10 4 Stars

This is a nail biting story.
Alex leaves her daughter in the car while she goes to get a parking ticket and when she returns she’s gone...
Her husband quickly comes to the car park but there’s no sign of their daughter.
Ray is a Detective and finds it hard when he’s told he can’t be involved in the investigation so he buries himself in another case.
Alex is devastated but is also hurt that her husband is not there for her. Instead of drawing them closer together, this pushes them further apart.
We are led down one path thinking we know what’s happened then the story twists and turns it on it’s head.
This is a gripping read and I really enjoyed it.
Thanks to Killer Reads and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I am of two minds about this book. I loved the twisty turny plot with a little girl missing, a couple coming apart at the seams, and the mother's historical mental health issues muddying up the investigation. However, I am so very much not a fan of unsupported foreshadowing statements that you have to wait half the book to read what the book was referring to. Either explain it when you make the statement or leave out the statement. The reader will still uncover the answer at the same point in the book without being annoyed that they are being teased prior. But if you can get past my own petty annoyance, Mr. Edger writes a well thought out story that makes the reader feel like they know where the story is going but still manages to include some unexpected twists.

Oh what a fantastic book! Great story line with believable characters that grabs your attention from the first page and keeps it until the last. And a great ending that keeps you guessing. I made the mistake of starting this at bedtime. I didn't get much sleep as I didn't want to put it down! I can highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from Stephen. 5stars from me.

I’d like to thank Harper Impulse, Killer Reads and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Little Girl Gone’ by Stephen Edger in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Alex Granger is in a hurry to pay in the car park and as the rain is pouring down she momentarily leaves two-year-old Carol-Anne in her car seat while she dashes to the machine. On her return a minute later she’s horrified to find that Carol-Anne has disappeared! Alex soon receives an email from someone calling himself ‘Simon’ saying she has three days to kill Jack or her daughter will die. Alex’s husband Ray is a police officer with Hampshire Constabulary and when his team is called in to investigate they believe Jack to be a known paedophile, Jack Whitchurch. Will Alex go against all she believes and actually kill Jack or will ‘Simon’ carry out his promise to kill Carol-Anne?

‘Little Girl Gone’ is a tense psychological thriller that encapsulates every mother’s worst nightmare, the disappearance of a child through no fault of her own, and what mother can honestly say she hasn’t done something similar on the spur of the moment? It’s spine-chilling and full of suspense with an exciting and well-written story, sub-plots, and twists and turns that kept me reading well into the night. The conclusion was gripping and had me on the edge of my seat, not at all what I was expecting. Thank you, Stephen, for yet another enjoyable read.

Absolutely loved this book!! So many twists and turns. I kept thinking- where is this little girl, does she even exist, did the mom even have a child in the car??? I hate to admit that because the little girl's name was Carol-Anne, throughout the whole book I was thinking Go to the light Carol Anne! Go to the light! I suspected who was behind everything from the start. It was just a hunch, but many times throughout the book I doubted myself, especially at the end when Ray thinks he found the kidnapper. Although, I never guessed the reason behind everything. I definitely nominate Ray as worst husband of the year. He was never there for his wife. His daughter goes missing and instead of supporting his wife and helping her deal with everything, he's off getting comfort from someone else. I loved the characters, story line and writing style, so pretty much everything about the book. Alex was definitely my favorite character. She became stronger at the end of the book. She wasn't getting any support from her husband and was the only one who believed Carol Anne was still alive. She showed that she would do anything to get her daughter back. I'm not even sure Isla, her Family Liaison Officer, helped her properly. Isla seemed shifty and I even suspected her.

Since it's pouring rain, Alex decides to leave her daughter locked in the car while she runs to get a parking ticket for the car park. She is only gone a few minutes when she returns to an empty car. He daughter has mysteriously disappeared. Alex immediately calls Detective Sergeant Ray Granger, who also happens to be her husband. Ray and the police pretty much believe Alex is behind everything, until Alex starts receiving mysterious emails. Alex has always believed her daughter was still alive, but why would someone take her and what would Alex do to get her back?

This was my first book by Stephen Edger and I need to read more. The book was a great mystery/thriller. The book had me hooked from the very beginning until it ended and I couldn't wait to find out the truth behind everything. I definitely recommend the book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads and the author, Stephen Edger, for a free electronic ARC of this novel.

Fantastic to read!

The story is gripping and full of tense moments. Twists and turns await every page! I really enjoyed reading this a lot and can highly recommend it.

Could not put down! Thank you NetGalley. Well written and great characters who are very far from perfect. Ray and Alex each with their own demons and flaws, must find a way to help their daughter Carol-Anne. Suspenseful and you are left guessing until the end. Would love to read more from this Author. A definitely recommended suspense read.

I liked this book, but I wasn't hooked which is a shame as it had a lot potential. There was just something missing from it and I didn't feel that the end necessarily fitted somehow?
I really liked the dual perspective of the story being told by both the mother and father which allowed you to understand their relationship on a deeper level.
Thanks to harper Impulse and killer reads for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Carol Anne has dissapeared from the car seat she was in it only a couple of minutes while her Mother got some change for her car ,it was raining a lot .
Alex her mother gets a note to tell her what to do
I had a ARC from Harper Impulse

This a thriller novel with the heart-stopping moments of a wild roller coaster ride. Two-year-old Carol-Anne vanishes from her car seat in the minute it takes her mother, Alex Granger, to buy a ticket from the parking lot machine. From the very beginning, the story races through a short time frame where the police, with Alex's husband on the force, chase down all possible leads.

As is often the case, we find out that the beautiful family isn't that perfect once we look inside and see the stresses and strains the marriage has suffered. Somehow these secrets set a tone that this will be the final tragedy that ends Alex and Ray's relationship. Neither of them seemed happy at the start. Now, life as they knew it is slipping away.

You will enjoy this thriller if this is your genre, and even if it isn't, it is worth the read!

I received an advanced copy of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.

When two year old Carol-Ann disappears from a car, Alexs World turns upside down, I almost gave up on this book a few times as it wasn't quite as gripping as I wanted it to be, but towards the end it did pick up and it was an enjoyable read

Brilliant. A gripping psychological read, which keeps you gripped right until the end. Well written, good plot, great characters and plenty of twists and turns. Just what you need for a great book. Recommended 5 stars.

The book started dragging at 50% and I gave up. There were just too many things that hi didn’t care to know about. Also, none of the characters were worth reading about.

Fantastic read. Gripping thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. Wondering where the story is heading. Could not put it down it was great

What a great read! This book draws you in from the very start and keeps you guessing throughout. The characters are well written and believable, as is the storyline. A missing child is every parents nightmare and this book really tugs on your heart strings. The one thing I would say is don't start reading this book when you have any urgent deadlines to keep because you won't want to stop reading until you've finished it! A definite five stars from me!

Two minutes was all it took ! Two minutes that would turn Alex Granger's world into a living nightmare as realization dawned that her two year old daughter, Carol Anne, was no longer in the car where she left her when she went to get a ticket at the car park.
Can Alex's husband Ray, who is a police detective, help solve the crime and support his distraught wife or would their already troubled marriage divide them even more.

From the opening chapter Little Girl Gone grabs and pulls you into this action packed, character driven crime thriller and keeps you gripped to the unexpected ending.
There are plenty of suspects, red herrings and twists galore and I for one didn't work out "whodunit "

A great read and one I would certainly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

There is a reason why I don’t read a lot of thrillers. I find them very predictable. Most of the time I get the whole plot twist in the first 200 pages and I just see the story play out as I imagined it. I can definitely say that Little Girl Gone wasn’t predictable. Anything but and maybe that was a shame…But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
When I read the premise of Little Girl Gone I felt instantly drawn to this story. It really is every parent’s worst nightmare and being a mom of two I wouldn’t know how to survive if one of my children would disappear in thin air. So I was really intrigued by the story, especially because it was told from dual perspective. As reader you follow the mother Alex, the one who turns around for just a few seconds and loses their daughter. And the father, a detective who wants to find his daughter as fast as possible. This was a very interesting way of looking at the story, because you got to see the marriage dynamics between the two and they made each other unreliable narrator’s. I actually liked that as a reader you had to question everything you learned in the previous chapter, because the other parent told a different story. Very well executed by the author.
But and there is a pretty huge but I couldn’t say I was really enjoying the story. I was up till a certain point, but when we got the the final conclusion. The whole who done it and why part the story for me fell completely apart. As I stated before I hate knowing what is going on and being able to predict the outcome of a thriller. But I hate it even more if there is no lead in the story point out to what is going on and who is doing it. I am doubting if I am giving away a spoiler here. But I am still going to type it… You can’t figure out as a reader what is going on, because there isn’t any indication in the whole book about who has done it. It feels like the author got to a certain amount of pages and thought to himself “Ow let’s call it a day. I ll just write a quick ending that just has nothing to do with everything I have been working on.” Such a shame….
So yes Little Girl Gone could have been really good. It has an interesting premise, a good story building, intriguing dual perspective and that it got blown to pieces… Such a shame… It could have been so good.

Review will be posted on my blog on 30/11/2018

I have followed Stephen's books since reading 'Snatched' in 2014 and I have been a firm follower ever since and read every one of his books and never been disappointed.

I love the way Stephen writes, he gets you involved with all the characters right from the beginning and it is an excellent psychological thriller and a gripping page turner.

I have nothing negative to say about this book only that I wish Alex and Ray had had a happier life together.

Thank you for Netgalley and Harper Impulse Killer Reads for giving me the opportunity to read this fantastic book.