Megan experiences every parent's worst nightmare- her son, Daniel, goes missing, Taken by his father, her estranged ex-husband, Daniel shows back up in a town close by six years later and his dad is dead from a fire. Told from Daniel and Megan's perspective and changing from the past to the present, this thriller rushes toward a potentially surprising ending.

I wanted to fully enjoy this thriller, but I could tell what was coming from a mile away. I did appreciate reading about the struggle between Megan's guilt in building a life after losing her son and Daniel's struggle to integrate back into his family.

The Boy in the Photo is not the same boy who came home six years later. The story line can be read in the headlines too many times. A child is taken by their non custodial parent and disappears only to come back many years later. What the headlines don't tell you or the movies show you, is the child who was taken is not the same child who comes back. A mother's story of life pre and post her child's return. How can you reach him when he looks at you like a stranger? An outstanding thriller that will have your heart breaking over and over again. Nicole Trope has written an excellent book that should be on the best sellers list!

The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope will keep you wondering all the way through as you read it. I started it today. And I finished it today. The story follows Megan, who loses her son Danny when he is six years old. Danny is kidnapped by her abusive ex-husband and the two seemingly disappear. Six years go by with no word and no hope for Megan. Then, one day, Danny walks into a police station just a few hours from where Megan now lives with her husband and new child, saying his father died in a fire. Megan is overjoyed to have her son home, but he is distant and edgy and there is so much pain between them. The more time they spend together, the more worried she becomes. There are questions about the fire and questions about the life Danny led when he was with his father, but Danny doesn't seem able to answer them all. Is there more going on than they can imagine? Or is it simply the trauma of what he went through. A must read to find out for yourself!
I really enjoyed this book (obviously!), although I did guess at some of the plot points, though by no means all! It really kept me guessing right up until the end! I hope you enjoy it also!
I received a free copy of this story from NetGalley. All opinions are my own!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of "The Boy in the Photo" by Nicole Trope in exchange for an honest review.

"The Boy in the Photo" by Nicole Trope pulled at my heartstrings. To have a child taken by an ex and disappear is incomprehensible. The pain and agony that Megan goes through for six long years trying to find her missing son, Daniel is heartbreaking.

The mystery, suspense, family dynamics and writing style between past and present made this a great read.

The worst fear for a parent is for their child to go missing, with no idea if they are alive or dead. The worst fear for a single parent is that the child’s other parent snatches them.
Megan found the courage to leave her manipulative and abusive husband Greg and tried to keep things amicable for the sake of their son Daniel. One day she goes to pick Daniel up from school only to be told he has already been collected by his father. They have gone and no contact is made for 6 years.
Megan is obviously devastated but eventually moves on with her life, falling in love, marrying and having a new baby with the lead detective who was investigating Daniel’s abduction.
Suddenly, she receives a phone call from her new husband to say that Daniel has walked into a police station and his father is dead. Daniel returns home but it is not a smooth homecoming as he has spent 6 years having poison dripped into his heart by his bitter father.
The Boy in the Photo is SO SO GOOD! I was completely drawn to Megan’s character and situation which are both heartbreakingly realistic and well described. The emotional element to the book is so powerful and I think every parent would be able to identify with Megan’s mixed feelings.
The book jumps around chronologically so that we see what Megan and Daniel experienced during their separation. The insidious ways that Greg treats Daniel showcase his hatred for Megan in a disturbing way and as a parent is was difficult to read of a parent mistreating their child in this way. We then see in the present day how these lies manifest themselves in Daniel’s behaviour and destroy Megan’s happioness.
There were several twists or revelations which I did guess but were superbly written. I was hooked from start to finish, just as I was with Nicole Trope’s previous book My Daughter’s Secret.

This was a great read from the first page. I felt so bad for the mother not knowing where her son was or if he was dead or alive. And then when they finally found him 6 years later, he wasn't at all the boy she remembered. I'd love to read more books by this author.

This is a truly compelling and addictive read! In The Boy in the Photo, Megan's world collapses when her six-year-old son Daniel goes missing - snatched from school by her abusive husband. When all leads prove unsuccessful, Megan is resigned to the fact her son is not coming home, that she'll have to live without him. That is, until six years later, when she receives a call to say he's been found, and that his father is dead.

Daniel is now older and practically a stranger, having been brought up in Australia, being fed lies about Megan by his controlling dad. Daniel is cold, angry, still hurting from the death of his father. But he has a secret, and along with his slightly unnerving presence around Megan and her new family, something doesn't seem right about her once happy, smiling son.

This is a wonderfully gripping book which I really struggled to put down. It's a great thriller that'll keep you guessing right to the end.

It was ok but I did not really connect to any of the characters and I found myself getting bored.I do not feel I want to put my review on Amazon as it is not a good one.

What a book! Being a mother myself this book really got to me. I cannot imagine having a child taken - spending years without him and then when he returns you just do not know him anymore.
The book was page turning and while I had figured out what was going to happen on my own, I still couldn't wait to read about how it all played out. Definitely recommend and will be reading more from this author!

It was quick and easy to read. I struggled to really connect with any of the characters. It was a good book, not really a thriller as marketed but more of a drama.

An emotional read full of tension and suspense. A realistic portrayal of the situation. I didn't expect it to hit the emotional level it did but, it made you feel like you were right there with the characters. I will definitely read this author again.

Wow! What a book. I really enjoyed this. I was so excited to read it based out of Australia and I was not disappointed. It was definitely a heart wrenching rollercoaster of emotions. I'll definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview the Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope. This book is set in Australia but it could be set anywhere.
A woman, Megan, is suddenly caught up in having her son taken by her ex-husband. Megan is devistated and is finally making it back to her old life when her son comes back many years later. Megan is so happy but unsure how to integrate her son back into his old life. She has no idea what happened to him, but she must do what it takes to get him back the way he was.
Good Book - for me not a thriller, but a good drama that earns 3 stars from me.

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: having something happen to your child. Megan arrives at school to collect her 6-year-old son Daniel one day, only to discover that he’s nowhere to be found because he’s already been collected by his father Greg – her ex-husband; the husband she finally had the courage to escape from, divorcing him after suffering years of control, abuse and cruelty. The police are contacted immediately – how difficult could it be for a man and child to simply disappear? But that’s exactly what they’ve done and Greg has ensured that they’ll never be found.

Six years later Megan has re-married and has a baby daughter Evie, when Daniel walks into a police station in a remote town not far from where Megan now lives, and tells them who he is. She can hardly believe it! The son who she never gave up hope of seeing again, is finally coming home! Only, when she goes to collect him, she discovers that he’s cold and distant – not at all the same as the warm, loving child he was before. What has happened to her Daniel in the six years he was gone, and is there any hope in him ever really coming back to her?

Nicole Trope does a sterling job of drawing us into a family in the midst of devastating trauma – at first when we witness Megan’s sheer heartbreak at losing her son for the first time, and then again when she finds him, only to feel like she has lost him all over again as she realises he will never be the child she envisaged. Even though this time she has her kind, supportive and patient husband by her side, he will never understand that what she is feeling just cannot include him – even though he was the investigator on the case when Daniel was first reported missing and swore to her even then, that he would be found. So even though he does have his own invested interest and care in Daniel – it’s completely different to that of being his parent.

Trope gets to the heart of her characters. Her portrayals are extremely well-rounded and real and she holds back from going overboard. Daniel’s realisation that his father has poisoned his entire childhood and memories of his mother is painful both to him and to the reader. I imagine that the research involved would have been even more so.

This is a heartbreaking story of a family wrenched apart, only to be put back together like a jigsaw puzzle … with the pieces in the wrong places. The writing is excellent and riveting from the very first page. You’ll feel your stomach twist in anticipation with each turn of the page. 5 tingling stars for this one – and I’ll be looking for other books by Nicole Trope. I feel I’ve missed out by not having read them!

Excellent read. Hard to put the book down. Right from the start you were sucked in and new this was going to be a good one. The storyline was wicked. Not quite knowing where it was going next. There was lots of twists and turns in the road.

If you are in the mood for a mystery novel then The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope is the read for you. The novel starts off with a case that could happen to anyone as Megan and her husband argue like cats and dogs as he is controlling and abusive towards her. Megan has had enough, so she takes her son Daniel and moves out. Trying to start new, Megan enrols Daniel into school and things seem to be working until one day when Megan's worst nightmare happens. She has gone to school to pick up Daniel - her six-year-old son, only to learn that her ex-husband picked him up and now has gone off the grid kidnapping her son, her baby boy. Six years pass and though Megan thinks about her son all the time and has joined a support group for similar parents and made two great friends Tom and Susan who have been through similar cases. She is trying to move on with her new husband -Detective Michael and their young baby girl Evie. One day Megan gets a phone call from her husband, saying that they have found Daniel. Megan rushes to the station and sees her son. It should be a happy reunion, but her boy isn't the same kid she said goodbye to that morning she dropped him off at school. This Daniel is sullen, hiding things, keeping secrets and acts just like a carbon copy of her ex-husband. What happens though when Megan discovers some unsettling news and her past comes to haunt her? Can Megan protect her little girl from having the same fate as Daniel happen to her? I have to admit, I liked the twist of the ending of this book but didn't like what happened to Megan as I felt it was a let-down to the story as it was like she just got her family back and now we will rip it apart again in one way or another - WTF ??. Overall, the Boy in the Photo was a good mystery but in parts could tell it was Australian due to the slower pace of the story.

I really enjoyed this book. I felt that the author got the mystery genre extremely well. It is definitely a book I’d buy.

This is a great book. I probably could have given it 5 stars, but it really takes a lot to be a 5-star book, doesn't it? Nicole Trope is an excellent writer. From the first page, she spun a story that drew me in. While missing children stories are quite common, this one is definitely better than most. It is told from a different point of view...that of the abductee and the mother. I love the book went back and forth in time, but it was still easy to keep track of the progression. The characters were well-developed and most were sympathetic and relatable. I did think there could have been a bit more story development in the present day period of time. I won't go into that so I don't give anything away. Overall, this story was suspenseful and well-written. I would recommend it for most general fiction and thriller readers. It's an easy read, since the plot doesn't get too complex and there are just enough characters to make the story complete. There were a couple times I thought about putting this book aside, but it was just interesting enough to keep me reading on. Overall, this is an easy read...would be great for the beach. Give it a go.

Set in Australia The Boy in the Photo is a good thriller which is based round Megan and her son Daniel who is snatched by her ex husband Greg from school one day when he is only 6 years old.After fearing the worst over the next 6 years Daniel suddenly reappears after walking into a remote police station alone claiming his dad has died in a fire.Megan is over joyed to have her son back but all is not sweetness and light as Daniel has to deal with a new dad and baby sister.Megan is still not convinced about her son's account of where he has been during the missing 6 years and the death of her ex husband still leaves her thinking about the past and just what Greg has done to Daniel ? It is a well written thriller but i did guess the ending that was coming and i wouldn't describe it as a pageturner never the less it is a good 4 star thriller for me.

I found The Boy in the Photo to be really compelling so devoured it in under 24 hours.

Megan’s son (Daniel) was abducted by her abusive ex-husband at the age of 6 and miraculously is returned to her more than six years later. Daniel struggles to fit into his new life and Megan is unsure what trauma he has suffered at the hands of ex.

This book is fast-paced with several twists and turns. I would recommend to anyone that loves a thriller.