I always enjoy a good returned kidnapping story and this one didn't disappoint. It was a little lightweight in parts but I felt like the pacing was there and the flash backs to 20 years earlier actually made sense and fit into the book nicely. I feel like some books are trying to shoehorn in a non-linear plot but this really worked. A fast read for a time when a lot of us are distracted by the news.

Twenty years ago, four year old Holly, went missing. She was returned 3 months later, unharmed and had no memory of what happened. The local handyman was convicted and suspicion has always been that her mother was somehow involved.

Holly is now an adult who has received a call from a police detective. Another girl has gone missing and he thinks the wrong person might be in jail. Holly starts to research other missing girls and trying to put the pieces of her past in place. Can she trust anyone around her?

During this time her mother is run off the road while driving Hollys car. Is it a coincidence or was someone trying to finish the job that they started?? As Holly starts digging into her past more she starts to have flashes of memory. What is real?

This is a well written book. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley, Brandi Reeds and Lake Union Publishing Seattle for allowing me to read a review copy of the book.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the craft and structuring of this book. Reeds very deftly kicks the whole expectation of cliché storytelling out the window right from the start, and we get a fresh take on the missing child genre. The story flows, characters evolve, and we are wonderfully present and experiencing every sensory detail and aspect of this book. I read way beyond the time I'd set for reading and finished this in very little time. Worth your time and worth recommending to your friends. You'll be thinking about this story for long after you're through.

I liked this book but it wasn't my favorite. The characters were decently developed but I never really connected with the main character, Holly. It was interesting to see the development of the relationship between Holly and her mother. I think the story had a good plot but was a little weak in spots. Pretty good but not my favorite. Thanks!

Great start for a new author; a bit of a hard slog at times but picked up the pace towards the end. Looking forward to the next book by Brandi. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

A little girl is abducted whilst playing with her friend, the two mothers are chatting just there. It is in broad daylight and very bold. There is a difference however, this little girl is returned unharmed physically 92 days later. Slightly different to other child kidnappings we hear about.

The family of course are the first suspects - the mother on the road to ruin by drink, the father does not know what to do to keep the family together, at the same time having a long term affair with the lady next door, both spouses know of their partners infidelity and do not want to bring it into the open and we have the children involved who are the victims here.

Fast forward twenty years and a similar case crops up and now detectives ponder whether the man serving the prison sentence is innocent. Is this a copycat case or is someone just continuing the work started twenty years ago. Eleven little girls missing, some found, some not all dressed in the same way when found eerily similar.

The story goes in chapter form from one character to another - each of their stories is a story in itself and all center around Holly's abduction and return. The actual links appear very slowly and only at the end.

A different kind of mystery story.

Thank you Net Galley & Lake Union Publishing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
**
WOW. Talk about a book the grabs your attention and holds on with dear life. Just like the main character, Holly Gebhardt, I kept pointing my finger at EVERY.SINGLE. PERSON. IN. THIS BOOK.
So let's try and recap this book a bit. You are first reading the prologue- which pretty twisted in itself. A big brother is supposed to watch his sister, ends up going night fishing... sister ends up turning up dead... he was blamed and beaten by his father....
Then author Brandi Reeds fast forwards to when Holly is a 29 year old woman; and it's 24 years past her abduction. Good thing for her is, her kidnapper is behind bars and has been since he was convicted. Bad things? A detective reaches out to her; basically saying ' we may not have caught the right guy'. There seem to be other girls who were taken and none of them sadly had the same outcome of returning home that Holly did.
When Holly hears about and see Skyler , the latest missing child, she decides it's time to confront her past and try and remember. Seriously this girl mind had me thinking everyone could be the true kidnapper; because there came a point where its crystal clear; they may have locked up the wrong sicko.
*
Brandi Reeds had me on the edge throughout this whole book. I trusted no one. Honestly I still think a few people deserve a deeper look. I almost wish this was part of a series so I could read about the aftermath; because let me tell you. I would love to be a fly on the wall when ALL the secrets are out.

A real page turner and it will keep you hooked to the end. A dark plot that will captivate you and surprise you. A really good read.

Thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for allowing me to have a copy of this book to review. Unfortunately I did not love this story. I did not like the author's narration style. I could not get past the language used. It did not grab my attention. I don't like to post negative reviews. I still look forward and I'm open to this author's next book.

I don’t like to give synopsis’s for thrillers! However, this involves kidnapping, my favorite! I thought I was going to love & fly through this book but that was not the case. It took me 10 days to finish it because it was so boring at times and dragged. I found myself skimming through most of the time. It was also predictable. However, at times it was entertaining! Unfortunately, I will not be buying a copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley & Lake Union Publishing for the advanced copy!

Where to begin!

This book was really good. This book takes a journey between two families, and how a kidnapping of a small child gets intertwined into both. The plot was different and engaging.

Holly, four years old, was playing with her friend Katherine in the park when abducted and presumed dead. Three months later she was returned to the same park dressed in a pristine white nightgown, with no memory of her time in captivity.
Twenty years later, Holly is attending Kitten (Katherine) and Eliot's bridal shower when detective Jason Guidry contacts her. He has been assigned her case. Not understanding why her case is still open when she knows her kidnapper Alan Kohlbrook is in jail, she questions why he has called her.
"Look, Miss Gebhardt, you're here alive and well, and Alan Kohlbrook is in prison, but we have another case with similarities."
Googling on the internet Holly finds out a five-year-old child is missing, blonde with blue eyes, closely resembling her at the same age.
Haunted that she can't remember such a critical time in her life,
Holly decides to start looking for answers.
For her mom, dad, and close friends, however, moving on is more laborious. Each is holding onto secrets about the day Holly went missing, secrets that could blow their families apart.

The plot is similar to others I have read, a young woman with demons, handsome but possibly untrustworthy boyfriends, family relationships and secrets. However, I enjoyed the storyline, and I was kept guessing by all the red herrings, and I didn't anticipate the ending, which made the book so much more enjoyable.

I want to thank NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and author Brandi Reeds for a pre-publication copy to review.

Wow! This was a twisted story in every way. I enjoyed the story but it really bothered me that Holly and her mother both appear to having a drinking problem. Lots of secrets in this book! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy

Holly was kidnapped when she was four years old. She was returned to her family but has no memory of what happened.
Now another child has disappeared in similar circumstances.
A slow moving story that has some twist and turns.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

The perfect whodunit story. When Holly was 4 years old she was kidnapped. Now, 20 years later another girl goes missing with a lot of similar evidence. Throughout the story, Holly is trying to piece together what happened 20 years ago because she can't remember a single thing. One day she was kidnapped, the next she's back with her family. The whole time she was kidnapped is a black out to her. This book left me guessing until the very end! I really really LOVED this book!!!!

This was a great mystery novel. I found it hard to get into at first, but it really came through towards the end. Great twists and kept me guessing.

It took me a few chapters to get hooked on the story. But it was definitely worth it! This is a must read for anyone who loves mysteries and thrillers! One of the most riveting books I have read this year!

I loved this book. I didn’t know who to trust the narrator was unreliable There was like 3 different stories going on. Loved every single second of this book. I now need to read everything the author has written.

Brandi Reeds is a well regarded Young Adult author using the pen name "Sasha Dawn". Her young adult titles are well regarded, with various library associations including her titles on their annual best books for teens.

The day I disappeared continues her move into the Adult suspense market. Writing about child abduction can be problematic. It is difficult to not become swallowed into the morass of
blame and retribution. Conventional wisdom does not apply to the survivors. Skilled therapy is often denied. An adult survivor is often expected to be a walking wounded individual.

This is the case for Holly. Only 4 years old when abducted she was held for three months. When she was returned, she had no memory of her kidnapping. Her childhood friend, Kitty, who was a witness seemed to gain more from the notoriety than Holly. Now an adult, Holly is experiencing flash backs to her trauma. She has been contacted by the police, who are asking for her help.
Another child is missing, one who closely resembles 4 year old Holly. In addition there have been a series of abductions that mirror the original kidnapping. Perhaps the man imprisoned is innocent.

One hopes that post abduction a child's life would be trauma free. This was not to be for Holly. Her mother, who at the time of the abduction had a 'drinking problem' slid into alcoholism. Her father
became a classic enabler. Holly sought refuge with Kitty's family. Would this be her salvation?

In the present, Holly's mother lies in a coma; the result of a single car accident. Or, was it a suicide attempt. Reed's uses a literary convention of giving Cecily the ability of lucid thinking while she is comatose. As someone who has a professional knowledge of individuals with TBI's (Traumatic Brain Injuries) I know this is simply not true. While a useful way to move the plot, this trope was distracting.

Reeds shows some other plot lines that are becoming cliched. Most of the discussion of addiction and enabling appear to be conventional. Another problem for me was most of the characters were unlikable. Her BFF Kitty in rampant Bridezilla form was particularly annoying. The puzzle was convoluted, but the author did play fair. This author shows a lot of promise. I will enjoy seeing her talent grow over the years to come.

Full disclosure: I received this ARC from netgalley and Lake Publishing in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you for this opportunity

Full disclosure; I received this ARC from netgalley and Lake Publishing in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you for this opportunity.

Holly is kidnapped at the age of five and is left on a park bench in the snow months later with no idea about how she got to the park or her life for the last 90 days. Holly has never been able to remember anything that happened to her during that time and when the novel opens she is celebrating her best friend, Kitty's engagement. A detective calls her and requests a meeting to talk to her about what happened when she was five. Holly seems to be well adjusted and working for her father's construction company, but she soon begins to question everything when questions about her kidnapping are raised. Alongside the chapters of Holly in present day are the chapters where her mother s explaining what happened to her before her accidnet