Tess’s 3 year old daughter Poppy has always been her number one priority. Tess and Jason had split up earlier on and now divide their time with Poppy. One day after Tess has picked Poppy up from her scheduled time with Jason, she notices Poppy acting very strangely. She is saying vulgar words and drawing dark menacing pictures which has Tess convinced that her daughter has witnessed something terrible while away with her father. With no more than just a child’s drawing it is hard for anyone, even the police to take her seriously. Tess spirals into an investigation to find the truth but when she doesn’t even know who she is protecting her daughter from, who can she really trust?

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This was my first read from Nicci French which is actually the pseudonym for the married duo Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. The story itself was very interesting and even though I had a good handle on who the culprit was, there is a great effort and many situations that made me second guess at times. Tess’s character really got under my skin throughout the entire book, I understand she wants to protect her daughter but I just felt that many of her decisions were rash and not though through at all. She grows upset that the police won’t believe her but in my opinion she put herself in that position and I felt like she should have tried to gather as much evidence as possible before heading to police. There were some parts during the reveal that I feel can get a little confusing so I suggest reading carefully and not skim any of the details. This was more slow burn in the beginning but defiantly picked up near the end and the reasoning and explanation was well explained and not rushed.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This title will be released on October 26th.

After her young daughter draws a picture of a murder and the police dismiss her as deluded, a single mother gets swept into her own investigation of a young woman's death--with her primary suspect being her daughter's father.

Fans of psychological suspense won't want to miss this mystery with a possibly-crazy narrator and an edge-of-your-seat climax. The protagonist gives us every reason to mistrust her judgment--and yet as we know there's a murderer on the loose (and we are reading a thriller), we are left to calm our own anxieties over whether one of her many male acquaintances is truly a villain, or whether her obsession is blinding her to another lurking danger. Another triumph for Nicci French, and an excellent addition to any collection of adult mysteries and thrillers.

What did Poppy see? Why is the three year old muttering the word kill, profanity and acting oddly, including drawing dark pictures. Tess is convinced that her ex Jason, Poppy's dad, exposed her to something horrible. The problem, when Tess tries to convince law enforcement to look into it, is that she doesn't have anything solid. And she's still angry at Jason for how they broke up. This one seems pedestrian at first but then French slowly amps up the questions, making the reader doubt assumptions. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. it's a good read.

I really struggled to finish this one and honestly cant wrap my head around on what the heck i just read. So much inner monologues and far fetched scenarios! The characters are annoying (specially Tess) and I felt like the “suspense”
was just building up and building up and then towards the end of the book it felt so rushed.

This book was good, I was genuinely surprised by who done it but I still felt a little unimpressed by it all. I think maybe not because it wasn't good, it was good but because it was actually kind of painful to be in Tess's shoes.

This was a good thriller with a very intriguing premise, plenty of clues, and red herrings to throw your guesses off trail. Overall though the 2nd half of the book dragged a bit and went a little too long.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book and then it just seemed as if the authors were going for page count. It was kind of over the top. In some ways very unbelievable as well. I doubt a detective will give information of a murder to someone who isn’t part of the investigation.

This is about Tess and her daughter Poppy and ex Jason. Poppy is not acting normal. Tess believes that Poppy saw something that upset her and that is what is causing her behavioral problems.
I’ve read several books by this writing duo and this one was not as good as the rest. It was an OK book but it just seemed to be missing something. Tess was very irritating and did a lot of impulsive things. She started investigating on her own. She even had suspicions about her friends. Sometimes, I just wanted to smack her. There were things that just did not add up. I will still read more books by this duo.
Thank you to #WilliamMorrow and #NetGalley for my early ebook copy!

Special thanks to William Morris Customhouse and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my own opinion..

Oh boy, I was not crazy about this book and the things I've heard about Nicci French didn't add up for me. It started out great with Tess and ex boyfriend Jason raising little red-haired Poppy. I adored Poppy but she was a child who witnessed a murder while at a weekend visit with her father and his new family, a pregnant mousy wife and her strange disheveled brother, living there, who had no job and was seriously creepy.. Poppy, a happy child, comes back to Tess, not her same happy self. She is drawing disturbing images, wetting the bed, blasting out a strange curse word "Kingcunt" and acting out at school. I did enjoy it but the book took a turn for the worse. Tess was beyond herself trying to figure out what happened to her once normal acting daughter. Why was nobody seeing this change except mom Tess.? There were strange unlikable characters. I still don't understand a thrown in character named Bernie who was a neighbor of Tess and added nothing to the story except his loud sex heard through the thin wall between him and Tess.

Every character became a suspect, because obviously Poppy witnessed a murder or was she a clairvoyant. One thing I didn't like for instance was that Poppy's utterances of seeing animals at a zoo, a "phant" for elephant became so see through what it was about and the ridiculous assumption that a pre-school child was taken to the zoo by her school without the proper forms that would have to be signed for a class trip, especially in a child so young, and Teas annoyingly revisiting this with her teacher over and over was ridiculous. And annoying. How many times did the teacher explain they didn't go to the damn zoo.

Unlikable characters and a crap ending in a too long book. I was disappointed to say the least. I would like to read Nicci French and co-author husband because I heard such good things. This book was too long and not for me. I will give it 3 stars because it did start out good. Where it ended up is beyond me. One thing I learned is not to have high expectations.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Unheard by Nicci French is an unputdownable thriller that will keep you guessing until the end. It is perfect for fans of Sophie Hannah or B.A. Paris. The story revolves around Tess, a single mother who shares custody of her toddler Poppy with her ex, Jason. Although she's happy with the arrangement, everything changes one day when Poppy comes home talking about killing and carrying a disturbing drawing, Tess goes to a therapist, alerts the police, and questions her ex, but nobody believes that anything is wrong. Is the drawing a reflection of something terrible that happened? Or is it just a drawing? And will Tess survive her quest for the truth?

Here is a gripping excerpt from Chapter 1, when Tess discovers Poppy's drawing:

"I lifted the house and came to the final picture. It was so different that for a moment I wondered whether there had been some mistake, whether it had been drawn by someone else. It was entirely in thick black crayon. It was simple and basic and violent. There was what looked like a lighthouse or tower and next to it, at the top of the tower, if it was a tower, was one of Poppy’s triangular figures, with legs and arms like angry sticks coming out of it and a clotted scribble of black around the head. The figure was slanted, with its head pointed downwards.
‘Is that a tower?’
‘It is a tower.’
I wasn’t sure that Poppy wasn’t just repeating back to me what I’d said. I pointed to the figure.
‘Who’s that?"

Overall, The Unheard is an exciting blend between the domestic thriller and general thriller genres. One highlight of the book is the extremely relatable premise. Who hasn't seen a child's disturbing drawing and questioned whether something bad had triggered it? The stakes are heightened. because every parent wants to make sure that their children are safe and healthy. But if your parental instinct is telling you something is wrong, even when everyone around you thinks you're crazy, that would undoubtedly lead to tension.

I found this book to be completely unputdownable. I had to know what the source of Poppy's drawing was and unravel the threads of this intriguing mystery. I ended up finishing this book in day, even though it is over 300 pages long. I really enjoyed following Tess as she goes and investigates the people around her, including her ex, and comes up with different theories as to what happened. I also really related to Tess's character and how she would do anything to protect her child. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in October!

Tess Moreau has been separated from her boyfriend for a year and they share custody of their three-year-old daughter, Poppy. After a weekend with Jason and his new wife, Poppy comes home with a disturbing drawing in her backpack and tells her mom, “He did kill her.” When Poppy then starts acting clingy and behaving out of character, Tess does whatever it takes to find out what is behind Poppy’s behavior. She is convinced her daughter is in danger, even when others start to doubt her sanity.

This is only the second book I’ve read by this author and I really enjoyed it. The tension keeps building in this fast-paced thriller. There are plenty of suspects including Tess’s nosy neighbor and her bullying ex. Unfortunately, Tess does some things that don’t help her cause, such as antagonizing the detective that is willing to consider there could be some truth to her story, based mainly on a drawing done by a three-year-old. Tess makes other poor decisions while trying to prove that there was actually a crime committed and to protect her daughter from whoever did it. However, there is never a doubt that Tess loves her daughter. I really like the ending and think fans of The Girl on the Train would enjoy the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow Books, and Scene of the Crime Early Reads for providing an advance copy of this ebook. The book was provided to me at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Another suspenseful Nicci French book. Although I initially suspected the person responsible for the murders and stalking, , the author threw a late twist to keep the reader off track before coming back to the truth. I could truly feel the lead character’s frustration with no one taking her seriously, as well as her humiliation at being involved in relationships with twisted men and being totally unaware of their shortcomings. I have enjoyed several of the author’s earlier novels and they always keep me guessing and intrigued.

I loved the setup of this book. As a mother, what would you do if your child came home from time spent with her father with a disturbingly drawn picture? This is the dilemma that Tess is faced with when her daughter Poppy comes home from visiting her father and shares a violent crayon drawing. Tess and her ex-partner Jason are trying to parent acrimoniously, but this throws her for a loop. Tess sets off to explore what the drawing means, and she is quickly drawn into a web of investigation into a murder that her daughter may have seen. She repeatedly reaches out to the police with her crazy theories, and slowly starts to learn more about her past relationship with Jason. The authors do a good job of leaving the reader with some breadcrumbs into the murder, and provide some misdirection, but at some point, I felt the story went off track and dragged on a little too long. A solid domestic thriller, though maybe a little long-winded.

“The Unheard,” by husband and wife duo Nicci French, is an intense psychological thriller about the depths of a mother’s love and the risks she will take to protect her child. Reminiscent of Ashley Audin’s “The Push,” this book is about a mother crippled by anxiety and spiraling out of control all while being gaslighted, ignored or accused by everyone around her.

Tess’s world is her daughter Poppy and despite splitting with Poppy’s father, she’s vowed to give her the safest, happiest life possible. This means keeping a healthy relationship with Poppy’s father Jason, who is now married and expecting his first child with his new wife. When Poppy comes home from her weekend with Jason, she shows Tess a menacing, startling drawing. She also reverts to bed wetting, acting out and calling her mom and other children at nursery school vulgar names. Tess is convinced Poppy witnessed something terrifying and her daughter is trying to express what she saw in some way. Tess decides to get to the bottom of Poppy’s behavior and starts asking for help from doctors, friends, and even the police. When no one listens to her worries though, or attributes her urgency to anxiety or her own mental duress, she takes matters into her own hands. As Tess’s actions become more unsettling and extreme, she comes dangerously close to losing Poppy and what little grip she has left on reality. What she does know for sure though, is that those she thought she could trust may be the ones behind the menacing event Poppy witnessed.

This is an intense psychological thriller that was at times hard to read. As a mother, it’s hard to watch the spiral of another mother when all she wants to do is protect her child. Unfortunately, as we read we start to question Tess. Her actions become more and more questionable and so the entire time reading feels like a tightrope walk just waiting for her to finally misstep and fall. Perhaps harder than watching Tess’s spiral is the severe lack of support from some of the people in her life who laugh it off, push meds, get angry at her or simply gaslight her into silence. Finally there’s the struggle with Poppy. Her mother clearly adores her but the child has some behavior issues prior even to the drawing. On top of that we have two murders and a killer to find. It’s an incredibly intense book. While I loved it every step of the way (even though it was definitely hard/draining to read at times), the ending climax left me less than thrilled. With so much nail biting along the way, the end felt ridiculously flat. I will say Tess’s arc was worth trudging through the less than thrilling end.

This is a story of a mother’s crusade to protect her daughter. When 3 year old Poppy starts drawing and saying disturbing things, her mother becomes determined to find out what is going on. This was a good thriller, with an unexpected ending!

Tess’s 3 year old daughter comes home from visitation with her father with a disturbing picture she drew and acting strangely. As a 3 year old she can’t clearly communicate her feelings. Nobody takes Tess’s concerns seriously but she knows something is wrong. This book had a good premise but it never totally grabbed me. It is fast paced but I found a lot of the characters to be unlikable. I was interested enough to finish it but found myself skimming parts of the book. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

This book is my first by thus author and may end up being my last. I'm not sure yet. Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I may try to pick it up again later on, but I just couldn't get into it at all. I really liked the idea of where it was trying to go, but it fell way short. I'm only giving It a 3⭐ simply because I may try to read it again.

As a mother myself, this book was so provoking to me but in the best way. I was hooked by this mother's torment and the entire thrilling ride.

This story was interesting, mostly because of the odd new things Tess' young daughter was saying and doing. It had a good flow to it, and it was like Tess was trying to solve a mystery or two. And all because she was worried for her child mostly. Everyone was suspicious, and some of the men in her life, she definitely had reason to be suspicious of. But in the end, I was still a little confused and not sure what to think? And Tess kind of annoyed me. So it was a good read, but it's hard when you're not totally sure if you are supportive of the main character or the end. The writing was good, though.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Tess is sharing custody of her daughter with her ex boyfriend. Her daughter is acting strangely after spending time with her ex. Tess begins to question everything she thinks she knows. I liked this book.