BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Vanishing Child' by Jennifer Harvey.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Jennifer Harvey, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 26th August 2021.

This is the first book I have read by this author.

I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful cover and intriguing sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of Liane Moriarty, Nicole Trope and The Silent Daughter will be gripped from the very first page until the final, heart-stopping twist.' I am a huge fan of Nicole Trope so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of a prologue, 29 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in Little Challam which is a fictional village in the UK 🇬🇧. This book is based in Devon, UK 🇬🇧 . I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times.

This book is written in first person perspective and the main protagonists are Carla, Danny and Jonathan. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them.


'The Vanishing Child' discusses some topics that may trigger some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Jennifer discusses/includes distress and murder of children.

It is set over/includes multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture.

This book is well written with vivid descriptions that really puts the reader in the story. The cover and synopsis suit the storyline perfectly.

The first thing I must say is that this book wins the award for most gripping first pages!!! I don't think I have ever read such a suspense filled, disturbing and horrifying prologue EVER. After I read that I couldn't leave it there and had to keep going. The storyline itself is quite unique and definitely intriguing. It is filled with tension and suspense but is also more of a slow burner. It takes you through Carla discovering things piece by piece and slowly putting things together to find out what happened to 2 children who were murdered and one who went missing but was never found. It is a mother's worse nightmare and as a mum myself the prologue almost had me in tears!! There are some parts that I found really difficult to read as they were so heartbreaking so be warned you may need the tissues out and also that it may trigger anyone who has suffered with the loss of a child. The storyline is filled with heartbreak, tension and suspense. However, I cannot say I was completely shocked when the truth was discovered which is a shame. I didn't get it 100% right and I led to the conclusions that I belive Jennifer wants to lead her readers but I think that in doing thay when the mystery is solved it doesn't come as a complete shock either. I won't say anymore than that as I don't want to spoil the storyline for future readers.

The characters were realistic and strong and I really did feel for CiCi and I also think that it took quite a lot of strength for Carla to continue to dig into the mystery. I was left wondering if she regretted finding the box which she admitted to on several occasions during the mystery solving process but I'm unsure if she still felt that way after. However, either way I really liked her character and I think that all the characters were quite well developed.

Overall an absolutely heartbreaking slow burning suspense that will keep you on edge throughout.

Genres covered in this book include Suspense, Mystery and Thriller amongst others.


I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Nicole Trope and anyone looking for a tension filled mystery.


272 pages.

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 4 /5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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The Vanishing Child by Jennifer Harvey was a great book and I was gripped within the first few pages. I found it an emotional at times, and tough to read this story. It will pull at your heart and you will need tissues!

I highly recommend this book.especially as Jennifer is a new author for me and I love discovering new and authors.

Big Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

Rob Allen is eleven years old and lives alone with his dad, after his mom died in a car crash when he was seven. It’s in 1963 and 64 when two boys goes missing in his hometown Newcastle. Nine years later another boy disappeared on his way home from school.
Many years later, Robs daughter Clara receives a phone call. Her dad is in hospice care and wants to see his family one last time. Remembering a dad with anger issues it’s not easy for Clara to make the decision to say goodbye and try to reconcile. Being in her dads hometown, living in his house, she sees a side of Rob she didn’t know existed. The people in town seem to like him and telling her what a good man he is. When she finds an old box with notes about the missing boys, she fears the worst and can’t find peace without knowing what really happened all those years ago.
A great book, which will stay with me for a long time. It was hard to read about what the missing boys thought and went through

First, I want to thank Jennifer Harvey, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

Jennifer Harvey’s The Vanishing Child has a very creative storyline that is very different from any other missing person cases I have read before.

I enjoyed reading Jennifer’s acknowledgements on how she dealt with writing this book during the pandemic.

Family is one major topic in The Vanishing Child. Between estranged relationships, rekindling relationships, trying to put the past behind them when only more secrets pop up.

I loved how Jennifer built up the suspense as to why the family didn't have contact with their father. The way she drew it out at times I kept yelling at my kindle to tell me already!! There was so much sadness and fear within that storyline alone.

Jennifer jumps from the past to the present to give you an inside look of the father in his younger age. You think you know someone but you have really no idea who they are!

When Suzie, a hospice nurse, calls Carla to let her know her estranged father is asking for her, Carla makes the impulsive decision to go. Fresh from a breakup with Will, Carla thinks this is the new start she needs. With her father Rob dying, she feels this may be the time to get some type of closure from the man who made her life, along with her mother and sister's lives, miserable. While staying at his house she finds a box full of newspaper clippings and journals. When she begins to read them she has no idea her life will never be the same again.

I thought this was a good read and a first I've read from this author. The blurb was interesting and the story is told from past to present with alternating POV's. Carla must figure out if and how her father is involved with the disappearance of three boys so many years ago. Overall a good read and will be on the lookout for future books from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

First book I’ve read by this author. I really enjoyed it. Great story. Loved the plot, the character development, the build up and the ending. I look forward to reading more by Jennifer Harvey.

Thank you #netgalley and #bookouture for the eARC.

The Vanishing Child is the third suspenseful mystery book by Jennifer Harvey and another standalone story. Fifty years ago, two boys disappeared and their bodies found in the local forest. Nine years later another boy was taken, never to be found and the small town of Newcastle has never forgotten. Carla Allen is called to her estranged dying father’s bedside, only to find his diaries and questions why he was so focused on the three boys. As she investigates and causes further angst, Carla ponders who her father really was and whether the truth can finally be discovered. With well captured atmospherics of a small-town grieving the past and hints of underlying darkness, comes a three-star read rating tale. With thanks to Bookouture and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes.

This started out so real and difficult and morphed into the mystery I was expecting. There were twists and turns along the way, but a solid story which held my interest all the way through.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

After reading the description I was looking forward to reading this one and while I did enjoy it I found it a bit slow in places. It didn't have any edge of the seat moments for me but some of it made for difficult reading due to the nature of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

The Vanishing Child by Jennifer Harvey

📓Genre: Mystery | Thriller | Suspense
Star: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (3.5 rounded to 4 stars)

🔖When Carla is informed of her father's deteriorating health and called to visit him, possibly for the very last time, she discovers decades old newspaper clippings and her estranged father's diaries at his house, which reveal the cold cases of unfortunate disappearances of young boys.
🔖The story follows Carla, as she resolves to get to the bottom of it all after meeting the mother of one of the victims.
🔖Through twists and surprises, secrets are gradually revealed and facades are unveiled, as the protagonist conducts a self-drive investigation.
🔖However, the book starts with a heart-wrenching plea of an abducted child, calling out to his mom and praying and hoping to get one singular chance of escaping his captor. This prologue had set really high expectations, which is why I felt a bit disappointed when I reached the predictable ending.
🔖Still, the writing was engaging and I enjoyed following the story through Carla's eyes. Overall an enjoyable read.

🔸Final Verdict: Good
🔸Book Cover: Fits the genre
🔸Writing Style: Interesting
🔸Character Development: Good

✨Many thanks to Bookouture (Publisher) and Netgalley for sending me the ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

#TheVanishingChild #NetGalley #arc #bookreview

This book was really good, really thought provoking and once i thought id worked it all out the plot changed and i realised how wrong i was about the plot! This book is about Carla, a woman who has a strained relationship with her father. Shes just split up with her boyfriend and moves back home to her Dads house to care for him in his final weeks. Although she wants to make amends with him she really struggles and even more so when she finds new evidence of a crime that shock the small town years before. This could overturn everything she believed and the town believes but does she have time to get everything straightened out before her Dad passes away? I really enjoyed this book - the characters were great, the plot was fantastic and i just loved the whole pace of this book.

The beginning of this book hooked me immediately however it started to drag a few chapters in. The beginning held my interest enough that I wanted to find out what happened. The ending turned out to be good enough that I was glad I stuck with it.

Carla has been estranged from her father Rob for years and she has been thinking about the terrible abuse she, her sister and her mother underwent at his hand. Now that he is in hospice care, will she be able to move into his home and start her life over again? especially since she recently split up from her boyfriend.

One day while rummaging around, Carla discovers a box that sends her into a whirlwind. Combine that with when Carla visits her father in his barely lucid state, he mentions a boy named Johnny. In fact, years previously three boys went mising and two of their bodies were found. Due to what Carla finds in the box and her brief visits with her father, Carla becomes bound and determined to find out what happened to those children, especially as the cases remained unsolved through the decades.

In this hair-raising book by Jennifer Harvey, Carla doggedly pursues whatever information she can glean to find out the truth - truth laden with secrets. In fact, Carla meets resistance at every turn. I felt like I was right beside Carla while she duggedly searched for answers, even sensing the sheer terror for what happened to those unfortunate boys. The Vanishing Child will grip you from the very first page and won't let you go until the very last word.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Jennifer Harvey for this ARC in return for my honest review. This book started slowly but I'm glad that i stuck with it as I enjoyed this story and will definitely watch out for Jennifer's other books. While there wasn't a lot of action, with most of the book taking place in Carla's inner monologue, the book had an interesting concept and it was well executed.

Carla is at a crossroads in her life. About to break up with Will and move on, to where she doesn't know. When out of the blue she gets a call from a lady named Suzie, Rob, Carla’s father is on his deathbed and wants to see her. It's been 15 years since she last spoke to him and doesn't know why she’d want to go now. Maybe it's time to put old hurts behind her and find out just why her father didn't love her enough to not them. She agrees to go and see him and since she can stay at his house it's a perfect remedy for a place to stay. Checking out the town on the internet she discovers over thirty years ago three young boys disappeared and only two bodies were ever found. Kind of creepy she thinks.

She moves into his house and Suzie is super nice and friendly in addition to being Rob’s Hospice nurse. All the people she meets seem to think Rob is such a good guy. How can that be? The abusive father turned nice?
The house is a mystery she finds photos of herself, Mom, and her sister on the walls in a long narrow hallway. Rob is not sentimental so they seem strange. During her look around the house, she discovers a beautiful box, Something She wouldn't think Rob would have. Inside she finds newspaper articles and diaries in her father's writing with details of the missing boys. Why would he have these and how did he know the information in them? It seems to be Pandora's box and Carla can't let it go. When she tries to learn more she is shut down by the townspeople, especially Suzie and her grandmother who happens to be the mother of the boy whom they never found. When she brings it up to her father he freaks out and gets so upset they refuse to let her go back to see him.
Why? What is wrong with the people that they don't want answers? Could her father be a killer? She has so many questions and even with everyone against her it won't stop her.
Some parts of the book are heartbreaking and some frustrating. I don't think a town would not want answers so I don't understand the effort to stop her. Read for yourself and decide. It is a good story and does keep your interest albeit easy guess ending there are a couple of surprises.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book. This is my own opinion.

A dying man, an estranged family, the cold case of three missing boys the discovery of a box.

This was an emotive multi layered family drama that leads to the discovery of lots of unanswered questions and the effects and devastation that is left in it's wake, an interesting read with challenging themes.

I requested this book after reading the blurb. But the story was set in a different direction with a slow pace. A big chunk of the narrative happens in the lead character’s mind and it becomes sort of tedious. The suspense is quite easy to figure for everyone and still the characters keep beating around the bush. The reluctance of the people to know the truth is unclear. I am unable to get my head around this plot. Sorry.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Forty years ago: Cece's son went out on his bike on a hot summers day and never came home. Every evening she lingers on her front porch, hoping to see him come up the driveway.

Forty years later: On a rare visit to her father, Carla stumbles across a box tucked away in one of the cupboards. Full of her fathers diaries and old newspaper clippings, it tells the story of three boys who went missing when her father was just a child. Her father refuses to discuss the missing children and his silence only makes Carla more curious.

Carla's estranged father is in a hospice. She has not seen him in fifteen years. he was not a good father but Carla wants to make peace with him before he dies. While she is staying in her fathers home, she finds her fathers old diaries . She discovers three children went missing but they only ever found two bodies.
and starts asking questions,


When Carla finds her fathers diaries and starts asking questions, she opens a can of worms a few people would have preferred to have remained closed. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and I did guess where the story was going. This is a well written and quick book to read. Was Carla's father involved with the missing children? You'll need to read the book to find out.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Bookouture and the author #JenniferHarvey for my ARC of #TheVanishungChild in exchange for an honest review.

What an epic story. I thought it started really strongly and the pace didn't let up until the very last page. The investigation of cold cases has always facinated me so the fact that the crimes had taken place more than forty years previously ensured that the story held my attention throughout the book. I found that this book really aroused some strong emotions in me, especially the sections told from the point of view of the abducted children. They really tugged on the heartstrings. I will be looking out for this author in the future.

Carla Allen and her father Rob have a distant and contentious relationship due to his abusive behavior. They haven’t spoken or seen each other for years. Nevertheless, when Carla receives a call that her father is dying she rushes back home. She discovers a box of newspaper clippings from 40 years ago covering the disappearance of three young boys, two of whom were found dead while the third boy has never been found. Carla senses her father has secrets and on his deathbed he wants them revealed but he is in and out of consciousness. Carla is left to uncover the secrets herself. With the help of family members, Carla sets out to discover how her father is connected to the three missing boys.

I found this book to be an interesting read, albeit predictable, but rich in characters and the complexities of relationships. Overall, very well done.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.