Reading Between the Wines book review #94/130 for 2024:
Rating: 4🍷🍷🍷🍷
Book: Count to Three
Author: T.R. Ragan
Available now!!

Sipping thoughts: This is the third or fourth missing child book that I've read in these past few months. The agony doesn't get any easier. What I enjoyed about this one was the ending and what actually happened. The women characters were very strong and not weak minded. It felt like 3 stories in one, and I really love the fast-paced thrills and darkness.

Cheers and thank you to @ThomasAndMercer and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @CountToThree.

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Count to Three by T.R. Ragan was a good pick for true crime junkies. It was horrifying and creepy. I didn’t want to put it down and it was shocking. Well told this fast paced thriller checked all the boxes and I was grateful the way it ended. It’s was a crazy good psychological thriller.
Thanks Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley.

An excellent read ! I really enjoyed this novel.
It was an exciting and gripping story that really had me guessing.
Thank you Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for giving me the opportunity to give my impartial review

3⭐️⭐️⭐️


- amost dnf , but I tried to stay on till finish and didn’t disappoint. Very long and winded first few chapter but the ending was great .

Count to three is a fantastic, standalone thriller (I think) I just couldn't keep down! The plot is amazing while the characters are very well defined. I couldn't help but strongly root for many of the characters while feel rage towards some. There were 3 subplots all which were resolved in the end. Even with the multiple plots and characters it never felt overwhelming keeping up with the story or the characters. Infact they kept me turning the pages! I loved how fast paced this book was and how easy it was to follow along and unravel the plot. I can't believe I left this one on TBR for so long. I will certainly be borrowing T. R. Ragans' other books from our library!

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, T. R. Ragan for this arc!

3 Stars

COUNT TO THREE, by Theresa Ragan, is a mystery thriller centered around motherhood, loss, grief, and a visceral pulsating vein of nature versus nurture that’s palpable throughout the narrative.

The novel opens with a Prologue wherein five-year-old Tinsley Callahan, on her first day of kindergarten, is kidnapped from the school by a woman who looks similar to her mother, Dani.

Five years later and no definitive leads, Dani Callahan—now a private investigator—works with her twenty-two-year-old assistant, Quinn Sullivan, to help find other missing children.

Dani never gives up hope that her daughter is still alive, despite the confession given by prison inmate Kyle Harmon three months earlier, who admits to the kidnapping and murder of Tinsley. However, a body is never found in the location he provides.

Quinn, whose mother left her and her father when she was a child, is determined to help Dani find Tinsley whilst working the kidnapping case of a local teen, Ali Cross.

Though there are a few hiccups along the way, coupled with a few familiar tropes and plot points, COUNT TO THREE, with its clipped chapters and one formidable foe in particular—LOVE IT!, overall, was, for me, an engaging read.

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer Publishing, for providing me with an eBook of COUNT TO THREE at the request of an honest review.

This book description seemed like something right by my alley, so I started reading it with high expectations. Unfortunately, the story was all over the place, and I felt that the writer wasn't able to tie together a consistent story that made sense. The book wasn't able to keep me engaged and I gave up a few times before I finished it.

I had so many problems with this book, it was like the author didn't have any outline to work with, which was frustrating for me as a reader because it felt like a mess.
first of all, why were there so many subplots?
at the beginning, Dani's 5 year old daughter was abducted, and then five years later, we are officially starting the book with the author showing what became of Dani, how she started working as PI after the kidnapping of her child, and how she got divorced of her husband, Matthew, who wasn't supportive of Dani still having hope of finding their daughter, after a convicted murderer confessed from prison, that he was the one one who abducted and killed the girl.
now, you'd think that this is an already good, solid plot we could work with. Nope.
the author came up with two, no, actually THREE more side plots!!
you get Quinn's, Dani's assistant, mother who left her about the same time of the child's abduction, with Quinn still trying to find her mother even after many years, and even with her family, sure of her mother running away.
are we done yet? Uhm... no? there's a teenager abducted that they are searching for, AND a random client who is hiring Dani to find out the intruder who changes the layout of her house while she isn't there.
that's all there is in the book, the many angles and scenes, that supposedly don't relate, at least until the ending, were giving me a headache.
moving on to the writing style, I think the book was in a desperate need of editing, many paragraphs, and the overall sequence in general, needed some tweaking, I wouldn't say it was boring, but I wanted more engagement since the words felt sparse and hollow.
the ending was so weak, it was borderline cringe worthy, I just finished the book, and still don't understand the dynamic of Tinsley's abduction and who was actually involved.
I really don't like when I'm the bad guy, especially on a high rated books, but you know what they say, " different people, different taste"
.....
* I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley and the publisher, in exchange of an honest review*

This one was not for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Count to Three by T.R. Ragan.

After her daughter was abducted and never found, Dani has dedicated her life to finding other lost children as a PI. And now Ali, a teenager, is missing and after a 12 year old eye witness comes forward, Dani will do everything she can to find her.

I'm all for a thriller, but this just didn't do it for me. My number one beef with this book, is the twelve year old neglected and love starved boy acting life a self aware adult with years of therapy behind them. Other than that, the whole thing felt rushed, unbelievable, bordering on campy.

I absolutely loved this book, the whole PI trope for me has always been a favourite and as this storyline had a much more personal element to the investigators, the determination really shines through.

Count to three had a fairly steady pace throughout, and always left me wanting to read just one more chapter.

The characters in this story were incredibly well written. My favourite character has to be the young boy Ethan, wise before his years – a 12 year old bad boy type who had a gooey centre, and wanted to do anything to help find the missing girl. With the worst character for me being Matthew the ex husband, from the beginning of the book I took an instant dislike to him, and the way he acted in regards to his missing child. I always felt there was something off with him, but oh boy! I wouldn’t have thought it could have been as bad as it was.

This was my first introduction to a TR RAGAN book, and it certainly will not be my last.

Maybe I've just been reading too many mystery book lately, but this one fell a little flat for me. Dani, mother of missing child turned private investigator goes into the case of a missing girl. A multiple POV book, you get every side of the story except maybe a perspective that you actually care about. The characters were very stock detective novel and there wasn't anything that really wow-ed me. Nothing really pushed me to continue this book once I'd picked it up and I had to really power through because I didn't connect to the story very well.

This was my first book by T.R Ragan, and while I wouldn't say I'll never read another of their books, I can't say I have any particular desire to seek it out either.

I received an ARC from the publisher on NetGalley.

Arc from netgalley.

This book was just okay for me. There wasn’t anything horrible but nothing game changing either. 3 stars

A much loved child is kidnapped on her first day of school. 5 years later she is still missing. Her parents marriage has fallen apart and Dani, the mom, is now a PI. She helps find missing people as her main focus. Ali Cross is grabbed and the police discount it as a runaway. Dani and her assistant begin the hunt. A good story with part of the story covering the hunt for her daughter, a part is the hunt for Ali and the other part is what is happening to Ali in captivity. I liked the book. What people due to each other is sad and scary. I liked the ending.

An interesting read, not an absolute favorite, was not an “I can’t put this down” but drawn in enough to finish. I typically enjoy all from this underrated author, so will probably reread this one later and have an even more impressed opinion. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC opportunity!

Dani Callahan , a private investigator that specializes in missing persons pulls from her own experience. Her daughter went to her first day if school and never returned. Investigating pays the bills and gives her time to continue for answers in her own child’s disappearance. A teen age girl goes missing and no one believes the only eye witness to her abduction. Here is a well written , concise , moment to moment story of how the police work, and how Dani sees what others refuse to consider. It will hold you to the end . It will stay with you long after. Happy reading

Dani Callahan's daughter went missing 5 years ago when she was 5 years old and Dani has never quit looking for her. Dani, now divorced, is a private investigator and she and her assistant, Quinn Sullivan, specialise in missing persons cases. A teenage girl has recently disappeared and, although the police believe she's a runaway, a 12-year-0ld witness convinces Dani and Quinn that she was abducted.

Although not original, this was a well-written mystery with some likeable characters. Be forewarned that there are some terrible scenes of abuse described. Even though it's similar to other stories and the ending was a little too pat, I'd recommend the book and wouldn't hesitate to read something else by this author. 3.5 Stars rounded up!

Goodreads indicates this is #4 in the Sawyer Brooks series but I suspect that may be in error since Sawyer Brooks doesn't make an appearance in this story at all and Netgalley indicates the Sawyer Brooks series is a trilogy.

My thanks to Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an uncorrected copy of this novel. All opinions expressed are my own.

This is one of the best mystery/thrillers that I have ever read. Dani Callahan goes to pick up her daughter, Tinsley, at the end of the school day from Kindergarten. She was told that she had already picked her up. Dani stresses that she did not pick her up and they said she did and Tinsley went right to her. Dani becomes a private eye in the hopes of locating her daughter. The reader is in for excitement and surprises as Dani looks for Tinsley. The book is filled with excitement and totally unexpected developments. A must read for the mystery lover!!.

This one was just okay for me. I wish I'd loved it more. It had solid writing and the dialogue and characters were interesting. It's even a very quick read. But I didn't fee like this was a new story. It was interesting but pretty cookie cutter for this type of mystery - missing child, years later, P.I. work, etc. I thought the POV of the held captive were disturbing and really hard to read at times. I'm not 100% sure they really added to the story. I know others have and will love this so if this genre/story type is your type, then grab this one, I'm sure you'll love it.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

A twisty mystery and masterfully plotted.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.