Wow wow wow! What a book! Superb storytelling. A gripping, heart poundingly tense roller coaster of a read. Loved loved loved.

I loved this book! It was suspenseful and captivating right from the start. I didn’t see the plot twist coming at all! Was wondering wtf was happening until the very last chapter. Loved it!

Kayla is the apple of her parents eye. Sherrie & Richard had waited so long for a child & Kayla was their everything. In her childhood it was easy to protect her but as a teenager she was wanting more independence. When she failed to return from a sleepover their worse fears are realised & they are frantic to find her.

Tessa's mental health has been fragile since she was abducted years ago. She has strived to overcome her fears & to make a go of her relationship with Amelia but seeing a face from her past makes her fragile grip on reality slip.

Told from the point of view of Tessa, Sherrie & Kayla the reader struggles to work out the connections. None of the narrators are particularly trustworthy so what is the truth.

This was quite an engaging read which got a bit beyond credibility as it reached it's climax. A 3.5 read rounded up to 4*. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

A slow start to this story but the last 20% speeds up. Lots of twists and an ending I didnt expect.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

Firstly thank you Netgalley Bookouture and Casey Kelleher for this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first Casey Kelleher but will not be my last I loved it!
Told from different points of view and so many red herrings keep you on edge of your seat!
I did figure out most of the ending but the book was so well written it did not deter from my enjoyment at all.
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Only Child by Casey Kelleher was another brilliant book by Casey, I just love the way she writes her books and they always have you gripped from the beginning till the very end and this latest book did not disappoint! especially when I started to read it I had to finish the book, to see what happens in the end!......So glad I prepared our tea for later!
This book is about two families Richard and Sherrie, and their daughter, Kayla. and another couple named Tessa and Amelia. You don't find out the connection until you get into the book and it all clicks in together, hence why I wanted to finish it in one sitting!

Very cleverly written book.

I loved it. Another 5 star read and I highly recommend One Child!

Only Child is a fantastic thriller that you won't be able to put down! I read this book in one day as it kept me turning the pages to find out what was going on! The book revolves around Sherrie, Richard, and their daughter Kayla in one storyline while also focusing on Tessa and Amelia in another storyline. Eventually, the two storylines overlap into one mind-blowing twist!

Sherrie is an overprotective mom that won't let Kayla do anything out of the ordinary. Sherrie wants her mom with her as much as possible so she goes to extremes to make that happen. Sherrie and Richard are in a loveless marriage, but both seem to love and want the best for their daughter Kayla. Tessa is a victim of a kidnapping when she was a teenager. She was kept in a dark room for months, but was able to escape. She suffers from PTSD because of what she went through back then, but her panic attacks are happening less and less since Amelia is her partner in life. Amelia is aware of Tessa's past and tries hard to help her overcome her fear and anxiety as the man who took Tessa was never caught.

One day Tessa is in the grocery store buying ingredients to bake Amelia's birthday cake. While in the store she locks eyes with a man and she knows instantly that even though he looks different after 15 years, it's him! The man that held her captive is walking around the grocery store without a care in the world! Tessa starts to panic. She rushes out of the store to her car and tries to get herself under control. She decides t wait for the man and follow him home. This book is high intensity and not for the faint of heart. Will Tessa confront the man? Where does he live? Does he have a family? Will Tessa's panic attacks return and get worse?

I love a book that keeps you on edge and Only Child does that and more! I can't recommend this book enough. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy of Only Child in exchange for a fair review. #OnlyChild #NetGalley

What a chilling opening couple of chapters. One four lines long that made me ask sooooo many questions quickly followed by a game of hide and seek that wasn’t so much fun. What have I let myself in for? One helluva a read, that’s what!!

I was very intriguing to know what happened to Tessa and how she fits in with Richard and his family. Her mental state made me apprehensive about her. How much of what was happening actually happened? What happened in those blackout periods? I really felt for Tessa, she was obviously petrified of something but I couldn’t fully trust her narrative.

My mind kept wandering back to the chilling game of hide and seek. Who was that??! As the story unfolded before me, I couldn’t settle on the identity of the young woman from the start. Fitting it into the story didn’t come until the finale when Kelleher revealed to me everything she’d been hinting at all along. And what a finale it is 🤯😱🤯😱

Don’t let that wholesome look the author portrays in her author pics fool you. Under that gorgeous exterior, is one twisted mind. Only Child is a prime example of this author’s dark imagination. She has created an unnerving thriller with a teen disappearance, family disruptions and historic trauma all melded together in such a way so this reader didn’t know who to trust. Loved it!!

Told from the perspective of the mother and the daughter this book is a quick read with lots of suspense. Some of it felt contrived and the big reveal was so long in the build up it was almost bound to be a bit of a damp squib.

3.5 rounded to 4 stars

WOW this book was a rollercoaster and absolutely unhinged. It's not necessarily the most original thriller I've ever read but I couldn't stop turning the pages and second guessing all my predictions. I really enjoyed this one

I'm not usually a huge fan of Psychological thrillers, but I love and have read all of Casey Kelleher's books so thought I'd give it a go. I'm so glad I did what a blinder.
This book starts off as a normal everyday book about two sets of families, but it goes on to twist and grind throughout the book at your very soul that you will not be able to put down until the very last page.
What a well-written powerful and imaginative story this is.
Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this excellent book. xx

I worked out the ending halfway through, but that did not shake my interest one bit!

In fact, I believe it enhanced the story holding the knowledge I had, and a couple of the twists still turned a little unexpectedly, but I never wavered in knowing. Of course I won't tell! Spoil you? No way! This book was a page-turner and a thrill every second, particularly after about the 68% mark. You need to be prepared to not put it down.

My only teeny tiny complaint was that the author focused mostly on the women and girls in the story without giving as much attention to Richard. I would have liked to have known him better. He was a bit cookie-cutter. Maybe that was on purpose? I don't know. That was the one thing I couldn't figure out.

Even with that, it was still a definite five-star read for me, and I highly recommend it. Much thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the review copy.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Only Child. Great characters and a big twist. Would definitely recommend. Plan to read more books by this author.

this psychological thriller.... OMG jaw dropping momentsssssssssss!!! haven't read a thriller like this in such a long time!! read it and go blind with it

Hi! Only Child by Casey Kelleher is (*sheepishly covering face) the first thriller I’ve read in October aka spooky month. I wouldn’t say that it was the best but I really enjoyed it and would recommend! Solid 3.5 stars read!

Book Review-

I’m not going to lie, this book had me thinking in such a different tangent that I couldn’t have guessed the ending if it hit me in the face. That is to say, I was very pleasantly surprised by the ending.

The story is written from different perspectives and I loved how they contrasted. Though the perspectives go on jumbled storylines, they’re never boring. Rather, they’re easy to follow along to and you’ll love seeing how the pieces click together at the end.

The first half of the book gave me quite a few chills (bonus points for that). While it isn’t an overly dark or creepy read, it does have its moments so all-in-all it was well-balanced.

Basically, my verdict of the book is that while I really enjoyed it, it wasn’t my favorite. But I definitely think this will be an enjoyable read so I recommend trying it out! (Look up trigger warnings)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my free e-ARC of this read in exchange for my honest review.

purchase this book: https://amzn.to/3TyenLd [this is an Amazon associate link] (It’s on Kindle Unlimited!!)

If I remember correctly, it was about a decade ago that I first went scuba diving in the Farne Islands, off the north-eastern coast of England. I had been told to expect sightings of seals, but beyond that I didn't really know what to expect. I thought perhaps that if I were to catch a few passing glances I'd be doing well, and that if I was lucky enough to get a photograph that would be a good result.

My expectations were wrong. What no-one had conveyed is how playful and inquisitive seals are. Provided that they don't feel threatened by your presence - and if you let them come to you instead of chasing after them, they won't be - they love being around people. At least one of you will probably get a rub of a chin on your gloved hand, and a nibble on the fin attached to your foot. Imagine being under water with a 3-month old Labrador and you're about there. And photos? After two days I had a whole album.

It was a truly fantastic experience and I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. But there's just one problem. Over the next 10 or so years, I've been back to the Farne Islands at least another six times and it's not that the diving hasn't been wonderful. It has. But because I now know what to expect, that initial thrill, that 'wow' has faded. It's a case of familiarity breeding ... not contempt, but maybe, I don't know ... maybe complacency.

This brings me to Casey Kelleher. I hadn't even heard of her prior to reading her last psychological thriller, 'I'll Never Tell' last year. Having read the blurb and seen some other readers' ratings, I'd go so far as to say that I had expected the book to be good. But not THAT good. It didn't blow my mind so much as shatter it.

So when 'Only Child' became available on Netgalley, I requested it with the enthusiasm of, well, a young Labrador at feeding time and devoured the book through to the end. After an explosive opening chapter, it tells the story of Sherrie, Richard and their teenage daughter Kayla in parallel to that of Tessa. Sherrie and Richard appear to have everything they had ever longed for, but is it just a mother's love that makes her so protective of Kayla? Or something else? Meanwhile, Tessa is clearly suffering from some form of mental illness, which causes her to even doubt her own narrative? But just how much of it is really unreliable?

It's really, beautifully written. It manages to be gripping, tense, sensitive and intricately plotted all at the same time. The truth seemed to be revealed gradually and I thought I had guessed it fairly early on ... but I hadn't. The real truth was far worse and ... for the sake of avoiding spoilers, just wow.

I felt something for each character, but want to give a special mention to the character of Tessa's partner Amelia who was probably my favourite of them all. Throughout everything that Tessa says, does, feels and goes through, Amelia is there to support and love her unconditionally. She's just the sort of person that Tessa needs, and that we probably all need.

If I had to nit-pick to the extent that I had to search for the nit with a fine tooth-comb and a magnifying glass, I'd stop my search on the character of Richard. It's a case of the one male main character being the weakest. This is something I've noticed with other female authors of psychological fiction and I don't know whether it's the way their minds naturally work or whether it's a conscious effort to please a readership that probably does consist mostly of women. But as a male reader, I can't help but wonder if it really does have to be this way?

My main problem though has probably less to do with the book than it does with me. Because I absolutely think that 'Only Child' is fantastic. But because I read it off the back of 'I'll Never Tell', I expected it to be fantastic. So after having finished it, I was delighted, thrilled, wowed. But I wasn't surprised. Which meant that even though I loved the book, I didn't feel that my mind had been blown to smithereens.

Obviously I'm not going to deduct a star for this, nor do I think that the author can help it. However, if this is your first time reading a book by Casey Kelleher, I really envy you.

My thanks to the author, Bookouture and Netgalley for the digital ARC of this book, which was published on 7th October. I have reviewed it voluntarily and honestly, and will post my review on Goodreads, Amazon and my personal blog.

Sherrie and Richard are parents to teenage daughter, Kayla. Sherrie is completely obsessed with keeping the house immaculate and making sure that Kayla is safe.

Tessa is still experiencing PTSD from having been captured and kept for a long time in a dirty room with minimal food and a bucket for her needs. Today, her girlfriend, Amelia, is trying hard to help her cope with her experience and support her efforts to try and rebuild her life.

One day, Kayla sneaked out to party and didn’t return home. Her parents are frantic and don’t know if she was taken or worse. As the days pass, Sherrie’s fears mount and she just wants her daughter back.

This is certainly a different kind of plot. After awhile, I figured out what happened but it was not until I reached the end of the book how complicated and shocked this story is. Whew! There are some crazy people in this world and this book is full of them. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Only Child is a psychological thriller that I was so eager to read! I have read majority of Casey Kelleher's books. From gangland grit to the psychological thrillers she has been publishing up to now, I have loved and appreciated each and every book. This one just cemented the fact that I think Casey Kelleher is an amazing author and I am glad she started writing.

Told from multiple perspectives of Sherrie, Kayla and Tessa. Sherrie is 15 year old Kayla's mum, who, along with her husband Richard have spent their lives making sure Kayla is loved and safe, until the day she goes for a sleepover and doesn't return. Tessa is a woman with a horrific past who has finally got a life she deserves. Then she sees a face that brings everything flooding back.

Wow! This was a story that really took me by surprise. A psychological thriller that has twist after twist. I never knew who to trust from the start. Sherrie with her smothering of her daughter came across as such a clingy and overbearing mother. There are 'helicopter' parents and then Sherrie! Richard disnt seem the nicest man either and Tessa had me changing my mind constantly, with her erractic behaviour. The best characters are the unreliable ones, and there are a few here.

I was glued to my kindle when I was reading this. If I wasn't reading it, it definitely made had me thinking about it. A multi-layered story and one that has depth too. As the plot unfolded I wondered how all the characters stories would entwine. I was second guessing everyone but all my guesses were so wrong. This is my favourite type of book, one that just throws a curveball which throws everything you were thinking right out the window.

A fast paced, oh, so gripping and twisty read that is one of Casey's best psychological thrillers to date. One that I say is worth every second of the time it takes to read. Brilliant!
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for my ARC.

Yet again Casey Kelleher has written another absolutely brilliant and unputdownable read. I’ve read all of Kelleher’s books and I can honestly say they just keep on getting better and better. Only Child is a book that once you start you’ll just want to keep on reading until you reach that very last sentence. A brilliant read that had my heart in my mouth at times. I can’t recommend this book highly enough and will be one of my top 10 reads for 2022.

Do not underestimate this book!! It will keep you guessing right up until the very end with exactly what is going on! You'll want to keep reading as every page and chapter has you guessing a different scenario with every twist. It was a little frustrating to think maybe the story is a little drawn out, but as you get closer and closer to the ending you will change your mind! I really enjoyed this book and loved how it kept me going with all the different ways it could have ended up and had me thinking which character could be doing what. The author does a fantastic job of keeping your attention!