A heart-pounding roller-coaster ride of suspense that grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go until the final twist. Serious thriller for 2023

This was a decent book. I loved the twists and it was fast paced and easy to read. Thank you netgalley for making this book available to read.

Every parents nightmare - when their child goes missing. This was a thrilling edge of your seat read. highly recommended

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily and it reflects my personal opinion.
From the beginning we learn that Karen, Scarlett's mother, is shaped by the modern age, filling her days with social media and promoting her own experiences as a model for learning. Scarlett suffers from the lack of her attention more acutely because of her deafness and the scene is set for an abduction. I thought the characters of Karen and Elaine (who suffered an abusive childhood) were described well, and they were credible. The Gardai were quick to act but I disliked Paddy, a weak man who seemed willing to blame everyone else for events while refusing to accept his own shortcomings.
The excellent pace of this thriller made me want to keep reading to the end without putting it down. I completely recommend it.

Fast paced domestic thriller with some pretty unlikable characters. Lots of twists tho to keep you guessing.

A good book
Plenty of twists
Will keep you hooked from the first page to the last
Thanks NetGalley

Karen is in a broken marriage and the mother of a deaf child named Scarlett. Scarlett disappears from their rural home and Karen is extremely focused on finding her as she knows her daughter's hearing aids will eventually run out of battery life leaving her completely unable to hear. As the search for her daughter heats up, she learns that the answers behind her disappearance are closer to home than she realized. Once the reason for her disappearance comes to light, she realizes her daughter is in terrible danger. I feel that Karen and her husband could have been better written as characters and that Scarlett was a sweet child who didn't deserve what happened to her. This was a great fast paced thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

Wow. I love this thrilling read. A gripping story with twists that had me page turning. Definitely recommend

Part thriller, part cautionary tale about the perils of living your entire life online and the consequences of those actions. Karen's daughter, Scarlett, goes missing and the beginning of the story lays down a bunch of red herrings to create confusion and suspense. The main character, Karen, and her husband are a bit unlikeable and it was a struggle to stay engaged with the story. The author did a good job of keeping the reader's interest so I was able to followw the book to it's conclusion.

Karen is holding together a broken marriage, then one evening her deaf 8 year old daughter, Scarlett goes missing and her world collapses. Karen fears Scarlett’s cochlear implant’s battery will soon run out and she will be plunged into silence as well as being lost. They call the Garda and start looking closer at Scarlett’s drawing which shows her friend Hope, who Karen always thought was Scarlett’s twin who didn’t survive but now fear Scarlett has been kidnapped by this women who also features on cctv with Scarlett.
The clock is ticking and as time goes by, secrets begin to unravel and the reason for Scarlett’s disappearance becomes clear.
A fast paced domestic thriller. With self absorbed parents, Scarlett is a resilient, resourceful young lady. An enjoyable read.

It's every parents worst nightmare, your child is abducted and she is deaf and her cochlear implant battery is running out. I loved this fast paced thriller and I could not stop reading it was so absorbing. I didn't like any of the characters apart from little Scarlett. It has some great unexpected twists that kept me turning the pages. Thank you netgalley and inkubator for this ARC, all opinions are solely my own.

This was an enjoyable read. It gave me something to look forward to and the end of the day. The author keeps you guessing until the end as to whose nefarious plot this was, giving several characters motives over the course of the book. I read this book quickly, mainly because I couldn't put it down.

I was gripped from the very first page, what a wonderfully thought out thriller, and what a very resourceful little girl! Children are amazingly adaptable when put under pressure.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and I can’t wait for the next.

A broken marriage, a lost child, and a race against time to find her. It’s was a thrill ride from beginning to end with a surprise twist. I actually e joyed this book.

4.25 stars!!

This has been a LONG time coming!

But! It was really good and everything was delivered perfectly.

Completely missed all the "fine print" in the book and the subtleties were just too good. Wow.

Very well written and I loved the thrill.

Into The Woods is a fast paced, domestic thriller that shows that self-absolvedness can risk what you truly hold dear. Scarlett is eight-years-old and is abducted. Karen is in a race against time to find Scarlett before it's too late. Scarlett is profoundly deaf and Karen knows that her hearing aid batteries only last a short period of time before running out of power. Without the aid of her hearing aids Karen is even more scared about the further danger this will place Scarlett in. But as the search for Scarlett intensifies, secrets get unearthed and the reason for her daughters abduction finally becomes more clear to Karen. But can she save her daughter before time runs out!
I found Karen and her husband Paddy very unlikeable and selfish characters but I could really feel Karen's fear and anxiety for her daughter throughout this pulse pounding read! Scarlett was an amazing little character and didn't deserve what happens to her.
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This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope she writes more! I am totally hooked!

Into the Woods by Lorraine Murphy is a real nail biter. It’s every mom’s nightmare. Her deaf child is abducted. Will they be able to find her before her cochlear implants batteries run down? Definitely a five star book and I recommend it.

All words and opinions are my own. I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review.

Engaging read that was hard to put down. Karen and Paddy O'Hara's deaf 8 year-old daughter, Scarlett, goes missing, she's in danger and needs to be found!

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

Dreams can come true. So can nightmares.

The premise for this book intrigued from the beginning, not only for it's creepy storyline, but the fact that daughter Scarlett was profoundly deaf. Having a deaf uncle and known a few deaf people I'm always interested when this is added into a story arc because it opens up a whole new aspect of possibilities and whatnot. It's hard to believe that INTO THE WOODS is her debut because it is written with the expert hand of a seasoned writer. The tension throughout is palapable and the twists delicious. But above all, the the thrill of the ride is exhilarating.

Karen O'Hara is a vlogger and social media influencer, raising awareness for pre and post-partum depression and anxiety as well raising a child who is deaf. Her husband Paddy works long hours some distance away leaving her home alone with their 8 year old daughter Scarlett. Although she is profoundly deaf, Scarlett wears cochlear implants which enable her to hear and communicate as a hearing person. While Karen has devoted her life to her awareness campaigns, her focus on Scarlett shifts.

One afternoon as she has just begun a video conference with a world-renowned child psychologist in New York, Karen is startled to discover Paddy has returned home when he is supposed to be in London for the weekend, which he then explains was cancelled. He goes in search of Scarlett and unable to find her enlists Karen's help as she abandons her conference mid-stream. The couple begin to panic when they search every nook and cranny of their isolated house and property to no avail. Scarlett has vanished.

Time is of the essence as it has been an hour since Karen last saw their daughter and even more worrying is...her cochlear implant batteries will be running low having been charged the night before and will only have a few more hours left in them before plunging Scarlett into complete silence.

The police are called and Karen and Paddy are questioned but believing they are wasting precious time, demand they continue the search for their daughter. The more time passes, the longer she is out there...

But then the cracks begin to show and secrets come to light. And nothing is as it seems for either Karen or Paddy. What have they done? Will they find Scarlett in time? Or will it be too late...for all of them?

INTO THE WOODS is a thoroughly enjoyable tale with a dark edge to it that is a touch creepy making it an exciting psychological thriller. It touches on the world of social media and how quickly one can lose themselves to it and how quickly public opinion can turn...not to mention how fickle they can be. Added to that, we have two parents who are equally unlikeable and so obviously keeping secrets from one another.

I didn't like Karen as I found her to be completely self-absorbed bordering on narcissistic. The first thing she does after searching is go online and stream a live video about Scarlett's disappearance. I mean, what sort of person gives out so much of her personal life online to a bunch of random strangers from a complete description of where they live to her mobile phone number? It's mental. Who would do that? I'm not surprised she got crank calls. And then there's Paddy. I can't even begin to say what I disliked about him as it would give too much away. But really, is he that stupid? I did however feel a little bit of sympathy for him with regards to being married to Karen. But really, the only one to show any nous is Scarlett. That girl is clever beyond her years. Way to go, girl!

And I have to mention the daughter's name...Scarlett O'Hara. Very "Gone with the Wind"...as Scarlett soon was.

Unfolding through the various narratives between the past and present, INTO THE WOODS is a fast moving riveting story that had me absorbed from the prologue. And despite the two unlikeable (main) characters, I really did thoroughly enjoy it. Although there were twists, they weren't surprising to me as I figured the direction very early on for a number of reasons and it all just fell into place as it went. But still, that didn't spoil my enjoyment of this fast paced thoroughly addictive and compelling psychological thriller.

Overall, INTO THE WOODS is a solid gripping thriller and well plotted for a debut. A lot of thriller can feel a little "samey" like it's been done before but this one had a unique take on the missing child trope. I liked it. I mean REALLY liked it. I would be interested to see what the author presents us with next.

I would like to thank #LorraineMurphy<?b>, #Netgalley, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #IntoTheWoods in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.