I really enjoyed Finding Sophie. Lots of twists, told from multiple POV’s. I’m a huge fan of unreliable narrators. The reader hears the story of Harry and Zara and their campaign to find their missing daughter, Sophie.

We have multiple timelines as well. There is a lot of switching back and forth, but I was able to easily find my way in the story. The reader is given little bread crumbs along the way. There was a few twists, I guess some, but not others.

Overall a great domestic thriller.

Thank you Net Galley, Bantam, and Imran Mahmood for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Finding Sophie.

This is a heart breaking story of a missing daughter written with emotion, grief and such overwhelming power of the unknown, The family breaks apart so quickly that I was devastated. The pace was perfect-not too slow or too fast,
I enjoyed the alternating narration. I was changing my thoughts after every chapter. I had no idea how the crime occurred. I loved the twists, turns and final very surprising last few chapters. It was definitely one of the most clever thrillers I have read in awhile. I would highly recommend this book if you enjoy family drama, crime and everyone is a little bit guilty.

It's a He Said, She said kind of book. Harry and Zara a grieving over the disappearance of their daughter Sophie. They have canvassed the neighbors. Talked to her friends. No one has much of anything to share. The police have no leads. Yet, there is that neighbor in 210 who will not open his door. Along with the husband and wife POVS there is a courtroom thread. Who is on trial? Has Sophie been murdered? This is an insightful view of a marriage that is imploding. Both are on their own mission to find Sophie, yet not as a team. It is heartbreaking to watch. The courtroom scenes are very well done. The rest of the book suffered from some pacing issues. Seemed to stall for a bit. The ending is worth the journey.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Bantam for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on March 5, 2024.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC. I can tell from the first few pages if I am going to like and connect with the writing. I knew immediately that I would enjoy the style. I did! My first by this author, but not the last. Great domestic suspense. Recommend

This was a page turner I could not put down, whose pace escalated until its presumed climax, only to reveal that there was a series of climaxes as the reader learns what happened to Sophie, and to her grieving parents.

I feel like this book was kinda all over the place. I struggled to connect which made it hard for me to get into. I did not find the characters enjoyable either.

I didn’t think I would like this story when I first started it, but it was extremely thought provoking and I’m glad I stuck it out. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs.

I found the story to be hard to wrap my head around and I didn't exactly like the parents nor care about what happened to Sophie. Although I know that there is an audience out there for this story, unfortunately it could not keep my interest or make me want to read further.

Sophie is missing! It's every parent’s worst nightmare. Harry and Zara King are desperate to find their seventeen-year-old daughter, Sophie. She left their home one day and has not been seen since. They are not happy with the investigation and decide to do their own investigation by questioning everyone they think might know something. They both know one thing - that they will do whatever it takes to find out where or what happened to their daughter. They have a suspect in mind, so much so that they become obsessed with this individual....

Readers get the POV of both parents. Their desperation and pain jump off the pages. Both turn inwards to do what works for them in terms of dealing with their sense of loss. Not knowing what happened to their daughter has pushed them apart, each in their own private pain.

Readers also get to be silent observers in the court proceedings involving both Harry and Zara. I had so many questions in my head while reading this book. Getting to the answers was quite a journey through Harry and Zara’s loss and pain.

I struggled a little in the beginning of this book. I wasn't sure that this was the book for me, but I hung in there and soon enough, I was fully invested and wanting to know if Sophie would be found.

This was a thought-provoking book and my first book by Imran Mahmood. I look forward to reading more of this author's books in the future.

I honestly found the plot a bit all over the place. The involvement of the neighbor was not clear to me, then some of the actions of the husband did not make sense. Not my favorite read.

Teenagers are trying to make way for themselves and are caught in that weird space between being a kid and growing up. Not only do they spend their time trying to figure things out and thinking they know everything, but they can be extremely rebellious. Sophie wasn’t any different from any teenager you know. She’s seventeen and trying to break the strings of her parents. She wants more freedom and she wants to be treated more maturely, but are Harry and Zara wrong for trying to protect their only child? Absolutely not! But to Sophie they are overbearing monsters trying to stunt, not only her growth as a person, but her fun. What kind of parents are they? Since Sophie couldn’t listen to reason, her parents got the idea of putting a padlock on her door to keep her from going out and getting herself in trouble. And, as a result of her parents’ action, set off a chain of events that none of them could have foreseen.

Sophie is now missing. She’s been gone for over seven weeks and her parents are going insane with worry and grief. They are fighting the demons and that little voice in their heads telling them that their daughter is dead. No matter what Harry and Zara refused to give up hope. Harry went on a crusade and began his own investigation into the disappearance of Sophie. For you see, the police just weren’t working fast enough for him. He went door to door of all his neighbors and he did it more than once. But there was one neighbor in particular who never answered his door and wouldn’t give the Kings the time of day. This baffled Harry and Zara King. Everyone did all they could to assist them with finding their daughter, but this one neighbor refused to help. Why?

As the weeks turned into months, their daughter’s disappearance was more than either of them could stand. What were they supposed to do as parents? They blamed themselves for everything. They played the memories over and over again wondering if they hadn’t put that padlock on the door would Sophie still be with them? The guilt trip was killing their vibe and all they wanted was to have their beautiful daughter back. They no longer knew right from wrong or up from down. Their every waking thought, because sleep evaded them both, was to get Sophie back.

It was a year of agonizing pain when a strange turn of events began to come into view. The Kings were mere shells of themselves. They didn’t recognize one another and both were giving up their will to live. One of their neighbors turned up dead and no one could figure out who did it or why. All the evidence pointed to one couple, but they weren’t talking. And with that, Nerds, is where this story takes off in a blaze of mayhem and murder.

My heart bled for the Kings. I could feel every bit of their pain as I journeyed along with them. OMG, there were times when I felt myself crying because Mahmood did an exceptional job in placing you right in the front seat of our main characters. If you didn’t feel what the Kings felt, you couldn’t be human. This story was so beautifully written. Even though the content of the story was very painful to witness and had such sadness, I could not stop tapping the pages to find out what was going to happen next. There was so much excitement following along with Harry and Zara. Their actions will cause you to question if you were in their shoes, would you make the same decisions they did? I answered that question for myself and it will remain that way. This is one of those stories where you have to decide this solely for yourself because we are all different. I will not reveal my answer in this review. 🤨

This was an incredible story and I’m so elated to have started my 2024 reading off with a damn bang!

I was not expecting the rollercoaster of emotions this book took me on! As a mother, this is a worst nightmare situation that could happen to anyone. I loved the legal aspects of the book as well. The writing is so well done that you almost feel as if you are experiencing it first hand! Instant fan of Imran Mahmood!

Part legal thriller, part suspense, part what I have recently been calling "victim-centered fiction," Finding Sophie is a book about how the traumatic effects of crime ripple through everyone concerned.

When Sophie, Harry and Zara's teenage daughter, vanishes, they are distraught. Not satisfied by the police investigation, they each start poking around on their own, talking to her friends, spying on neighbors, even dipping into the occult.

Told in alternating POVs from each parent, switching between past and present-day, Finding Sophie is a familiar kind of suspense story told in a very different way.

Finding Sophie
By: Imran Mahmood

5 Stars

As a parent, one of the worst nightmares I could imagine is having a missing child. In this story sit two parents who have a daughter-Sophie, who has gone missing. What do they do in this situation? Search for her and the truth. They will do anything to find Sophie.

This book has some palpable writing. The feelings and descriptions that come from the characters were definitely felt by me as a reader. I absolutely enjoyed this heartwrenching tale. It had such a serious storyline, but it was such an amazing read. It was mysterious and kept me guessing. It showed the power of a parents love and devotion. I never knew the truth. I thought I figured it out, but man, was I shocked in the end.

Overall, this book was a thrilling mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat beginning to end.


*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*

Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Reviews

When Sophie goes missing, her parents Harry and Zara take it upon themselves to interview their neighbors. Everyone is compliant except the resident at number 210. It soon becomes an obsession getting him to talk.

The book kind of shifted halfway through and I got a little lost. Usually I really enjoy courtroom scenes, but something about the scenes felt off and unrealistic.. maybe since it wasn’t a US courtroom. I was very curious about Sophie, so I kept with the story but the latter murder part wasn’t as thrilling for me.

“I’m not spontaneous but I am reliable. And now I’m not. Now I’m a pinball.”

Finding Sophie comes out 3/5.

This was a different kind of mystery bc on one hand you have the “what happened to Sophie?” And then you’re piecing together the “oh no, what did they do to find her?” You piece most of the latter together, except maybe the exact details but you see where it’s going. But the mystery remains in, “was it worth it?”

The answers to that make it interesting.

The overall answers to the first question came a little bit rushed at the end. I think more so because it had to be answered. But it doesn’t really drive the story.

I made for a good read and it stood out from the usual missing girl stories.

How far will you go to find out what happened to your daughter? A married couple devolve into madness trying to solve their teenage daughter’s disappearance. I LOVED this novel so much! Dark and disturbing, you won’t want to miss this one.

I tried really hard to get into this story, but it was pretty painful. I almost put it down several times, but I hate to leave a book unread.
Harry and Zara's seventeen year old daughter disappears and they are beside themselves. The book is a chronicle on how they disintegrate in their grief and focus all their energy on one neighbor.
I won't give away any spoilers. The book plodded along and what little intrigue there may have been was wiped out in how long it took to get anywhere. The ending was unbelievable.
Other reviewers seemed to see something I didn't.

I do appreciate Bantam books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity for this early read.

The premise hooked me immediately: Two parents conduct an increasingly desperate search for their missing daughter. Told in the alternating perspectives of Harry and Zara, and in a dual timeline between the weeks after Sophie’s disappearance and a year later in the middle of a murder trial, Imran Mahmood’s taut yet profoundly moving novel explores how differently grief can be experienced even when shared by parents—and how hope triumphs when it springs from the kind of love that knows no bounds.

I always enjoy a dual narrative and timeline so this book started off strong for me. Like a lot of other domestic suspense, I was intrigued by the conflict which occurred right at the beginning of the book, learning that Sophie had disappeared. All the little clues she left behind were being pieced together by her parents in their state of grief. Their feelings of frustration with the police and the lack of leads were palpable, mirrored in the pace. I would have preferred a bit more action. Both characters were relatable, and I understood their motives behind breaking the law to find their daughter. I found them likable enough to keep reading, but also genuinely curious about what had happened to Sophie. I found the future timeline from the courtroom the most interesting because it provided more suspense overall.

The story gripped me in the beginning, but the pace tapered off for the majority of the book until picking back up at the 95% mark. The scene in the basement and the image of the knife still haunts me. Themes of grief and loss are clear from beginning to end, mentioned in both perspectives which felt repetitive at times. Their ongoing grief made the ending more satisfying, but ultimately I need my thrillers much darker with multiple twists and reveals.

3/5⭐️⭐️⭐️
For readers who enjoy domestic suspense, missing persons stories, slower paced.