Overall this book was good.
I do feel the first 2/3 of the book were quite slow and probably could have been halved and still told the story effectively.

I think the twist was unexpected and the ending wrapped everything up neatly.

I had a hard time liking the main characters even with their grieving and loss, and the daughter was not a sympathetic character either.

Overall, good, but slow initially.

Rounding up to 4 stars; closer to 3 and a half. This started out a little slowly - somebody is on trial for a murder, but it’s unclear who is dead and who is the accused. In alternating chapters, there’s Harry and Zara, a married couple, grieving the loss of their daughter, who’s been missing for several weeks. Mom is sad and despondent, and Dad is desperate to find out what happened to her.
It starts picking up after the halfway point, as Harry becomes more and more reckless, taking matters into his own hands to expose the secretive neighbor that he did suspects is responsible for the disappearance. The murder trial starts playing a bigger part, as well, helping to propel the story towards its climax with a little more oomph than it started with.
Thanks to #netgalley and #bantam for this #arc of #findingsophie in exchange for an honest review.

First, this book is slow, well written but slow. This is the tale of a broken family. A daughter has gone missing and, as many parents feel, the police don’t seem to be doing enough. We learn a lot about the details of the parents… and that’s where the story loses me. It’s not until the last quarter of the book that it picks up the pacing. Here we find out what happens to Sophie and what happens to her family as a result. This is not a happy book… it’s dark in many ways so be fare warned. Thanks to NetGalley for the read.

Finding Sophie is an incredibly complex look at a relationship during a time of crisis. But it is a psychological thriller which will continually keep you guessing as to what on earth could happen next. As you fall in love with the couple, Harry and Zara, as they optimistically search for their daughter Sophie who has disappeared, you see the breakdown of their marriage and the difference in how they each deal with their grief.

Harry and Zara King’s 15-year-old daughter has gone missing. Their only child, Sophie is the light of their lives. But, as they notice her temperament changing, they chalk it up to teenage rebellion. But an incident prior to her disappearance haunts them both in different ways.

They can barely look at each other as they both separately try and discover what could have happened to their Sophie. They discover they really didn’t know their daughter at all. Some clues emerge, not good ones and there is suspicion that the man who lives in a house on the street, 210, who will not let the police in, nor will he talk to Harry and Zara makes the couple distrustful of him.

Their grief is palpable, but their guilt unbearable. They try not to blame each other. But, they also want to fight this fight separately rather than together.

Fast forward to some chapters in which a trial is occurring. We have no idea who the defendant is or what the crime could be. Our clues are sparse until we discover the truth.

What would you do if your child went missing? Is love enough? Would you do anything in your power to find the child? Not matter what that meant? Or would you keep all those feelings in, blaming the other, but never giving up the idea that she just has to be alive, even when all the clues go another way. Can a marriage be strong enough to endure the heartbreak of a missing child?

In Finding Sophie there will be sadness, but there will also be something deeper than love. Passion. To not only find out what happened to their child, but to make sure she will somehow always know they loved her enough to never stop looking.

Thank you #NetGalley #Bantam #Imram Mahmood #Finding Sophie for the advanced copy.

This was a good book and a thriller that I enjoyed. It does deal with family lies and drama and some other topics that were kinda of hard to listen to but it made the book better. I really enjoyed the book and the suspense behind it as well.

Any parent dealing with a missing child would go out of their way to find them at all costs. Losing a child has to be one of the single worst feeling a loving parent/family could experience. <i>Finding Sophie</i> definitely follows that trajectory but in a bit of an unhinged way. While I believe that doing everything that you can to find your child is necessary, going about it in the ways that Harry and Zara decide are best really come across as manic. When they take matters into their own hands without telling the authorities, they run the chance of having everything backfire.
Although well written and suspenceful, I had found myself wondering - a lot - why they were doing what they were doing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finding Sophie
Author: Imran Mahmood
Source: NetGalley
Pub Date: March 5, 2024

Harry and Zara are the parents of missing 17-year-old Sophie, and they are unsatisfied with the procedural limitations of the British police department in the hunt for their daughter. So, they begin an exhaustive search for their daughter and won’t give up until they find her. They are incredibly suspicious of a neighbor who lives behind two sets of drapes, a guard dog, and a darkened house. He is the only person who won’t speak to them, and they are convinced he is the guilty criminal who took Sophie. Firstly, the lengths they go to try to get proof are exhaustive and only serve to ruin any possible “crime” scene. The parents have tunnel vision and only look at one suspected person. Are they right? Secondly, Harry and Zara don’t communicate properly, so they are running their own investigations with no police skills. Finally, the story rambles on in circles and was so tense that my stomach was upset. Really. I guess that might be a compliment to the author’s storytelling skills. But I didn’t like anyone in this story. I didn’t like the grieving parents, the daughter, the criminals, and the police. It was hard to get behind anyone in this novel, and that is where it lost me. #crime #FindingSophie #thriller #suspense #murder #abduction #secrets #dsyfunctionalFamily #mysterythriller #crime #legalThriller #ImranMahmood #Bantam @netGalley #bantam
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the opportunity to read this novel. Pub. Date: March 5, 2024.
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FINDING SOPHIE is Imran Mahmood’s fourth book published, but the first to be released in the U.S., so the book and its author have a sort of debut glow about it. As the title advertises, a missing person is the central element of the novel. But the author doesn’t go about it in the usual way, focusing more on the drama surrounding Sophie’s parents. Harry and Zara must go through the motions of living when it is evident their souls were crushed six weeks before when their child went missing.

Complete article in The Big Thrill

Thank you for the opportunity to preview Finding Sophie.
The daughter of two teachers goes missing and they are devastated.
They spend their lives looking for her. Where is she?
They have little faith in the police. And with each day they find themselves torn apart by the sense of loss. Is she dead, is she hiding, is she in danger? All they know is they are in limbo. They spend their days trying to find Sophie
Written in two POVs Harry and Zara and the past and the current time you feel the parental pain and frustration with law enforcement. They go i to their own paths and find they will do anything to find their daughter. Maybe even murder.
The parents also suspect a neighbor who is odd and won’t speak into them which makes him highly suspicious

I did I not know what would happen and this book is so absolutely absorbing.
Taking unexpected twists this book is very good and glad I read it. It was on my TBR and I am glad I did. 4 stars.

The book starts off very slow, only picking up in the last 20%, but I think the plot has potential. The synopsis seemed interesting to me, and I wouldn’t tell others not to read it, but it likely wouldn’t be the first book I would recommend.

A wonderful, smart, outstanding surprise of a book.

There has been a murder. From the first chapter, the reader knows as much, but the accused and the victim remain unclear.

As the book delves into the backstory of the court case with which it opens, the story is told, in alternating chapters, from two points of view: London teachers Harry and Zara. The couple encounters every parent’s worst nightmare when their seventeen-year old daughter Sophie goes missing. With the police seemingly unable to make any progress in the case, Zara is incapacitated by grief, while Harry tries to conduct his own investigation - and harbors suspicions about a house in their neighborhood.

Though the blurb read like a standard mystery / thriller story, I was pleasantly surprised to find the first half of the book to be a relatively slow-paced, tender examination of two grieving parents unwilling and/or unable to come to terms with their new reality. The characters are vividly, exquisitely described and their emotions raw and heartbreaking.

Woven throughout, however, is the occasional courtroom scene to remind the reader that this is not just a novel about grief, but about what it can lead us to, and who we might become when we are broken.

Finally, in the last third of the book, the story catches up to the present-day court case and somewhat unexpectedly - and thrillingly - turns into a fast-paced, nail-biting and smart courtroom thriller where the author’s expertise - Imran Mahmood is a practicing criminal barrister with over thirty years’ experience, and it shows - can shine.

Topped off with an exceptional ending, this book was an absolute highlight for me. I am thoroughly wowed by it, by the author’s superb writing, the clever premise, and the stellar execution.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam Books or the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"Finding Sophie" by Imran Mohmood is a gripping tale of parental grief, obsession, and the search for truth. When Harry and Zara King's daughter, Sophie, disappears without a trace, their lives unravel as they desperately seek answers. Mahmood expertly weaves together dual perspectives and timelines, offering a poignant exploration of grief and the enduring power of love. As the narrative unfolds, secrets unravel, leading to a captivating climax that keeps readers on the edge of the seats. "Finding Sophie" is a compelling mystery the delves deep into the complexities of loss and the resilience of the human spirit.

I would like to thank NetGalley for an advanced copy of "Finding Sophie". I would recommend this book for a summer read. #NetGalley #Finding Sophie #ImranMahmood

clever, tense, and full of emotion and passion. loved it. thanks so much for the arc, would recommend quite a bit.

Wow. Wow. I read a lot of thrillers/suspense, but this one is special. I will spare you from reading another synopsis; you can read that above or in many of the other reviews. What is important for me to share is the absolute beauty of this story. The language, the word choice, the pace, the storyline itself — beautiful, heartbreaking, hopeful, devastating, wonderful. Sacrifice, love, hope, desperation, grief….its life in all of its rawness. This is so wonderfully written. I am immediately going to seek out Mahmood’s previous titles. Gah.

This was my first read from Mahmood. The title and cover captured my attention right away. After reading the book description this book was right up my alley. Initially I couldn’t put it down I feel like the second quater of the book felt a little dragged out and repetitive. However overall it was a great story. You felt really invested in Zara and Harry’s journey to find their daughter. I felt like Zara’s character was super frumpy and not super developed. But she was a shell of herself and essentially a blob lost in time without her daughter by her side so I see why. I felt mostly connected to Harry as you really got inside his brain and thought process. I do wish the middle chunk of the book had me as engaged as the last quarter did. As soon as the plot starts thinking and action starts happening it really gets your mind wanting to know what happened next. I will say there were lots of twists and turns there was one moment when I thought I was going to really not like the book but BAM came a twist I never saw coming. Like really never! I love a book with a good twist. I will say I still have a few questions about the last big and what happened but I don’t want to give any spoilers.

But if your into crime podcasts, true crime documentaries I feel like you would enjoy this read as it follows 2 parents doing whatever possible to locate their missing teen daughter. Decisions they make and how it could alter the rest of their lives.

A slow burn start to a story that builds in excitement and suspense, culminating in a 'didn't see that coming' ending.
I really enjoyed this one! The structure of the story, told from the POV's of Sophie's parents both in the past as well as their current situations. The writing keeps you asking yourself "which one did it" bouncing back and forth with each chapter. On top of that there's the big question of what happened to Sophie?
Will her parents ever get the answers they seek? How will they survive the court case they find themselves in?
This one's very much worth reading to find the answers. I guarantee you'll be surprised!

A dual timeline and multiple pov help unwind the story of what really happened to Sophie. I don’t want to say too much here but I had no clue what actually happened to Sophie or why. I liked this way of storytelling for a story like this.
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Thank you #batnam and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

How far would you go to find your missing 17-year-old daughter? Would you lie, steal, threaten, kill? This is the basis of Finding Sophie. It was a fast, page-turning novel that I couldn’t put down.
Henry and Zara, school teachers, are besides themselves when their daughter Sophie leaves the house one night and doesn’t return. While they report her missing with the police, they are not satisfied with the way they are handling her case. This is when they decide to take matters into their own hands. As they investigate, some things about Sophie are revealed to the parents, unbeknownst to them. She has recently met up with an older man and is somehow connected to selling drugs. Her friends are of little help to the parents. Her father, Henry, goes from house to house to try to find out if anyone has seen Sophie. No one knows anything, but the neighbor in number 210 will not answer any questions and rarely comes to his door. Henry is very suspicious of him.
Zara, the mom, meanwhile goes into a different direction in her searching for Sophia. She contacts her friends and threatens them that she will tell their parents or school of their involvement.
Rather than bring Henry and Zara closer together to find Sophia, this divides them totally.
Eventually, one of the characters in the novel is found dead. Someone is on trial for this murder. The author leaves it up to the reader to try to determine who died and who is on trial. This certainly kept me guessing.
The chapters are short, alternating between Henry and Zara and also the trial. This is a legal thriller, with lots of twists and turns. The legal system in UK follows the premise of “Better to let nine guilty men free, than have one innocent man hang”.
I am looking forward to reading his next novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me to read the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Published on March 5, 2024.

I read this book to 40% and there were just too many triggers for me. Child abuse, kidnapping or abandonment are hard for me to read.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. It just wasn't for me.

Finding Sophie by Imran Mahmood is the story of grief and loss for parents Harry and Zara. Their daughter, Sophie, has disappeared and they will do what they can to find her. But how far will they go to find her? What I found interesting is we see not only when Sophie went missing and how the Harry and Zara dealt with that and at the same time, we know someone is on trial for murder. As the story unfolds, we see Harry and Zara grieve separately when they needed the other the most. I was not sure where this story was going and I could not stop reading. This was my first book by this author and would definitely look to read more. I was engaged and wanted to know how it will all end.

Happy reading!