Imagine waking up after a heavy night of drinking to find a baby in your house. A baby you don't know and that can't possibly be yours. You've obviously stolen this baby and you need to pick through the hazy memories of the night before to unravel the mystery. But what if, whilst doing so, you start to get attached to the baby? And what will happen to you if you hand yourself into the police? And what if your husband that works away on an oil rig, and definitely doesn't want children, suddenly returns home early? What would you do?

A truly gripping and twisting thriller that will have you guessing and second guessing your way to the end. The pace was spot on and I whizzed through it in a couple of days, enjoying every page.
I particularly liked the flashbacks and the way we slowly learn about Lucy and Miles' marriage and their true characters. I also enjoyed all the local Kent detail, as someone from the area it was easy to picture the scenes unfolding.
I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a domestic thriller full of secrets, lies and mystery.

Lucy wakes up one morning, after one of many hangovers, to discover a baby in her home. She has no recollection of the night before and fears she has stolen someone's child. She has always longed to be a mother, but her husband, Miles, does not want children. Has she done something crazy? She knows she should go to the police, but when there is nothing in the news about a missing child, she convinces herself that the baby was meant to be hers. It doesn't help matters when Miles comes home and agrees with her. Whose baby is this and why is nobody looking for him?

I had the plot figured out pretty quickly, but that didn't ruin the story for me. I was excited to see how it all played out and it definitely kept my interest. This was my first book by this author but I look forward to reading more.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Imagine waking with a huge hangover and a baby - that isn't yours! You know it's not yours but what happened? And so begins this psychological thriller with all kinds of twists and turns that will keep you glued to the page!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

"There’s a baby in your house. It isn’t yours…" That hooked me in straight away. I had so many questions when I read that line.
Lucy is the main character in The Baby and the story is told from her point of view. Now, Lucy isn't a very reliable character. Which is a trope that I absolutely love. Why? Well it makes me read between the lines of the narrative. I try and pick up on little clues that the character says or does. It keeps me more engaged. And because it is from a first person point of view, I feel that I am personally being told the story and feel invested in Lucy's life.

As soon as the story starts to develop its quite clear that there is a darker undertone to this story. I would advice people to check out trigger warnings as I feel there may be parts that could be triggering.

Miles. Oh Jesus right from the first point of meeting Lucy's husband. I had his cards marked. But, was I right to blacklist him?

I really enjoyed this story. Uncovering the mysteries of how the baby came to be in Lucy's house. And, finding out secrets and lies. I am quite pleased in myself, I did figure out many of the twists and plotlines. I think this was purely because I had my radar on full alert.

AJ McDine is becoming an auto buy author for me. And, I will be searching out for future books.

★★★★ 4.5 stars

There's a baby in her house...but she hasn't got a baby...

This is a deliciously devious domestic thriller that I devoured in one sitting! My first foray with Ms McDine, I was captivated from the very start despite its obvious predictability in part but that certainly didn't deter my enjoyment of this twisted thrill ride.

Lucy and Miles have been married for some ten years or so, him having rescued her from one man's over zealous attentions on a night out before sweeping her off her feet and up the aisle. Before she knows it, she is living the high life in Dubai where Miles has been seconded as an engineer on a oil rig. They make a life for themselves there before a decade later, Miles receives a transfer to a rig in the North Sea off the coast of Aberdeen. Coinciding with the sudden death of her grandfather, Lucy flies home to make the arrangements before Miles joins her. And together, they set up home in the sleepy village where her grandfather lived in the cottage he bequeathed Lucy.

One morning, with Miles offshore for four weeks, Lucy awakes from yet another blackout drunken stupor with the hangover from hell and a baby in her living room. A baby? But she doesn't have a baby!

What ensues is a whole lot of craziness that is a little far fetched but somehow makes perfect sense to Lucy. She scours the news sites, watches the news, anything to throw some light on what the hell is happening. But no one has come forward to claim their baby is missing. So where did he come from? Did she steal it from someone and not remember?

Lucy's to-ing and fro-ing over what to do for the best ties her up in all sorts of knots. All she has ever wanted was to be a mother but Miles made it perfectly clear that children were not in his plan...something he neglected to tell her before they were married, despite him saying he had done so. Lucy would never have married him had she known his aversion to becoming a father. So what does she do? It's clear the baby is cared for and has come from somewhere...but where? And where is his mother?

Lucy knows she should call the police...but something is stopping her. The all encompassing feeling of a little life trusting her, his eyes locked on hers as she feeds him, bathes him, changes him. After twenty four hours Lucy knows she can't give him up. This child needs her.

And then she has another problem. Miles. What to tell him. And how will he react? He's offshore for another few weeks so she has time, and by then she will have found the baby's mother. But then she hears the crunch of gravel on the drive...No, it can't be. Miles is home. How is she going to explain a baby?

This was such a fun and entertaining thriller from start to finish. It's obvious from the start that Lucy has a problem with alcohol but I detect an even bigger problem with Miles. How could she not see him for what he is? A manipulative, controlling man who could sulk for England if he doesn't get his way. Everything he did I could see through a much clearer lens than Lucy could and I did not like what I saw from the very first moment he opened his mouth. Every phone call, ever text, every conversation, every action...it is all about him and what he wants. So what does this mean for her now that there's a baby to consider? Nothing he does surprises me.

The story unfolds primarily through Lucy's eyes - sometimes vodka or wine induced while at other times, clear as day. There is the brief narrative from one other closer to the end as everything begins to fall into place.

It is very hard to say what I want to say without revealing any spoilers so needless to say, You'll just have to go out and check it out for yourself. You won't be sorry!

An almost 5 star read, there were a couple of things I felt could have been tied up/explained more to be clearer by the end though I guess I just made my own mind up as to how they played out...even if they were not explained in the end, I still have my suspicions.

A fantastic read! I'll be sure to check out her other thrillers.

I would like to thank #AJMcDine, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheBaby in exchange for an honest review.

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

A J McDine delivers yet another insane psychological thriller.
I am a huge huge fan of this author and knew that this was going to be a great read, but I wasn’t prepared for just how much of a great read.
in this book, we meet Lucy, who wakes up from a drunken night, to find a baby in her house. It’s not her baby. What is her husband Miles going to say when he gets home
Oh my god. I hated Miles!
The book was very fast paced, packed with plenty of action and making it almost impossible for the reader to put down until the truth was uncovered The book is original and is a very compelling and satisfying plot
The book did not disappoint and AJ McDine remains one of my favourite go to authors
The book is highly recommended from me

Lucy is married to Miles, lives near Canterbury, and is, what she describes herself as, a heavy social drinker. They met and married very quickly and just before leaving for Dubai as he had a job there. Life was fun but then Miles told her they were going home and he was transferring to a rig off the Scottish coast leaving her on her own 4 weeks in every 6. Almost entirely told from Lucy’s POV and in dual timelines, and you can imagine what an unreliable narrator she is.

Briefly, one morning Lucy wakes up in her house, hearing a noise downstairs. Investigating she discovers a baby lying in a drawer. She has no idea how it got there and no recollection of anything since she had a “few” drinks the day before! Where did the baby come from and what is she going to do about it? Having had a miscarriage and told she can’t have any children she finds herself drawn to the baby and doesn’t report it. Then Miles returns home unexpectedly…

A superb psychological thriller with as many twists and turns as you could wish for. Chock full of suspense with an almighty twist at the end this was an unputdownable read! A very good read, well paced and tense, I really enjoyed it.

This was actually a jaw dropping, fast paced psychological thriller that will definitely keep you up all night.

The book starts off with Lucy who has moved back to her grandfather's cottage in Kent. Her husband, Miles is working in an oil rig in Aberdeen. Lucy seems to be an alcoholic and one day, she happened to come across a baby lying in front of her house. Lucy was clueless as to who have left the baby behind but Lucy had always wanted a baby and so she decided to take the baby, even though Lucy knew that it was wrong. Lucy promised herself that she would go over to the police. And as the story goes on, Lucy finds that someone else must have left the baby behind...

The entire story is told in Lucy's POV although in the last few pages, another character named Rae's POV was also present. I like the suspense that is in the story--whose baby was it? Who left the baby at the doorstep? As you go on reading this book, you find so many deceit, lies as well as many unexpected twists and turns that you did not see it coming. The ending was OK though it wasn't the ending that I actually expected. Reading this, you can see the mental state of Lucy. There is some sensitive content in the book such domestic abuse and sexual assault. Overall, this is a book that is a guaranteed page turner and an unputdownable thriller--worth four stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing this book, with my honest review below.

The Baby was a wonderful thriller, laid out in a clever way and paced just perfectly both with its reveals and twists.

Lucy is struggling after a miscarriage years ago, drinking herself into many blackouts and living a life seemingly paused. So when she wakes up one morning to discover a baby in her home and no recollection of how he got there, she’s both in shock at how this happened and a little bit in love with the little fellow. The plot thickens further when her husband, Miles, comes home and actually encourages her to keep this mystery baby. Lucy starts to realize she definitely does have a problem with drinking but this may not have been her doing, as her husband’s controlling behavior is fully revealed to her along with a mystery of a women gone missing a year before.

It’s hard to describe the plot without revealing too much but suffice to say this was entertaining, both with the plot and the character Lucy. Well written and truly shocking at different points, I’d recommend this to thriller and mystery lovers!

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I managed to 40 percent and stopped. It was so boring reading about how much alcohol she consumes and I was not too thrilled about the language that was used.

Wow! My first AJ McDine book but definitely not my last! This was deliciously dark and creepy. And the characters were to die for! (Maybe literally?)
I got so invested in the story and stayed up way past my bedtime flipping pages. Packed with tension, lies and so many secrets.
Thank you NetGalley, AJ McDine and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Lucy wakes up after a night of drinking too much with no memory of the night before. That’s been happening a lot for her lately, since finding out she could not have children. Suffering mostly alone, since her husband’s job takes him out of town a lot for work, she hits the bottle way too much. But this morning, there is a baby in her house! And Lucy has no idea how the baby got there. In a blackout, could she have taken him? She knows the right thing to do would be to call the police but Lucy keeps putting it off, instead scouring the news for stories of a missing baby. But she finds nothing to support that claim. And when her husband Miles comes home, things get even weirder.

There were a lot of moving pieces to this story and it could have easily not worked, but AJ McDine pulled everything together beautifully. The unreliable narrator in Lucy worked perfectly - up til the very end, I wasn’t sure if she played a part in the baby’s sudden appearance or not. Told in dual timelines, Lucy’s past with Miles is revealed and the more that comes to the light, the darker the story got. The pacing was perfect and I couldn’t put this book down! Another solid thriller by this writer.

Thank you to AJ McDine, Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC! “The Baby” releases April 23, 2024. This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly.

Having read books by this author in the past, I had high hopes for The Baby. The premise was intriguing and I couldn't wait to see where this baby came from!

Much of the book is focused on Lucy and her delusions as she is the narrator of this story. In this aspect, the book is successful, but I found her thoughts hard to follow at times. I feel like the book could have benefited from adding a secondary point of view.

The last 20% of the book had me much more invested in the story. It just unfortunately took awhile to get there.

Thank you to Bookouture for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
#netgalley
#thebaby

What a read! This book has a lot of twists and the story got better towards the end. I got to admit, the ending fell a bit flat for me, but the twist that it had at the very end surprised me.. I find that the beginning felt a bit of a slow burn until her husband gets home from being away from work. That's when things really start picking up. I didn't like her husband from the beginning and my opinion on him didn't change at all. Very good read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had so many twists and turns that I was shocked in the end. This was a great thriller and had me guessing throughout because the narrator was so unreliable. I really enjoyed this thriller and could not wait to find out how it would all end.

What a fantastic read this was, I struggled to put it down and ended up finishing it in a day and had serious book blues when I turned the last page as I just didn't want it to end.
From the very beginning when Lucy wakes up hungover with zero clue about how she got home I was invested and then when she stumbles upon a baby in her house that is absolutely not hers I was hooked, what follows is utter confusion and fear on Lucy's part and suspense, twists & turns for the reader. Lucy although not able to admit it herself is an alcoholic and strongly believes she may have kidnapped this baby in her drunken state but as time goes on and no one seems to be missing this beautiful little bundle more questions emerge than are answered & then when Lucy's husband Miles returns unexpectedly from his offshore oil rig job the whole mess gets even more complicated, I loved the little snippets of Lucy & Miles' past and life aboard before returning home & found it really helped piece together who they are as a couple and what got them to this point. I won't say anymore for fear of spoilers but what a wild ride this book was right up until the very last sentence.

This was such a clever plot line that flows and plays out perfectly & is wonderfully written. The characters are well developed & well written, despite being very flawed and making a lot of mistakes I adored Lucy from the very beginning and wanted so badly for things to turn out okay for her. As for Miles I instantly disliked him and the dislike just grew & grew, I found him utterly unlikeable and untrustworthy, I always find it a triumph for an author when they create a character like this.

The Baby is an addictive page turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat and questioning everything right until the end. An absolute must read I would highly recommend.

Thank you to the Author AJ McDine & Bookouture for an advanced copy of The Baby.

what a page turner!! The plot was really original, and it has everything I love in a thriller (plot twists and mysterious vibes)! It reminded me of Lisa Jewel’s novels.

The writing was excellent and easy to read, and it helped me breeze through this while staying engaged and not wanting to miss a single thing! It had me really feeling what the main character was feeling in the moment. The heavy topics were also handled really well, in my opinion. I couldn’t get enough of this twisty story! This is one of the best thrillers I’ve read recently.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Baby’ written by A J McDine in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Lucy can’t remember how she got home the previous evening after drinking with a friend, but neither can she remember why a baby is in her cottage lying in a bureau drawer. She knows she should take the baby to the police station but surely they won’t mind if she keeps him for a day or so, but when her husband Miles arrives home early from his job on an oil rig Lucy has to explain what the baby is doing there when she doesn’t know herself.

‘The Baby’ is a dramatic and engaging novel that tells of Lucy and the baby she calls Wren and her husband Miles who comes across as a controlling and lying individual who can’t be trusted and has Lucy doubting herself. The writing flows nicely making this a highly readable novel that’s kept me interested from page one. The last chapters draw the well-described characters together perfectly and reveal a conclusion that while not surprising tied up all the loose ends. This is the first novel I’ve read by this author and I’m hoping it won’t be the last.

Well this book had me questioning everything. I my mind went in so many directions and when all the pieces finally came together it was just crazy! Loved that I didn’t expect the solution. Great read!!

Wow!

I flew through this book in 24hrs. I couldn't put it down. I was hooked from page 1. It is a brilliant plot and the story just flowed so easily.

Miles was certainly a piece of work and my heart kept breaking for everything Lucy had been through in the past.

I can't wait to read more books by this author, I found this one so addictive.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️