I found this to be a gripping read. The twist just kept on coming right from the first chapter to the very end. I loved the fact that you were straight in the from the very beginning and there was no build up to what had happened, it had me hooked from the get go.
A. J. McDine is a new author to me and i will deffo be reading more of her work. I felt this story was that of a sharp unique unexpected plot that had a stratifying conclusion. The more the story went on the darker it got.
The choice in narrator was very good as well as I find that a massive tho g with audiobooks. If I can’t latch on to the narrator it can make the book a different experience for more, but this one was fab.
Due for publication on 23rd April 2024
Thankyou to Bookoture Audio, Nettgalley and A. J. McDine for sending me a copy of this audiobook to review.

The Baby by A.J. McDine is one of the quickest reads I've had in the past year in less than 48 hours from start to finish - but it was also one of the easiest reads that I have ever had. The story begins with our protagonist, Lucy, awaking to a heck of a hangover - and a baby in her house. What could very well be an unbelievable concept becomes very believable throughout the course of this story. McDine's style of writing is so unique - it is natural and almost conversational. McDine does not over-explain nor under-explain, but they do make us love Lucy more and more throughout the course of the novel. The epitome of a true human, perfectly imperfect, Lucy has quickly become one of my favorite book characters. The motifs that McDine explores throughout the novel - shame, second-guessing, imposter syndrome, femininity, deception, and longing - all make for an incredible representation of the true human experience within the realm of fiction which is not an easy feat. Taking the journey of this novel alongside Lucy as she tries to find out where this baby came from and where the baby should go shows us that things are NOT as easy or as simple as they often appear from the outside - it takes a phenomenal idea - a nearly unbelievable one - to show us that we are all capable of almost anything.

Thank you to Bookouture, A.J. McDine and NetGalley for the opportunity to receive my first ever Advance Reader Copy of this book. This book is slated to be released on April 23, 2024.

This book had me from the start. I couldn’t stop listening and finished it in one day. Definitely a book where you think you have it figured out only to be surprised you were wrong literally until the end of the book. Great read and this was the first book I have read from AJ McDine!

I opted for the audio version of this instead of the book and I’m so pleased I did. A great listen which kept me guessing to the end. Fab twists and turns and highly recommended

New author for me and wow, I’m glad I dipped my toes.
This book is exactly as it says on the tin! A gripping thriller that is impossible to put down. Finished in one weekend!
Just when you think you have the plot sussed, you are whipped away in another direction. Great read!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in return for a honest reveal- made my weekend!

Once I started this audiobook, it was difficult to press pause. The story of the baby coming into Lucy’s life, her unfortunate past and present struggles, plus the twisty unraveling of a parallel storyline had me hooked!
I really enjoyed the pacing, and the tense atmosphere McDine created - although not in the way I initially expected. Some aspects felt a touch repetitive and I think it made a couple plot points less surprising for me. But overall still a very compelling listen.
I would recommend, and look forward to more from this author!

The baby was a thrilling read that I was immediately sucked into, a mystery was quickly presented and the rest of the book consisted of getting to the bottom of it. I loved the portrayal of the characters, they were written so you easily got attached to them and I loved the main character, despite her flaws. Due to the attachment of the characters, it was easy to convey the moral decision which should have been clear as difficult due to the background of the main character and her internal monologue. The empathy felt by myself as the audience caused me to hope that there was a happy ending for the main character, Lucy. Another comment regarding the characters was that I loved the portrayal of a character who was easily disliked by the reader and multiple characters was shown as charming to other characters, displaying the complexity of the character and toxic relationships as a whole as the red flags were clear but ignored by those taken in by them. While I felt some of the twists were clear and obvious, others presented along the way to add to the overall twist, created an enjoyable and shocking twist nevertheless! I loved this book and can’t wait to discover more by the author!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

The Baby, by AJ McDine, was my first ready by the author and definitely won’t be my last. I was hooked from the very beginning and engrossed until the very end. This fast-paced domestic thriller about a woman named Lucy who wakes up one morning to a baby in her home is riveting with plenty of twists and turns to keep you enthralled until the final conclusion.

Narrator Tamsin Kennard did an outstanding job bringing these characters to life. Her pacing was on par and kept me engaged throughout the entire book.

If you are looking for a gripping, edge of your seat thriller that you won’t want to put down then I highly recommend The Baby.

Thank you Bookouture Audio, author AJ McDine, and NetGalley for this Advanced Listening Copy.

This book has you whispering WTF to yourself constantly. Lucy has an issue with alcohol…and blacking out. This time she awakens to find A BABY , with no idea where it came from or why it’s in her home. Her husband works out of town, and despite a happy marriage, she has always wanted kids while he has not. Lucy is afraid to go to the police about this child she has found because what if she kidnapped him?
This story gets twisty and things come out of left field for both us the readers and our lovely unreliable narrator main character.
Lucy has some issues with putting 2 and 2 together. I saw the big twist coming and was yelling at Lucy to just get her crap together and figure it out. Highly entertaining read, 3 stars!
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture audio for this fun listen!

Book Review - The Baby by AJ McDine

Within a few minutes of waking up after yet another night of over drinking, Lucy walks into her living room to find a baby lying atop an overturned dresser drawer. The first problem? She doesn’t have a baby. With her husband Miles away, she frantically searches for clues and racks her brain trying to figure out how the baby got there. With horror and dread, she questions whether she has taken the baby and forgot about the whole event in her drunken haze…and that’s when all of the other problems begin to surface. This fast-paced thriller hooked me right from the start, and that momentum continued for the entirety of the book. I found the characters to be well-developed and believable and the story line the same.

The narrator, Tamsin Kennard, did a beautiful job giving voice to each of the characters, pacing the story well throughout. This was evidenced by the intentional pacing of the storyline, keeping the listener fully engaged and wanting to know more. The main character, Lucy, who, though making some really poor choices, remained believable. There were times in which some of the characters’ actions were questionable but the story flowed well and came together nicely at the end. I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers and LOVE a good twist at the end and felt as though the author accomplished just that.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, AJ McDine, and Bookouture Audio for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for my review.
This was a fast paced, entertaining “who done it”. I enjoyed it more than expected and would definitely recommend it to friends

This book gripped me right from the start! An intriguing story of a baby found by a troubled woman. Couldn't stop listening and absolutely loved the way the story flowed with lots of twists. Love this author. TW for baby loss and birth trauma

Thank you to #Netgalley and #AJMcDine for the advance reader copy (audiobook version).

Lucy! What have you done!?! Waking up after a bender and finding a baby you have no recollection of ever seeing before this moment is not a good way to start the day. Then you find you’ve missed 4 calls from your husband Miles, who is a hundred miles away from you on an oil rig.

Where did this baby come from? What can you remember? Maybe it’s your baby? Maybe it belongs to someone who gave her oh wait, him to you.

We go along with Lucy as she seems to come up with every possible (not necessarily plausible) way that she ended up with this baby. If she stole it, she will spend the rest of her life in prison. She shamefully loves this child.

Then, Miles comes home. That’s not going to go well.

There were times during the middle of the book where I just wanted to shake Lucy and cut her off, dumping all of her alcohol down the drain. But I’m glad I stuck with it. There were plenty of twists in the end that I hadn’t seen coming.

"The Baby" by A.J. McDine is a compelling thriller that most female thriller readers will likely enjoy. Lucy McKinley wakes up with a massive hangover and finds a baby boy in the living room tucked into a bureau drawer. She has no idea where he came from. Did she steal him from someone else? She doesn't know, but she gets to work taking care of him. He seems to be about 4 months old. She names him Ren (or Wren? I was listening to the audiobook.)

Lucy has always wanted to be a mother. She was pregnant a few years ago and miscarried from an accident. Lucy's husband, Miles, has said he never wants to be a parent. He is very mercurial. Sometimes, he's very sweet and like a knight in shining armor. Other times, he is very mean and hurtful. He is away 4 out of 6 weeks, working on an oil rig in the sea.

The most likable character in the book is the baby. He's a perfectly behaved baby. The main characters are well described but not likable.

The narrator, Tamsin Kennard, did a good job with the voices and acting out the story.

Trigger warnings: anger, miscarriage, r@pe, gaslighting, alcoholism

The ending is pretty exciting and a good one. I highly recommend this book for lovers of psychological thrillers, as long as you like babies.

Characters - 5/5
Writing - 4/5
Plot - 5/5
Pacing - 5/5
Unputdownability - 5/5
Enjoyment - 4/5
Narration - 5/5
Cover - 5/5
Overall - 4.75/5

Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture Audio, and A.J. McDine, for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Since Lucy and her husband Miles had to move from Dubai, Lucy drinks to drown out the loneliness she feels. And while Lucy’s husband works out of town on an oil rig she is left to her own torture of how she lost her baby.
After Lucy wakes up after another blackout from drinking, she finds a baby in her living room. Where did it come from, did she steal it or is it hers?
Your significant other should be the one you trust and love “till death do you part.” But Lucy has been living in an alcohol fog for a while and will she start to realize that death might be better than the alternative?

Overall rating 5/5
I really enjoyed the originality of this book. I resonated with Lucy’s struggle with wanting to become a mother. McDine has a way of wrapping the reader in from beginning to end with multiple great twists. The narrator Tamsin Kennard voiced these characters so well and made me feel like I was truly there with them.
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for this ARC.

The Baby 4.2


I would highly recommend checking triggers for this book as there are multiple difficult subjects that are discussed (such as alcoholism, pregnancy and child loss, and rape)

All Lucy wants in life is to be a mother and to have a family of her own. But her husband refuses to be a father. So when Lucy wakes up and finds a sleeping baby in the house, she struggles with not only confusion but also wondering if this could be a blessing in disguise.

The story continues on with Lucy looking back on various points of her life and trying to understand how things ended up the way they did. As she begins to piece everything together, she learns about not only what happened to her but who the parents are of this baby and what she needs to do.

I found myself feeling for Lucy. How things one minute seemed to go so well but then suddenly get struck down leading to her need to use alcohol as a crutch. The way she had ideas of what she always wanted, but in a quick relationship to marriage with Miles, learns that she won't get to be a mom because Miles doesn't want children.

Once she discovers the baby, it was easy to empathize with her and watch all the different emotions and feelings she was struggling with. Plus adding the fear of how her husband would even react. But no matter what knowing that this child still needed to be taken care of. I found myself needing to get to the next chapter to figure out what happened next. Who did the baby belong to? How did the baby get there? Thankfully these questions were answered but not in the way I expected. I enjoyed listening to this book and want to thank NetGalley for letting me listen to this audio ARC.

a solid 5 stars from me!

Lucy wakes up from a long hangover and she cannot believe what she sees - a baby in her house!
But how did the baby just appear in her house? She has always wanted kids, but due to a complication from the past she cannot get pregnant.

She cannot remember if she saved the baby or stole the baby from someone - and as she tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together she learns some unexpected facts from the past which includes some bitter truths about her partner - she still doesnt want to believe that her memory might be right.

When she figures out what really happened, she must risk everything to save the baby from the one person she trusted the most!

This heart pounding thriller was very good, and I could not stop listening to the audio ARC till the end!

Thanks to netgalley, bookouture audio and A J McDine for approving the audio ARC in exchange for honest review.

Ok bye I need to make more time in my schedule to read all the other books by this author :)

I received this book (audiobook format) through NetGalley. This book was a surprising breath of fresh air for a domestic thriller with unpredictable and *believable* twists!

A.J Mcdine has quickly became one of my go to authors with The Baby being my new favourite book she’s written. The plot keeping my interest through smiling at relatable inner dialogues, & eventually hooked on the twists and jaw drop turns when least expected

It was an easy and compelling listen, wearjng my earbuds to bed so I could continue listening (the equivalent to wearing a neck flashlight gizmo to read into the wee hours of the morning until drifting asleep, lol)
Audiobook had a good flow on narration, I typically speed audio to 1.5x but I listened to The Baby at 1.25x and felt like even normal speed would have been enjoyable with how well the narrator kept with inner flow and dialogues.
Despite personal preference to read paper/ebook formats when an audiobook narrator has an accent, I was drawn into the book so fast, by the end of chapter one I was hooked and couldn’t stop listening.

Wow!!!! With every single page, tensions mount. So much suspense and uncertainty. Lots of twists and turns. This was my first book by this author and it won’t be my last!

This book was really good but I did guess the end pretty early on. Although that didn't take away from me wanting to finish the book quickly.