Title: A Kidnapping in New York
Author: Jackie White
Narrator: Devon Sorvari
Format: 🎧
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Audiobook Release Date was: September 17, 2024
My Rating: 2 generous stars
Pages 320

Gwendolyn Black is a New York public defender whose baby was kidnapped while she went out for her morning jog in Central Park; while pushing her newborn baby Cassie in her jogging stroller she was attacked and Cassie taken.

Further uptown, a former drug dealer gives the ultimate gift to his girlfriend, who just gave birth to a stillborn baby girl. ~ Hmmm same baby?

The detectives working the case suspect Gwendolyn is hiding something.
As they police search for the missing baby, we learn the back stories of Gwen, Gisele and Zivi the three main characters.

This story was a struggle for me. I immediately found the foul-mouth characters unlikeable and wanted to give up. However, I have found on more than one occasion that the ending turns out great and I was glad I hung in there.
Unfortunately that did not happen – this never got better
The only good thing about the ending was that it was finally over!!!

Although I was disappointed I want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audiobook. I know I have choices and this was not one of my good ones- so that call was on my part.
Publishing Release Date was September 17, 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for the advanced audiobook..

None of the characters "popped" for me (I couldn't connect with any of them), so while the premise had some interesting pieces, this ultimately didn't hold my attention.

Weird, twisted, but not the type of weird and twisted I like to read. I had a hard time with this plot line and to think anyone would really do this. Just wasn't the story for me but might be for others.

Gwen is a ruthless New York city defence lawyer who specialises in beating charges brought against all kinds of lowlife criminal types. So when her newborn baby is snatched while she is jogging (!) in the park, the police officers are not all sympathetic, though they are willing to do their duty in recovering the child.

But this story is not what it seems. Gwen is deeply troubled, suffers from issues with respect to body image and an eating disorder, and is driving her psychiatrist to distraction with her high maintenance ways and her half-truths.

Not that the psychiatrist knows the half of it. Because Gwen has many secrets, including a possible link to the kidnappers who have stolen her baby...

This story was not for me. I found Gwen deeply unlikable, and the same applied to the criminal who took her baby - supposedly to cheer up the love of his life who has been grieving the loss of their own baby. In fact, I found his character absolutely loathesome - AT SO MANY LEVELS.

The lowlife's girlfriend Giselle was the only one I found at all interesting or relatable, but her incredibly bad taste in men was deeply puzzling to me! So, in summary, I felt the premise of this story was really interesting - but its execution failed to live up to expectations.

4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



✨postpartum
✨ drama
✨twist ending

✨ 2 ladies is the main character in this story.
My heart goes to gwen,, she unfold what happen to her when she was young. Trigger warning with child abuse❌❌
Even though it’s not right that she focus more on herself, for her career as a lawyer so she ended up having a relationship with zivi. It shows her dark past.


Gisele on the other hand suffering from losing her child. Stillborn.❌❌❌ trigger warning.
She was shock that zivi just turned up with a baby on hand, which is gwens child .

It’s just a whirlwind when the 2 ladies meet and agree to partnered up to put zivi where he belongs.



Thankyou @dreamscape media for the opportunity to read this arc for a honest review.




🫶🏼 shaye.reads

I received this audiobook as an ARC from NetGalley but opinions are my own. This book pulled me in from the beginning! I found my sympathy and like for each female character shifting back and forth, and it was quite the ride! This book went in a direction I certainly didn’t expect! There were a couple pieces that felt unrealistic, but I still really enjoyed the audiobook. The narrator did a great job, including voicing a male with a Bosnian accent. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review!

Meet Gwen, a NY attorney known for getting people out of prison sentences. After having her baby she jumps right back into her disordered eating and extreme exercise regimen. Read the trigger warnings if you are sensitive to bulimia. On one of her runs she gets jumped and they take her baby.
Meet Giselle, her baby is stillborn and she is distraught. Her boyfriend, Zivi, pushes her to get out of the house and have sex and get back to her old self. I have never been more frustrated at a character than I was with Zivi in this moment.
Zivi and Gwen have a past, she was his attorney and got him off some big charges. Through this story you learn how these lives are intertwined and what lead them to do what they did.
Narrator Devon Sorvari was great. Her pace and tone were perfect for this book. I was able to listen on 2x but not lose out on her skill.
*ALC review*

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC of this audiobook for my honest review

Not sure what to think about this book whether I liked it or not. The plot confused me , possibly my expectations were wrong but I also found the plot intriguing and had a lot of great twists. However I didn’t feel like I liked any of the characters, it was like a book of sadness everything upsetting was in here. I was hoping for more of a mystery and I like to usually feel like atleast one of the characters feel actually good but the ending ruined that for me. Even though the ending is probably the most satisfying way to end the story. The writing itself was good though but I just felt confused of my feelings about this book at the end.

I'll be publishing my review on Goodreads and StoryGraph 21th September and on Tik tok most likely will add to a monthly wrap up post with review the beginning of October.

DNFed because I could not get over the main characters nickname as Jizzy, I know that sounds petty but the rest of the book was just sort of not great.

My thanks to Net Galley and MacMillan Audio for allowing me to review this arc.

The premise of this story hooked me in. Lawyer Gwen Black's is telling her therapist how her baby Cassie was kidnapped. The more I learned about Gwen I felt she was self centered, selfish, cold, and did not want to be a parent. Then we meet Zivi and Giselle (Gizzy) who lost their baby Madison. Zivi is involved in the kidnapping and gives Cassie to Giselle to get her out of her depression from losing their baby. Giselle adores her new baby. A twist occurs that may let them keep the baby till Giselle has a change of heart.

The ending a bit redeeming but Gwen was such an unlikable loathsome character.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. Devon Sorvari narrates this and does a fantastic job! KUDOS to the narrator!!! I highly recommend the audiobook!

This is the story of Gwen, Gisele, Zivi, and a baby girl. Gwen is a single mom who gives birth to a baby girl that is kidnapped during a park visit. Around the same time, Gisele and Zivi lost their baby girl who was a stillbirth. The story slowly builds alternating between the 2 different families until the first twist happened. From there, the pace accelerates and the twists and turns start coming!

This is a tense and taut story full of secrets, shocks and surprises. I loved the gangsta vibe and the dark sarcastic humor. This is a very well written story that pulls you in and won't let you go until the very end! Highly recommend!

4.5⭐️ Wow this isn’t what I thought it was going to be!

When Gwen’s baby is kidnapped, the cops suspect she knows more than she’s saying

Gwen is a ruthless public defender, exercises obsessively and suffers with bulimia

We’re then introduced to Giselle and boyfriend Ziggy, (a Bosnian former drug dealer) who have just lost their baby

I thought the story was going one way (drugs and gangs) but it soon twisted and thank goodness cause I hate that! In fact the early twist was so exciting, I was hooked and read this in a day!

The three main characters are so well developed and the multiple POVs helped me empathize with each person at different times - they’re the worst - now I love them!

I enjoyed the fact that the two cops, only had a basic backstory - their presence was necessary but it was the perfect balance of being there without stealing the limelight

I enjoyed the audiobook, but got a bit confused with Ziggy’s accent. I personally found it distracting but the majority of reviewers love it, so maybe it’s just my ears

This popcorn thriller may be a little far fetched, but it’s kickass and will have you guessing and spinning throughout

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for access to this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story was unique and one I’ve never read in any iteration before. Two women, a baby, and a scum of a man. They turn on each other so much you never see it coming.

I enjoyed the ending. I hated Giselle’s nickname. (like why?!)

SPOILER…
After all of that can a DNA test really be denied?!

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Jackie White for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I listened to the audiobook and loved the narrator! The storyline was interesting and the ending was my favorite part. Lots of twists and turns in this one with things now always being as they appear. Highly recommend!

It's not often that I hard DNF a book, but unfortunately this book is one of them for me. I made it 17% through the audiobook before I decided I had enough.

• Being 2 weeks postpartum and never having breastfed once, then all of a sudden having a steady flow of dripping lactation is not a thing.
• Having penetrative sex only 2 weeks postpartum and not being in extreme pain during and after is not a thing.
• Lastly, being named Giselle and your boyfriend using the nickname "Jizzy" for you should NOT be a thing. (Reader, he called her this more than once).

Still, thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape_Media for this unique experience.

🎧 Book Info

- Title: A Kidnapping in New york
- Author: Jackie White
- Narrator: Devon Sorvari
- Length: 10ths 55mins

🧠 Plot & Characters

- Brief Plot Summary: A baby is kidnapped and the detectives have to figure out who did it and for why. As the mystery unfolds, more secrets are kept and questions are asked. The more answers given, the more confusing things become.

🎙️ Narration

- Narration Quality: The narration of this book was so crisp and clean - it’s hard to explain - but it was very easy on the ears. this was my first listen from Devon and I really enjoyed it! Her voice is so soothing, I had to speed the book up because i was falling asleep 😂 perfect voice for narration!

🌌 Atmosphere

- Setting & Mood: the busy state of New York
- Suspense Level: 🔍🔍

💭 Final Thoughts

- Overall Enjoyment: this book did not feel as long as it was! so good and it wasn’t drawn out like most 10+ hours books. I also love how the characters are grouped in groups instead of individually. It made the story easier to understand.
- Rating (out of 5 stars): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Recommend? Yes, especially if you love books about family dynamics and mystery!

Special thanks to Jackie White, Dreamscape Media, and Netgalley for the ALC

*Remember to research trigger warning(s) before reading/listening. Happy Listening! 😊*

The synopsis for this book was intriguing, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. It was very slow to get into, and Gwen came across as very unlikeable. Some of the facts needed checking, too. I think part of it was also the narration… I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and this narrator wasn’t my favorite. I always listen on 1.75X but it felt so sluggish that I had to up it to 2X.

I don’t know what’s worse: The pile of bullshit sandwiches the author is asking me to eat or that a MC’s name is jizzy. JIZZY!

Initially I was curious… a woman 4weeks PP is out jogging with her baby in Central Park when she is attacked and the baby taken. What a nightmare! You’ve got my attention!

Sadly that was the last good bit. We switch to the other MC. She’s 2weeks PP and in a depression because her baby died. Her partner is annoyed she won’t have sex with him and is mopey so he steals the other woman’s baby for her.

Before he gives her the baby though, there’s a sex scene where milk starts leaking from the woman’s breast and she doesn’t know what it is or what’s happening. HUH? Is she 11?

That aside, her breast would not be leaking 2 weeks PP if she hasn’t been breastfeeding this entire time. Even women who do BF don’t necessarily leak. She would also have had to go through being encouraged which you really can’t not notice even if you’re depressed. Ask any woman who’s had a baby.

This all bothered me (do the editor and author not have access to Google? Have they never met a woman who breastfed?) but I trudged on because I was still curious…

Then there was so much talk about bulimia; I can understand the mother with the stolen baby returning to her old coping mechanism in this difficult time, but did we need to talk about it that much? Was it even necessary? The author seems to have done more research on purging than breastfeeding.


What finally causes me to quit was the author asking me to believe this couple had a baby, and it died, TWO WEEKS AGO and no one else on all of planet earth knew.

i just couldn’t get past these issues sorry

DNF at 29%

This grabs you right out of the gate with great writing and narration. The tension starts to build right from page one and keeps a good pace throughout this book, the characters are all fleshed out well and the narration is on point. I don't think I've ever listened to anything by Devon Sorvari but I look forward to hearing more from her in the future.

Gwendolyn Black is a ruthless public defender who lives a very regimented life. So regimented that when she has a baby as a single mother, she is back to her long daily run immediately. Just with a stroller. Then the unthinkable happens- her baby is kidnapped while she was out running.

Giselle is an artist living in a dingy apartment with her long term boyfriend. She, too, just had a baby. But that baby died. She is overwhelmed with grief. Until her boyfriend comes home with a new baby for her.

Looking at the other reviews, I am apparently in the minority on this one. I thought it was just OK. Gwen was such an awful person, it was difficult for me to read her POV. She has reasons for being the way she is, but she is still awful. The more you understand her, the easier she is to deal with, but still.

My practical mind also had issue with some of the events. Oh, and other than filler and comedic fodder, the chapters from the police's POV were kind of pointless.

I did like how it ended. That was the redeeming part, but I was still to unenthused by the rest of the book to rate it any higher.

Devon Sorvari narrates. I did speed it up faster than usual- up to 2.0. Her pacing was great and allowed for the change.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.