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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was a little surprised but this book! The beginning started off really well, the author did a great job pulling you in and trying to understand what was happening- was she an alcoholic, is there something mentally unstable about her? Then the baby shows up on her porch. Her husband works on an oil rig, so many questions, so much suspense. About halfway through the book I did start to have a hard time keeping attention. More people were getting involved, then her husband comes home and she keeps the baby.

The good...the beginning and the end!
The bad...the middle dragged on a bit, but I wanted to know what was actually happening in the house, between the husband and wife

mgdreads says...give this a try and this is my first book from AJ McDine and will not be my last. Thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me access to read this book. I look forward to my next book by this author!

This was a great and fast read. This was a very new idea and very compelling. The characters were likeable and the twists were great. I really enjoyed this book.

I really enjoyed this book! I am an avid reader of thrillers and when I read the synopsis for The Baby, I was so excited! A woman wakes up after a night of heavy drinking and finds a baby in her house with no idea as to where it came from or how it came to be in her house. So intriguing. I loved the first half of the story so much whilst we were piecing parts of this puzzle together along with our main character Lucy. The first few twists did get me and I found the whole book to be very fast-paced and fun to read. I will say that I guessed quite a few of the supposed plot-twists and the final twist is one that I had already guessed very early on. I also have just some little nit-picky problems with one aspect of the plot; at one point we are told that Lucy is being extremely careful to avoid using her phone so that she can't be tracked (keeping it turned off even though she needs maps) but at one point she uses her phone to check a schedule which is completely brushed over as in the next few pages she says something like oh I need to turn my phone on now even though I shouldn't... But I think the author forgot that a few pages earlier she had already used it. It also frustrated me because you can just turn location services off in settings on a phone and still use it without anyone being able to see your location. Small point and it probably won't annoy anyone else but I just thought I'd mention it. However, I still greatly enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone who loves domestic thrillers. I would rate this book 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4/5.

Oh my word, this was fantastic!!! The tag line made me want to read it and as soon as I'd finished the first chapter I knew I was in for a treat. This is compulsive reading at it's finest. I lost a whole afternoon finishing the book, when I'd only sat down to read a couple of chapters over lunch. I just had to know what happened. It's a fabulously twisted tale with a great main character who I was rooting for all the way to the climactic and very satisfying ending. This is my favourite thriller so far this year. Highly recommend!

I have to say, when I started this book I thought it was ridiculous. But I kept reading and wow! I read it straight through in one night. Even if you are rolling your eyes at the start, keep reading.
Thank you netgalley, the publisher and the author for this fun read.

Unputdownable! Totally engrossing from beginning to end, the definition of a page-turner!
This was gripping from start to finish. The action moved along steadily, the locations were gorgeous, the characters were fascinating, not a complaint about anything from me. Ok, maybe one tiny one. The publisher's blurb touts a jaw-dropping twist at the end, BUT unless you have never read a mystery before, you can guess this finale from a long way away. Didn't take away anything from the story, but it wasn't quite the jaw-dropper that it's made out to be. However, still a well executed thriller that's well worth your time.

Super gripping and twisty, I loved this one!

Lucy's husband, Miles, works away on the oil rigs and when he's not around, Lucy drinks a bit too much (to put it mildly), so when she wakes one morning to find a young baby in a drawer, she questions her hazy memories. How did the baby get there? Did she take him? She is about to go to the police, but realises the baby is hungry and it seems that every time she is ready to go, something else gets in the way, until she realises it's too late to go to the police station without getting herself into trouble for not having reported it straight away. When Miles comes home unexpectedly, red flags start waving madly as we peel back the layers of Lucy and Miles' marriage and their past.

There were some breathtaking twists and some crazy tension as the action spiralled to its explosive conclusion, with one big final twist that left me reeling! Brilliant!

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, A. J. McDine and Bookouture, for an ARC in return for an honest review.

The Baby by AJ McDine

Publisher Bookouture

Time to read less than a day

Stars 4

Review

This is my first book by this author but it won't be the last.

The book was promoted as

An absolutely gripping psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist

I wholeheartedly agree, you get lots of books coming out re a missing baby but not many about a found baby.

I totally got engrossed and could not put it down. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to review.

A gripping psychological thriller. When Lucy wakes up after a night out to find a baby in her house not knowing how it got there. Plenty of twists along the way. Well drawn characters it grips you till the end. Thanks to Bookoutre and Netgalley for this review copy.

It's totally gripping read from the beginning. Super twisted and addictive thriller. Unique storyline with unreliable characters. Slow at first but picked up pace soon after. Lucy's personal growth throughout until the end is amazing. I didn't like her at first but she comes out brave intelligent and caring person. The suspense is chilling, and revealing climax is shocking and unexpected. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Seriously addicting fiction!! Great job at creating an original plot. Another one of those books that won’t let you get anything done around the house…. Just one more chapter lol! A baby showing up out of nowhere in Lucy’s house has her wondering if she got blackout drunk the night before and stole somebody’s baby. From there things got even crazier as Lucy tries to find out who the baby belongs to yet deep down wishes that he was hers since she had a miscarriage and was no longer able to have children. As she tries to untangle that puzzle she finds out her husband had been hiding something big. You don’t want to miss this ending. It’s amazing!

It is best to keep the description brief for this one. So in short, Lucy wakes up after a heavy night to find a baby in her living room. She has no memory of how they got there. Will she work out what happened?

This is my first book by A.J. McDine and I found the storyline to this one really piqued my interest so I wanted to give it a go. I am so glad I did! This was such a good story, with a lot of craziness, which I always enjoy. This really started with a bang and straight away you are drawn into the mystery, desperately trying to work everything out. This was skilfully plotted, engaging and I found myself gripped, needing to keep turning the pages… it has been a while since a book has done that. I found the characters very well written, which definitely provoked strong feelings. I did guess where the plot was going but this did not detract from the overall story at all for me. I can’t wait to read more by this author and recommend to others. I’d sum this up as a fresh, highly entertaining domestic thriller. 4.5 stars rounded to 5. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.