Fiona Barton, the author of The Child is a former reporter and is able bring her journalist narrator, Kate Waters, to life with realistic details. She is a character I would happily follow to another book. Kate is only one of four women who tell the story of a tiny skeleton found at a building site. Alternating viewpoints can be confusing, but it works well here. Each woman knows a part of the story, no one knows it all until Kate's persistent digging brings them all together as decades old secrets are exposed.

This is the first book I've read by Fiona Barton. I plan to look up her first novel and keep my eye open for the next one.

I enjoyd this, however not as much as Barton's first book. I found it similar in feel, but for some reason it just didn't hit as much with me. Though without having kids I find that books that drama around motherhood sometimes don't hit the mark for me. I also guessed the entire ending pretty early on, which I don't usually do so easily.

When construction workers unearth an infant's skeleton while razing a street of homes from the 70's four characters' otherwise quiet lives explode. There is Kate, an old school journalist, desperate to remove herself from celebrity click-bait articles, who goes on a hunt for the truth. Angela, whose own newborn baby went missing from the hospital 40 years ago, is sure this must be her long lost child--an end to her decades-long quest for answers. There is Jude, whose home this skeleton was found behind. Finally there is Emma, Jude's daughter. Emma's concealed past is integral to solving the mystery of the dead child.

A tale of women doing the best that they can to keep their heads up during tough, sometimes unnavigable, circumstances. This emotional novel is a lovely mix of women lit and engaging mystery. Kate, a character Fiona Barton introduced in "The Widow", is the star of the book. Sympathetic, complex, and driven, she leads the story. Recommended!

Fiona Barton's second novel, The Child, releases on Tuesday, June 27/17. I figure if I give you a heads up today, you too can spend a day on the beach next weekend devouring it - I did!

Barton is a former journalist. Her first book, The Widow, (my 5 star review) took inspiration from real life, trials and newspaper stories, as does the lead character in The Child.

Kate, a reporter, sees this story " 'Baby's Body Found.' Two small sentences told how an infant's skeleton had been unearthed on a building site..." And she wonders "Who is the baby? How did it die? Who would bury a baby?"

What a great premise - I too want to know the answers. Kate is not the only person to see the news story. The Child is told from four alternating points of view - that of Kate and three other women. Each of those three has a reason to hope - or fear - their own ties to the little skeleton. I love multiple point of view books - the reader is privy to the information that each character is holding - or hiding. And we can only hold our breath as (in this case) Kate gets closer and closer to the truth. Now, that being said, I thought I had fit the pieces together about halfway through the book. But, as one character also says..."I don't know what to think anymore. Everything is wrong. I've got everything wrong." I was quite happy to not have guessed!

The Child is a character driven novel of suspense. Kate is a wonderful lead. I wonder if there are bits of Barton's own journalistic days woven into her character? The details of the investigation and newsroom ring very true. The other three women are just as well drawn - their connections to the child are quite poignant, shocking and in one case absolutely infuriating. I'm deliberately being obtuse - The Child is a story you need unfold and discover as the pieces are slowly put together. Although I will say this - motherhood is a prominent theme and thread that ties the four stories together. "Disturbing the surface had triggered an eruption of unexpected secrets."

The Child was an absolutely addicting pager turner for this reader! Definitely recommended.

Fast-paced, entertaining mystery. Great character development and plot. Liked being back in the trenches with Kate Waters. Hope this isn't the last we see of her.

This book was so engrossing, I could not put it down. I liked The Widow, but this is definitely even better.

Just when I think I should start calling myself a plot driven reader versus a character driven reader, I read a story like this where I find that the part that doesn't click for me is the characters and not the story. I found the story in this book very engaging and clever- while I had an idea what the main plot twist was, I definitely hadn't pieced together exactly how it would happen and how all the pieces of this book would fall together. However, I felt that I didn't get to know the characters terribly well, which made it hard to connect with them, even as I wanted to spend more time with them to understand Emma's distress and Angela's despair. I think the short chapters and quickly alternating viewpoints were part of the issue, just as I was getting ready to learn more about a character, I had to switch, and it would take me a bit to connect back with the other character.

I was a bit hesitant going into this book as I really had not cared for the author's last book, but I knew that it was possibly the fact that I was sensitive to the material in the last book and maybe had disliked it due more to personal reasons than anything being truly at issue with the writing in the book. Fortunately for this reader, The Child provided a much better reading experience. Ultimately, though, I think this might be a case where this author's writing is just not for me.

Very sorry, but this was a DNF for me. It may have been my mood, but I just couldn't get into the story. My apologies.

Fiona Barton’s prior book The Widow was a mystery told from the point of view of three characters, including crack reporter Kate Waters. I enjoyed it, and was pleased to receive an advance copy of Ms. Barton’s latest, The Child, from Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Similar in structure to The Widow,, The Child is told from the points of view of three main characters, this time all women:

Kate Waters is back as the intrepid journalist, looking for her next big story as she watches the newspaper business changing around her. “The tsunami of online news had washed her and those like her to a distant shore.”
Emma Simmonds is a young editor whose extreme anxiety about whether he past might catch up to her seems to be threatening the stability she has found in the married life she has created for herself. “He doesn’t know me really. I’ve made sure.”
Angela Irving has a mother’s intuition and her identity as a mother is shaded by the devastating loss she suffered 20+ years ago when her infant was stolen from the hospital right after its birth. “People say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…it doesn’t. It breaks your bones, leaving everything splintered and held together with grubby bandages and yellowing sticky tape...Fragile and exhausting to hold together. Sometimes you wish it had killed you.”
The plot centers around the grisly discovery of the skeleton of an infant, unearthed at a construction site. Each of the primary characters has a connection to the unfolding story of the “Building Site Baby,” and this propels the narrative.

The structure of the novel works well and the characters are well drawn. We learn so much about them as their individual searches for the meaning of this event occur. Emma, for example, has a husband who works at a University. Her view of his work environment? “University departments are like prides of lions, really. Lots of males preening and screwing around and hanging on to their superiority by their dewclaws.” (Having worked at a college, I LOVED this line!). Barton’s excellent descriptive skills are clear as Emma reminisces about a house where she lived as a child: “I can still smell that house; years of patchouli oil overlaid by grime, suffocating and musky like a hippie’s old afghan coat.”

 I’m one of those people who NEVER solves the mystery in advance, but even I could see this one coming, so it lost a star there. But that didn’t detract from the enjoyment I experienced as I read this book. I look forward to more from Ms. Barton. Four stars.

This was the first book of Fiona Barton that I have read and I really enjoyed it. I liked how the author drew your attention one way, only to have it twist! I did figure it out about 3/4 of the way through, but it still held my attention and I liked the way she wrapped everything up. Now I'm going to go back and read her other book The Widow and look forward to more!

A stellar second novel by Fiona Barton. Read it straight through!

4.5/5 stars.
I completely adored Fiona Barton’s debut novel The Widow and was eagerly awaiting her second novel The Child. I enjoyed The Child just as much, it not slightly more than The Widow. This novel is a must read, for readers that have a fondness for a great mystery, with plot twist you will never see coming, and filled with an extraordinary cast of characters. LOVED IT!!

*Thank you to the author, publisher, and netgalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.*

When the skeleton of a newborn is found on a construction site, three women are drawn to the story - a reporter, a mother who once lost a baby, and a young wife with a secret. The Child alternates primarily between these three perspectives, as the reporter works to uncover the truth about the "Building Site Baby." It is an engaging mystery, but if one is expecting a thriller this book does not really deliver. However, the characters are interesting and I never got bogged down while reading. It is a good beach read!

An unsolved mystery resurfaced when a baby's skeleton was found at a building site.

Along with the skeleton, three main characters emerge too. Kate is a reporter investigating the story. Emma is a nervous adult who became intrigued as well as possessed when she sees the story of the baby. Angela is the mother whose baby disappeared more than 40 years ago never to be found.

THE CHILD took a while to get interesting simply because it was a bit slow, and there were too many characters thrown in. I was lost with so many different characters and couldn't seem to figure out the connection until around half way through the book so don’t give up because it is worth the wait.

As the pages turned and I reached the halfway point, the book started making a connection for me and kept my attention. The mystery became intriguing.

The characters seemed genuine for their roles, but something was odd and different about each of them.

This was my first book by Ms. Barton so I imagine I needed to get used to her writing style and her attention to detail.

There are some good twists to the story as well as some disturbing subjects that are addressed.

All in all, THE CHILD is a good read that will keep you guessing. 4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This compelling story had me hooked until the very last page, and includes a twist I didn't see coming! Highly recommend.

First there was the shock and horror of finding the tiny skeleton of a newborn baby when excavation to rebuild a weathered community was underway. Then there was the unimaginable horror and heartache of two women believing the child was theirs. If not for investigative reporter Kate Waters, the dark and twisted truth would never be revealed. Will it take the Wisdom of Solomon to discern the true mother or will forensic science and a search on the internet reveal something far more sinister? Something with the tentacles of an octopus and the talons of a hawk?

Follow the distinct POVs of three women, decades after this tiny angel was hidden in a cold and lonely grave and discover more darkness and deceit than seems possible. The webs that are woven are brutal, coarse and unfathomable to a normal mind, yet for all the flack the press receives, the true identity of this child would have been buried all over again if not for Kate.

THE CHILD by Fiona Barton is filled with grit, pain and unimaginable actions…but can the puzzle be solved without further damaging those involved? Follow the clues, sift through the stories and hope that, if there is justice, it will be served for all as nightmares of the past bleed into the secrets of the present. Sometimes a little too over the top, but then again, life can be that way,too.

I received an ARC edition from Berkley in exchange form my honest review.

Publisher: Berkley (June 27, 2017)
Publication Date: June 27, 2017
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Print Length: 384 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

She left her hospital room for a few minutes to take a shower. Her baby was sleeping peacefully and she wouldn't be gone long. But when she came back, the baby was gone!

Berkley and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published June 27th.

When the reporter was looking for general interest stories, she ran across a small article about baby bones being found at demolition site. That sounded intriguing and she began digging into it. What she discovers will change her life.

The body is found in an area that has been deteriorating over the years. It has been acquired for new development but finding a body slows it down a bit.

Kate is a bulldog about her stories. She has contacts all over and utilizes them to find out how many babies were reported missing forty years ago or so. She finds three and decides the most recent might be her baby. She finds the mother with more inquiry and goes to visit her. Soon she's convinced the baby must be Alice but why would someone murder a baby?

The story gets more complicated. With a woman obsessed with a man, sexual predators and drugs, a grieving family and another mother grieving a dead baby there's lots going on. As the story plays out, you begin to realize no one is innocent.

The final twist at the end is what makes the story unforgettable. The story twists and ties around itself but at the end there are no secrets. Now everybody has to pick up the pieces and move on.