Wow, loved this book. Malia has three young children and a pretty useless husband! One morning he doesn't bring home milk for his children's breakfast. Sounds pretty harmless if annoying. However, because Malia then has to leave the house with 3 children she makes a mistake that almost costs her her sanity. She makes a snap decision to leave baby Zach asleep in the car when she gets to the store. After all, what can happen? She can see the car and she is only going to be quick. She is distracted by her daughter smashing a jar and when she gets back to the car after a matter of minutes the car is empty. Jackie has lost her child and her husband and has just been released from prison. A brilliant heartfelt book of family life, snap decisions and loss.

This is a brilliant story, it's very intense and full of drama. I read the whole book in a day. Malia is a young mum she is married to Ian and they have three young children, Aaron age 5, Rhiannon age 3 and Zach age 5 months. Malia is a working mum and appears to look after the kids 24/7 when she is home. Her husband Ian is a car salesman. He works long hours with little to show for it. One morning, harassed Malia has to go to the shop for milk. She has to take the kids in the car. Zach is sleeping when Malia and the two other children go into the shop, as she only intends being a minute she lets him sleep. On their return to the car Malia eventually realises that Zach is gone! So begins the hunt to find him and everyone is under suspicion! Read on!

5☆ Every Mothers worst nightmare.
A Compelling & Heart Pumping Read!

Wow what a story.  Every mothers worst nightmare. Literally had me turning pages as I was desperately praying for a happy ending!

When Malia makes a rash decision to leave baby Zach asleep in her car whilst she popped into the nearest local store..... NEVER in her wildest dreams did she expect to come back to find the car empty and baby Zach gone!

My heart was in my mouth. I know we can all judge Malia but my god does she pay the price!

Malia is a mum of 3 struggling to make ends meet. Her decision to get milk that unforgettable day was because her 2 oldest children were playing her up demanding cereals. She felt no other choice but to go get milk!

I was literally shouting DON'T leave the car unlocked! Why not leave another child with the baby!!!

When Detective Ali Greenburg is given the case to find baby Zach she can relate to Malia's heartbreak as she too has recently lost a child. She is so determined to find baby Zach she isn't about to lose another child.

It really is a frantic search to find baby Zach alive and well.

I think alot of mothers will be able to relate to this story. Although I was annoyed at Malia for leaving Zach I could also see it from her point of view.
It's never ever right to leave a child unattended.

Forgotten highlights the dangers of this and it really hits home a strong scarey message.

Forgotten is a hard hitting, fast paced race against time. That keeps the reader frantically turning the pages desperate for a happy ending.
It's full of raw emotion and realistic characters.


Would I recommend this book.... without a doubt.... Yes!!

An excellent story from an author I had not read before. A simple split second decision has nightmare consequences. Nicola Trope writes in a very similar way to Jodi Picoult and would appeal to all of J.P's readers.
I will definitely look out for more work by this author.

I was excited to read this book because the author, Nicole Trope, was compared to Jodi Picoult, whose very cerebral novels are some of my favorites. This book started off a bit slow and, as the narrative comes from four different characters, it took some time to figure out how their stories were going to come together. Once the plot began to open up, the story took an exciting turn. Trope can weave a good tale. My only complaint is that sometimes, it was a bit tedious bouncing back and forth between the four storytellers. Other than that, it was a good read.

*I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.*

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of FORGOTTEN in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a page turner from the very beginning. I rated this book a 4 star, rather than 5 simply because the writing style was not my favorite. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the story itself. It held my interest beginning to end and really hits home with any mother. I found myself relating to the chaos, and sympathizing with her predicament. And, we even get a glimpse into the kidnappers perspective to boot. Left me with goosebumps!

An extremely emotional book but totally believable. – 5 stars and I look forward to reading more by Nicola Trope in the future.

I had issues getting into the book it seemed not to grip me from the beginning. It was a fine book but it didn't really make me a dam of the work.

I want a book that really wants you to like it.

I have read a few books by this author and have enjoyed them all but Forgotten has to be the best, I thoroughly enjoyed it, was gripped throughout the book.

First book I have read by this author. I have seen her described as an Australian version of Jodi Picoult and there are certain similarities between the two. A sad and somewhat harrowing story involving both the abduction and death of a small child. Not easy subject matter but I felt it was well written with believable characters and it definitely drew me in and kept me turning the pages to right to the very end. Will be reading more from Nicole.

Malia is living every parent's worst nightmare. Needing to duck into the service station shop for a bottle of milk for breakfast she reluctantly made a last minute decision to leave baby Zach asleep in the car within sight of the shop. However, once in the shop she became momentarily distracted by her young daughter and when she got back to the car discovered that Zach was missing.
As the hours tick away without the police finding any leads on who might have taken Zach, Malia becomes more frantic and distraught. DI Ali Greenburg, in charge of the case, has herself experienced the tragic loss of a baby and is determined that Zach will be found. Many mothers will feel an affinity with Malia, struggling to make ends meet, busy with three children and a husband who is distant from the kids and not fully engaged in the household.
The story is told from the viewpoint of four different women, Malia, Ali, Edna - an elderly resident of a boarding house and Jackie - a lost and damaged soul. This works really well in building the suspense and emotion as the race is on to find baby Zach. Another excellent read from Nicole Trope!

A mother's worse nightmare. You just leave your toddler for five minutes, turn around and he is gone. Malia was a dutiful, good mother. She was also seriously sleep deprived, exhausted and at the end of her tether with a husband who was just that in name. Ian did not care for the "looking after" part of kids and with two toddlers and a baby of five months Malia found the whole business of the family on her shoulders.

The parallel story of Ali from the Police who is assigned to the case is also very much part of the story. Having lost a child to SID she is also a mother to a toddler of eighteen months and is paranoid about Charlie. She has never been able to give him to anyone else to look after and having returned to work, Charlie is in a day care with hourly messages to Mum to update her on his status. Unusual day care indeed!

The twists and turns in a case like this where someone who is mentally ill and already a felon, decides to pick up Zach from his car seat and take him home. Jackie believes that having a ready made baby will make her ex husband return to her obsessive arms. Tracking baby Zach is a nightmare as CCTV cameras around the shop are broken, no leads come up despite cross questioning of a series of people and the Police know that the longer the case lingers, the more remote the chances of Zach turning up alive.

Turn on to a home which is run by Robbie for felons out of prison and on parole and we have Edna who is worried over the residents of the home. Worried for her personal safety as well. It is Edna the oldest person in the entire scenario who realizes that things are not quite right with the latest resident and it is with this that a happy result ensues.

I was holding my breadth till the end. This was a good thriller and I am just glad that I got it no sooner I requested for it. It was a recommendation from a fellow blogger.

Review on Goodreads on 3/7/2017. Amazon is not permitting reviews as yet. Review on my blog 4/8/2017.

Psychologically thrilling and absolutely enthralling! Riveting! Captivating!

Forgotten

Billed as an Australian Jodi Picoult, this was my first book by Nicole Trope and I really enjoyed it, it won't even my last!

With great characters, there is lots in this book that people will find relatable and many subjects that are tackled in a sensitive manner. I loved Nicole's writing style, it makes her book a real page turner! Four stars from purplebookstand.

So, just when I thought I had my book of the month sorted (Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica), another has come along that has completely wowed me and left my decision of which book to pick so up in the air. Forgotten by Nicole Trope has everything I look for in a book – characters I cared for, a plot that kept me turning pages, and an ending that left me holding my breath, praying everything would turn out o.k.

It starts with one of those decisions every parent of a young child has faced I think. They are asleep in the car when your out running errands. Do you leave them sleeping whilst you run into the store (you’ll only be a minute after all) or do you risk a major meltdown by waking them up and taking them in with you? We will all probably say, when asked, we’d do the latter but in the moment, that’s probably not true; there are plenty of us out there that would at least give it a thought I’m sure.

So it is with Malia, who has not one child but three under the age of five, including newborn Zach. It’s been a hard morning when she makes her fateful decision. Her two oldest kids have been testing her last nerve, playing up because there isn’t any milk for breakfast. Zach, is fast asleep, and she wants to keep it that way.

So she leaves him the car whilst she runs into the shop to get milk, thinking she can keep her eye on her car the whole time. Only she can’t, and, when she gets back, Zach is gone and her nightmare begins. Nicole Trope does an amazing job here, creating a character I completely felt for when she was one I maybe should have had little sympathy with given what’s happened.

With a baby to find, local detectives Ali and Mike are called in to start the search. For Ali, a new mother herself, this is a difficult one and, as the story progresses, you see just how much it impacts her. You also see her determination to bring Zach home and her anxiety that she could lose her child. I loved Ali’s caring nature and her passion to support Malia and find Zach.

I got to read feel these first hand in the chapters that told what was happening from her perspective. They alternated with Malia’s but also with the person who took Zach, and Edna, an elderly woman who doesn’t trust her neighbour. And all this happens over the course of one day, meaning the tension rises with the temperature, as everyone begins to think there will only be one ending, and it won’t be a good one.

I don’t think I could have felt more involved in the search for Zach if I’d been part of the investigation. I felt every minute of him being missing and I couldn’t imagine how I would have felt if I was Malia. This book is 400 pages long yet it felt like it was over in no time at all, so engrossed was I in the story.

From all of this, you can probably tell this will be a book I will be recommending. I really can’t praise it enough. Loved it!

This was the first book I’ve read by Nicole Trope- I enjoyed her writing style and will definitely look out for more by this author. She writes with conviction , urging you to become invested with the story and keep turning the pages.
This involves every mothers nightmare with a baby going missing. Your heart is breaking and you are hoping this is going to end the way you want it to. A shortage of milk at breakfast has awful consequences and you are taken along with the characters.
The tension builds and you feel nervous throughout- you can feel the emotions of the family and the detective and feel the suspense and emotions throughout.

Forgotten by Nicole trope.
In a single day, a simple mistake will have life-altering consequences for everyone involved.

A moment of distraction, an unlocked car and a missing baby. How on earth could this happen?

All Malia needed was a single litre of milk and now she’s surrounded by police and Zach has disappeared.

Detective Ali Greenberg knows that this is not the best case for her, not with her history - but she of all people knows what Malia is going through and what is at stake.

Edna is worried about the new residents at the boarding house. She knows Mary would turn in her grave if she knew the kinds of people her son was letting in.

And then there is someone else. Someone whose heart is broken. Someone who feels she has been unfairly punished for her mistakes. Someone who wants what she can’t have.

What follows is a heart-stopping game of cat-and-mouse and a race against the clock. As the hours pass and the day heats up, all hope begins to fade.
This was a moving and emotional read. A fantastic read. Bought tears to my eyes. 5*. Netgalley and Allen and unwin.

Enjoyed this book but I would prefer people stop comparing authors. This is a great book on its own, when being compared to Jodi Picoult my expectations were a bit along different lines of what was given. I will and have recommended this book bit I would certainly not compare the authors.

OMW, how have managed to miss out on this fantastic author.

Forgotten is a mother’s worse nightmare, your child snatched from your car. Malia, with 3 young children, dashes off to the local store to buy a pint of milk that her gambling husband was supposed to come home with the night before. Frazzled and exhausted, she leaves her baby in the car for just a few minutes and returns to an empty car.

Detective Ali Greenberg who has recently returned to work after her own personal tragedy, knows that any case involving a baby would be difficult to deal with, and becomes determined to find five month old Zach.

What follows is a roller coaster of emotion and a race against time.

Forgotten is a fantastic page turner that kept me hooked throughout and I can highly recommend this book.

Wonderful and realistic characters.

I look forward to catching up with Nicole Trope’s previous books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for providing a copy of this book and this is my honest review.

What a brilliant read! I was totally absorbed in the relatable story about a mother and a terrible incident that occurs in a blink of an eye. This book has it all, marriage dramas, dealing with loss, the struggles and challenges of raising children. Thanks for the chance to read.