For nearly two decades, Laurie has worked as a 911 dispatcher. Her worst nightmare happens when she gets a 911 call from her 16-year old daughter, Jojo, has no idea where she is and what happened to her. The memory she has is she’s hanging out with a friend of hers—Kevin Leeds whose a much older, pro football player that Laurie had no idea about. Laurie’s husband, Omid, is Chief of Police and is the first to arrive at Leeds’ home where they find traumatized Jojo. They soon discover a dead body—and it’s a young man named Zach he’s in the closet and Kevin is downstairs, he’s claiming to not know what happened. Jojo is wondering where her best friend, Harper, is since her last memory is of them being together. Omid and Laurie don’t think that things could be any worse, but when Jojo’s rape kit comes back positive, they are proven wrong. They’re thrown for a loop because Jojo never mentioned Zach or Kevin and she hasn’t hung out with Harper for over two years. It’s becoming apparent that Omid and Laurie don’t know their little girl as well as they thought they did.
And when Harper appears missing from her bedroom, the PD not only have a murder and rape case on their hands, but a missing person, too. But Laurie and Jojo discover that the department is not as clean as they want to appear. Something isn’t right and they need to figure out the truth for themselves.

I’m a HUGE fan of psychological thrillers! Suspense draws me in quickly into their webs of evil and their heinous ways. The plot is based on the author’s real life experiences as a dispatcher, so while the details of the events sometimes appeared wild, they were still realistic as they expose corruption and prejudice in society.

Stolen Things is told from 2 POVs – mother and daughter – who both exposes themselves to readers to allow them to see their weaknesses within themselves and their relationships. I loved the alternating POV between Laurie and Jojo, which keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for what will happen next. Although I found the story to drag a little about halfway through, it quickly picked back up and I still very much enjoyed it and would call it a page-turner. It is a very well plotted and written book with a storyline that is action packed from beginning to end.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I loved this book! Thank you for the ARC. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t leaving reviews on netgalley and was solely sharing on Instagram. My apologies. Huge fan of this author! I actually received the tangible copy. Trying to clean up my netgally account.

The pacing is incredible! The twists and turns will make you not want to put this one down! The characters are well-written.

I gave this a three out of five stars. It was an okay book, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. I had high expectations for it.

I thought the writing of the story was good. I was interested in the concept and was hooked at the beginning of the book. The plot lost my interest and moved fairly slowly at some points. I didn’t get the intense suspense of “whodunit”.

I thought this book was enjoyable. It was well paced and the characters were fully developed. Thank you for letting me read this book.

I quite enjoyed this book!

The story is about Laurie, who works as a 911 dispatcher. One day, Laurie answered the 911 line and it’s Jojo, her daughter! She’s drugged, disoriented and doesn’t know where she is.

Laurie will stop at nothing to find her daughter! This is a fast-paced story that will leave you at the edge of your seat! There are some gruesome scenes and many twists and turns along the way!

I was immediately drawn to this story, and it left me guessing! I was 100% invested and wanted to know what would happen next!

I would have given it a five-star rating if the ending hadn't been rushed and there had been a bit more closure, but I still recommend this book to anyone who likes a good thriller!

Laurie working her shift at 911 dispatch gets a call no parent wants. Her sixteen year old daughter JoJo wakes up not knowing what happened but aware enough to call 911 and report she's been drugged and assaulted. This begins a non-stop ride trying to find out who did this to JoJo and where is her missing best friend Harper. I was sucked in from the first moment till the very end. Laurie is a do-anything for her daughter, putting herself at risk constantly just to get to the bottom of everything.

This is a really well thought out, fairly twisty thriller. Such a high intensity concept and I do believe the author delivered. I also believe that this author will only get better in time and there was definitely some room for improvement in her storytelling. That said I was still really impressed with this novel being her debut and I can't wait to see what other ideas she has.

I am sorry for not reviewing fully but I don’t have the time to read this at the moment. I believe that it wouldn't benefit you as a publisher or your book if I only skimmed it and wrote a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for not fully reviewing!

I can't believe it took me so long to read Stolen Things. Absolutely engrossing. Will be purchasing for the library's collection.

If you are looking for a fast paced, keep you on the edge of your seat read, this is the book for you. I appreciate that there are so many social issues addressed in this book. There were so many twists and turns that made the book interesting to “whodunnit” fans.

This book is a thriller, inspired by the author's time as a 911 dispatcher. It starts off very dramatically and is nonstop action the entire time! Not only is it an excellent thriller, it is very appropriate for our times exploring themes of police brutality, activism, and racism!

Really good psychological thriller, grabbed me from the first paragraph and held me through the whole story. Wonderful plot, interesting characters.
Really like this book, couldn't put it down! 4 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author and publisher for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

RATING: 3.5 STARS
2019; Penguin Group/Dutton

Stolen Things started out with a bang, but soon ran out of steam, pace wise. Laurie Ahmadi works as a 9-1-1 dispatcher, in Northern California, when she receives a call from her own daughter, Jojo. She is drugged and disoriented, but not sure where she is. When the call is disconnected, she looks to the police to help her find her daughter. The police, who employs Omid, Jojo's father, find her in a home of "Kevin Leeds, a pro football player famous for his work with the Citizens Against Police Brutality movement". Jojo has been raped and Kevin’s friend and trainer, whose beaten corpse is also discovered in the house. Harper, Jojo's best friend, who was with her the night before is now missing. Laurie and Jojo must dig through Harper's life to find her. I liked this novel on the whole, but it was a bit easy to figure out. I am looking forward to her next book.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

This breakout suspense novel by R.H. Herron is one of those reads you simply can’t put down. The unbelievable string of events which kicks off at the party propels JoJo, Laurie and Omid on a path of incredible danger and career-risking defiance.....https://booksuplift.com/stolen-things/

I was supposed to review this a long time ago but I dropped the ball and never did. I finally read it but I didn’t really like this one. I thought the topics were too heavy handed.

I love thrillers. I have read many thrillers. This book is classified as a thriller and starts off with an unsuspecting mother, a 911 dispatcher, receiving an emergent call from her own daughter saying "help me." Thankfully, for JoJo, not only is her mother on the other end of that phone call, but her father is also the chief of police. Though JoJo is quickly located, the family soon finds out there is more than one life who has been altered by this night.

This book covers so many important topics to include rape, abuse, racism, police brutality, protest groups, blackmail, child abuse (emotional and sexual), LGBTQ+, and systemic corruption to name a few. This book definitely makes one stop to think about all the brokenness in the US.

I loved the thrill of following Laurie and Jojo as they try to uncover the missing pieces to determine what happened that night that led to Jojo waking up in a room she didn't recognize. The duo also worked together as they attempted to find Jojo's best friend, Harper, who is now missing. The book included little details of Jojo's life growing up with both parents as part of the police force in their small town.

Unfortunately, for me, I felt like I kept missing details. I tend to be a very detail oriented person and missed certain aspects of the story. I do wish some things were explicitly stated, such as Jojo's father being the first Arabic chief of police. I read that in the synopsis and was given clues about some unrest regarding his selection however, I missed that piece. I felt confused as the story moved from one place to the next. Now that I am done with the story and have achieved the "whodunnit" moment, I'm still left wondering why. Though it was explained, it just felt a little flat to me. I like a bit more intensity in my thrillers.

I do believe this is a wonderful debut novel that would be great for readers who are just starting out in the thriller genre. This is a great introduction to the world of thrillers.

Thank you to Dutton books and Netgalley for providing me an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I've rated this book as 3.5 stars.

A true page-turner that kept me guessing until the very end. The story revolves around families and friends - those we are born into, those we choose, and those that form because of proximity. I found the setting really interesting: police in the time of the Black Lives Matter movement. It's not the central theme of the book, but I thought the author did a clever job of making it an important part of the story.

I'd actually give the book 3 1/2 stars. There were just a few small things that kept me from giving it a higher rating:

* There were times when I felt myself wanting to skim over some dialogue or a character's inner thoughts because they felt repetitive or unnecessary.
* Some scenarios felt improbable (Laurie's ability to traipse in and out of the precinct when she's a part of an ongoing investigation; Harper's complete brainwashing; a well-known NFL player not having his agent or team involved once he becomes part of a crime). It felt like they served the plot just a little too well.

I'm able to overlook those details, and I believe most readers will as well, and appreciate this book for what it is: a thrilling and satisfying page-turner.