Hesitation... Trepidation... Fear was what I felt as I turned the pages of this book. Parental kidnapping was the initial plot arc. Megan and Greg were divorced when Greg kidnapped the 6-year-old Daniel and disappeared. It took another 6 years for Daniel to come back, but... Who was the boy who had returned? They shared the DNA but Megan wasn't sure there was anything left of her sweet boy. She was scared now for her daughter Evie and husband Michael.

Nicole Trope managed to combine emotions and suspense in this story, weaving them both together to make them shimmer on the pages of this book. I read this with my heart in my throat feeling all the emotions that Megan experienced with joy, sorrow, fear, and despair. How was a mother to reach a child who had been brainwashed to believing lies about her by the father? The story wrenched these emotions from my heart, but my brain was aware of the vein of danger that ran in the periphery of this book. A lot of Daniel's story had loopholes. What was he hiding?

Snapshots of his life and Megan's were shown, written as chapters, giving me a wider understanding of how the mother and son coped with their loss in the intermittent 6 years. I guessed the twist, it was quite obvious, but that hardly deterred me from enjoying the winding road of the story.

One of my midnight reads, I was so happy losing sleep over it!!

Megan's husband Greg, was physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive, claiming he loved her and that he'd do anything for her, all the while beating her down in every way. Megan and her husband eventually divorce, with Greg constantly trying to get back in her good graces, making it clear that Megan was the one who destroyed their family.

Then one day, when their son, Daniel, is six, Megan goes to pick him up from school. Daniel is gone! Greg had picked him up, without authorization to so so, and that is the last Megan sees or hears of Daniel for six years. The story conveys clearly, the heartbreak of losing a child to abduction by the other parent, wondering what he is doing at all times, wondering what he looks like as he grows, wondering if he remembers you, a constant hole in the heart and in life and no desire or ability to move on, when the only thing that can jumpstart life again is the return of the child.

But when Daniel returns, at the age of twelve, all is not well. It's not just all those years missed, big milestones in a child's life, but Daniel is so very different than the six year old boy she knew. Megan can hear Greg's hateful and manipulative words coming from Daniel's mouth, and most of them are directed at her. There is a very real sense of danger about Daniel and a feeling that there will never be a time when Megan's new family can feel settled and "normal" around him.

Megan is now married to Michael, the detective that was assigned to look for Daniel, a kind, caring, man who is light years away from her ex-husband Greg, in every way. Megan and Michael have a six month old daughter Evie, and it's clear that Daniel is disturbed that Megan went on with life without him, just like his father told him would happen.

There were things that I figured out before the reveals but that in no way diminished my enjoyment of this story. The long years of worry, heartbreak, feelings of guilt for having a child kidnapped by an ex, felt so real and then the "new and different" Daniel was heartbreaking too. Daniel came back disturbed and disturbing and the reader has to wonder if he can ever have a normal life again or if years on the run has harmed him in ways that can never be repaired.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC.

What would you do if your child was taken away from you. This is what happens to Megan as she goes to pick up her son from school and he’s not there. She finds out Daniels father has taken him. Megan and Greg had split up. Daniel was living with Megan. Greg was not a nice person.
Each year on the anniversary Megan gets up early and goes jogging and tells everyone she is ok. But she is not.
Micheal one of the detectives on the case calls her on the anniversary of Daniels disappearance every year. He then eventually asks Megan out. One year later they are married and have a daughter Evie.
Megan never gives up on finding Daniel.
Six years after his disappearance Daniel appears in a police station and Megan is reunited with her son. He tells the police there was a fire and his dad died.Megan takes him home and Daniel isn’t the boy she remembers she tries everything with him but he is so distant.
Megan believes there is something else going on.
I absolutely loved this book
Thank you Netgalley

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

The premise of The Boy in the Photo, Nicole Trope’s ninth domestic thriller, is topical and heartbreaking.

As the school playground empties, Megan begins to wonder where her six year old son, Daniel, is. Learning he has been collected earlier by his father, her heart sinks, and it quickly becomes clear that in an act of extraordinary spite, her abusive ex-husband has taken Daniel and vanished.

Six years later, having recently married the Detective initially assigned to Daniel’s case, and given birth to a daughter, Megan receives the call she feared would never come. Her son has been found.

The Boy in the Photo unfolds from the perspectives of Megan and Daniel, revealing events that occurred during their period of separation, and the story of their reunion. It’s a heart wrenching situation, sensitively explored by the author. While Megan searches for her missing son, struggling with her enormous loss, Daniel is living an itinerant, isolated lifestyle with his father. His homecoming should be the happy ending they both deserve, but Daniel is not the loving, happy little boy Megan remembers, instead he is an angry, sullen teen, mourning his father, and contemptuous of Megan. The inevitable twist is somewhat predictable, but still thrilling.

Megan and Daniel immediately invite sympathy. Trope’s characterisation of an anguished mother yearning for her missing child, and a traumatised boy confused by his father’s unpredictable behaviour, is skilful and sensitive. I found Daniel’s attitudes and behaviours on his return to be believably rendered. I’m afraid I didn’t think the same of Megan’s however, which was a big sticking point for me. Every time Daniel acted out, and Megan was at a loss, I wondered why the two of them weren’t in intensive counselling. In no way would one hour a week with a therapist, whom Megan didn’t even trust, be responsible in these circumstances. To be fair, that probably would have been a difficult plotting obstacle for the author, but it bugged me, and honestly affected my response to the story.

Having read five of Nicole Trope’s backlist novels, all of which I’d enthusiastically recommend, I do think this story is slightly weaker. Nevertheless, I did find The Boy In the Photo to be an emotionally charged and affecting read.

This is one of those books that will stay with me. It starts with every parents worst nightmare then goes on to show how she copes with everything. We then find out what has actually happened and how it pans out from there (trying very hard not to add spoilers!) An excellent book with lots of unexpected bits. ,

When a dad takes his son and disappears those that are left behind are not the only ones who suffer in "The Boy in the Photo" by Nicole Trope. We are presented with different points of view and get to see things through the eyes of numerous characters. A definite read.

I received this book through Net Galley for an honest review.

The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope was a cracker of a read. I was hooked by the first few pages and then before I knew it I could not put it down.
I really felt for Megan and especially Daniel in this book. People say the worst thing that could ever happen is to loose a child! Boy! Poor Megan...............I really felt for her.........to take Daniel her only son to school one morning and to collect him later on that day to find Daniel not there! WoW not knowing where he is or what had happened to him. Complete meltdown!
Then, to find out her ex-husband Greg abducted their son. Megan looks for him over the years especially on Social media, internet etc. Megan becomes good friends with 2 people on Social media they have had their children taken from them by their partners..............But, are they who they seem to be?

Six years Later, Megan is re-married to Michael and they have a six month child called Evie between them. Whilst feeding Evie Megan receives a phone call and Michael informs her "They have found him, they have found Daniel!"

A young lad walks into a Police station a few miles away, wearing dirty clothes and No shoes holding a old broken phone claims he is Daniel. Daniel is now Twelve nearly thirteen.....

Where has he been for the last six years?

Is he really Daniel? Why is he so Toxic towards Megan. He was a sweet loving little boy six years ago!

Can she trust her now teenage boy with her little baby girl?

But, where is Greg?

The story shifts between past and present, from both Megan and Daniel's perspective and very cleverly put together to make you a part of this story. It was Just Brilliant in every way.

Highly recommend this book. I loved it.

***Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!***

This book was brill! I loved it....so addictive - I stayed up till 1am this morning to finish it!! That's way past my bedtime but I just couldn't put it down. The story was gripping, the characters were realistic and likeable for the most part and I couldn't wait to see what happened. Having a child go missing must be one of the worst things that can happen to a parent but then to not recognise that child when he comes back must be equally as hard?
I guessed a part of the final storyline about 1/4 of the way from the end but it didn't spoil it for me. This is definitely worth a read and I will be looking into more books from this author :)

The Boy in the Photo has become an unexpected favorite! This chilling, heart pounding family drama- meets psychological thriller will leave you breathless and wanting more. The characters were both lovable and hateable, all at once. The return of Daniel, the abducted son, is both heartwarming and bone chilling, as he is not the little boy that Megan once knew. The ending is an unexpected twist and will wrap up the family drama perfectly. 4 stars.

When six-year-old Daniel was abducted from his school, with Megan waiting outside for him to appear, she first thought he must have gone with a friend. But when she realized what had happened, the panic became uncontrollable. The police were involved; all Megan’s friends and family were contacted as well as Daniel’s friends – he was nowhere to be found. The search began immediately – the quest would be long and heart breaking.

Six years later Megan received a phone call – the one she’d been praying for for six long years. Daniel had been found. But the twelve-year-old son who returned was no longer the six-year-old boy who had vanished. Surly, blank faced, angry – Megan wanted desperately to smother him with love. But she had to step back. Daniel was faced with a stepfather and a little sister, Evie whom he’d had no idea about. He was grieving and had been told unimaginable untruths – he had no idea what or who to believe. And the years in between – Megan couldn’t begin to comprehend what he had been through…

The Boy in the Photo is an incredible psychological thriller by Aussie author Nicole Trope, with a spectacular twist at the end! Set in Sydney as well as a small country town near where I live – where I drive through often – it was eerily familiar. The twists and turns, the emotional heartbreak, the family dynamics – all came together to create an excellent read which I highly recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Ooohhh the second book on the trot I have read by Nicole Trope and another cracker of a story!

This book was so very sad in so many ways, that it really tugged at my heart strings. Son gets kidnapped by his own father, but then miraculously gets found 6 years later. What should be the perfect scenario, soon turns into a nightmare for his mum. Her joy at Daniel returning soon disappears and leaves her wondering just what happened in those six missing years.... and can life ever resume some sense of normality.

Highly recommended.

Absolutely loved this novel! Excellent character development, and totally keeps you wanting to find out what happens next. Highly recommended!

This book started out with a bang but ended with a fizzle. The ending was so predictable I don't know why I just didn't skip to the end.

This was an absolutely cracking read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing was wonderful and it kept me on the edge of my set. Such a page turner but also a very emotional book that was quite heartbreaking

Your worst nightmare. I don’t know why I like these books. Buy this kept me up for so many reasons . One emotional roller coaster after another.

I have newly signed up with Twitter and after following some bloggers and some authors and publishers, The Boy in the Photo was mentioned quite alot so Net Galley kindly let me have a copy to read and give an honest review.

This wasn't a book I'd miss. I love a thriller with a different theme running through and this one is about a father running away with his son without arranging anything with the mother.

The book toos and fros between the son being abducted at age 6 and when the son strolls into a police station 6 years later. It's actually quite interesting to read how everyone alters with the son returning to the family nest once more and the conditions and situations that the son has been made to be put through.

I did wonder how this story would work out but it was brilliant just like those peeps on Twitter said.

I could not put down The Boy in the Photo, and true to what I had heard about it from other reviewers, it did not disappoint me. Daniel was taken from Megan by her ex-husband when he was six years old. Since his abduction, Megan put all her efforts in finding him, with no success. Then, six years later, Daniel walks into a police station, two hour drive from where Megan lives, and identifies himself. What follows is a narrative about bringing a lost child home, getting him adjusted to his mother’s new life, while trying to get him out of the shadow of his now-dead father.

Nicole did an amazing job of portraying Megan’s struggles as well as family’s, before and after Daniel’s return. Megan’s anguish at loosing her son, guilt at moving on, and attempts to reconnect with the son she once knew, are evident and capture the reader in wanting to know what happens next. Though most of the novel is written in the time since Daniel’s return, there are chapters where the reader glimpses what each passing anniversary of Daniel’s abduction was like for both Daniel and Megan. In real life, we do not have the luxury of knowing exactly what happened. We are restricted to what someone tells us about their life. These flashbacks are helpful in understanding what happened to Daniel and why he behaves the way he does.

I am thankful to NetGalley, the publisher and, especially, Nicole Trope, for making this book available to me ahead of publication, and giving me the opportunity to experience Megan’s story. It is one of the best books I have read this year and I recommend it to all Jodi Picoult fans as well as anyone looking for a tearjerker to read in a day.

Thank you to Bookouture and Net Galley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really liked this book! It kept me guessing until the end! Six years ago, Megan's son was kidnapped by his father. Megan has been looking for him all that time without any results. One day she gets a call that Daniel has been found and his father has died in a fire. Beyond thrilled, Megan brings Daniel home. Even though she tries everything, she just can't reach him-he is different and seems to be hiding something. Things are not what they seem to be. This was a very well written story with a great plot and a surprise ending. Highly recommend!

Good book, unique premise. It's immediately intriguing, and remains tense throughout. I did feel some of the twists were predictable early on, but it was exciting experiencing them play out. Emotions portrayed very well, and a good sense of mystery. Recommend.