Your worst nightmare plays out in this book with the abduction of Lottie. Although Stimson’s portrayal of the three-year-old had my back up because she is such a Madam, I was completely onboard the rollercoaster of the hunt for her. True, Lottie’s mother, Alexa, has many faults, but the pain and anguish she experiences makes this a tense, heart-felt and draining read.

The lead-up to Lottie’s disappearance is fraught. The tension is palpable as Alex really does not want to attend the Florida ceremony and Lottie is making her presence known. Tantrums, arguments and poor behaviour, Alex struggles to keep her daughter on fine form leading up to the ceremony; whilst Alex is distracted by work and her desire for ‘me time’. It’s a recipe for disaster and, as a reader, you can predict the poor choices that she makes before Lottie is known to have disappeared.

Stimson’s portrayal of this abduction is sensitive and high-energy at the same time. You can really get a sense of the increasing panic that Alex feels and how helpless she is in trying to locate her daughter when the police take over. Stimson refers to other known child abduction cases in this story which I thought made it even more realistic and believable.

Throughout the story, I could not anticipate how the abduction would conclude. The urgency never disappears as the chapters count how long Lottie has been missing for. There are plenty of suspects that could have been involved in the disappearance and during my read, I found I could not properly decide who was behind it all. Therefore, the ending was completely surprising and I had not even considered the scenes that Stimson describes.

I liked Quinn, the investigative journalist that is assigned to Alex’s story. Whilst she is incredibly reluctant to cover a story that she sees is below her political reporting, I enjoyed watching her become increasingly involved in what becomes a global hunt. Quinn has her own demons to battle with and there are some subtle similarities between both her and Alex. The two women come to rely on each other as the story progresses, despite their initial differences.

Stimson’s writing is clever and I felt Alex’s confusion in several scenes. Driven by panic, this is most obvious in the latter half of the story, where the writer cleverly recreates the abduction. I felt like it was deja vu and the subsequent confusion made the plot even more immersive because, like Alex, I was desperate for answers.

This is my second read by Stimson and I was not disappointed in the slightest. It was a gripping story of a terrible nightmare that I could not put down. The story explores parenting and gender differences, alongside the terrifying circumstances of a missing child. It made my blood go cold and I was desperate for a happy-ever-after, especially with such an explosive, world-wide journey.

With thanks to Avon books, Harper Collins, NetGalley and Rachel’s Random Resources for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a fast paced, unputdownable thriller then look no further. I felt like my heart was trying to escape from my chest the moment Alex realized Lottie was missing - I couldn’t wait to know how it all panned out.

I would say the first 3/4 of this was five stars, I was really kept guessing and chopping and changing my theories. The twist at the end, however, was just a bit out there for me. I still highly recommend this and am looking forward to reading more by Stimson.

Pick this up if you want a thriller you can devour in one or two sittings. I also think this would have made a great buddy read because I would have loved to share those OMG moments with someone.

A mother’s worst nightmare is losing their child. This nightmare comes true when Alex is at a wedding and her daughter, Lottie, gets kidnapped. Alex has not always been the most present mother and now that her daughter is kidnapped the guilt is causing her a lot of additional stress.
This was a really great book with lots of twists. The author included many red herrings that kept the reader guessing and end up being wrong with their guess. The ending was definitely unpredictable and maybe a little too unpredictable in the sense that it felt a little over the top. I appreciate a good twist but this felt a little too out there for me. However, this book kept me up late at night. I really enjoyed the writing style, the breaks in the book with news articles and news reports, I enjoyed the red herrings and the constant feeling of ‘I know what’s happening’ and being wrong. Overall a very enjoyable read! 4 🌟.
Thank you to @netgalley , the author and the publishing company for this advance readers copy!

A gripping read.. A missing child certainly grabs your attention. The search for Lottie goes worldwide after she disappeared in Florida. I was on the edge of my seat reading this book and desperately wanting her to be found . A thrilling read that also tugs at your heartstrings .

I started reading Stolen with the intention of just reading a couple of chapters before bed, several chapters and more than half the book later, I had to drag myself away and head off for sleep which was broken with dreams of missing children.

Stolen starts with an harassed mother en-route to her friend's wedding in Florida where her three-year-old daughter is to be a flower girl bridesmaid. To say that Lottie Martini is something of a handful is an understatement and it's clear from the start that this mother-daughter relationship is fraught with all sorts of deep rooted anxieties on both sides. When Lottie goes missing after the wedding Alex is frantic with worry over her little daughter but as time goes by, and frustrations and anxieties are cranked up to high, so we start on a start on a roller coaster of a journey which, over time, only gets more, and more, complicated.

The intriguing prologue which sets the scene so chillingly played on my mind throughout the story as I wondered, with good reason, just how we get to that place and all credit to the author for weaving a tale that is filled with so many twists and turns it made my head spin. It was interesting to see how the story unfolded by following Alex's interpretation of events alongside that of Quinn, an experienced journalist who has enough more than enough angst of her own to throw into the mix.

Stolen mirrors the story of other missing children of recent times, that of Madeleine McCann springs to mind, especially with the scrutiny which is placed on Alex and the unkind questioning about her parenting skills. Well written and unputdownable, Stolen works as an interesting look at the fickle nature of news reporting, the anguish of a mother who is vilified for her seeming neglect, and a small child who is caught up in the middle of a deadly game.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A decent drama with some twists that I didn't see coming. A good thriller for the summer.

The first half of the book was fast and intriguing. It slowed down some in the second half. I didn't see that ending coming.

A nice read for a summer day.

A fast paced thriller with lots of twists and turns. I really enjoyed this book and I think most of the main characters were under suspicion at some point in the story. I didn't predict the ending. Would recommend.

MY THOUGHTS

OMG. What just happened? What did I just read?? I am blown away on so many levels. This is going to be difficult to put into words how I feel, but I will try my best.

WHAT I LIKED

The writing. I first have to stand up and applaud Tess Stimson’s writing. Yup. Here I am, giving this amazing author a standing ovation in my bedroom. First of all, I was hooked from the very first line. I just had to figure this out and see what happened to this little girl. And second of all, I was SO SURE I knew what happened. I had a prediction pretty early on, and there were so many twists and turns, and my jaw dropped multiple times. I’m not even exaggerating. And then I realized, the author knew exactly what she was doing! I’ll leave it at that. I couldn’t believe how well written this book was. How is Tess Stimson JUST NOW on my radar? I need to read all her books now. Like right now. I am just in utter amazement right now.

The suspense. I have a daughter, so when it comes to kids being hurt in any way, it can be very hard for me to read. That being said, I’m so glad I looked past that and read this one. I put myself in Alex’s shoes, and I just could NOT put this book down. There were so many parts that I did not see coming. This book is the definition of suspense. I lost sleep over this book, and I went to work exhausted, but I didn’t even regret it because it was worth it.

Realistic. I absolutely loved how real this entire story felt. Alex is not a perfect mother. She has made mistakes. But who hasn’t? I guarantee that there isn’t one mother out there who has zero regrets when it comes to parenting. And I love that Alex has flaws. It wouldn’t have been believable if she didn’t. Then there are the raw, heartbreaking emotions and thoughts she had when her daughter goes missing. It felt like I was reading about a real grieving mother who just wants her child back. I can’t imagine the pain of what it would feel like to not know where your child is or what happened to her, but I would imagine it would be very similar to what Alex felt. It felt unbelievably authentic.

The end. I won’t even give details here, but oh man, what an ending.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME

Absolutely nothing. I have no complaints.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Do you ever read a book and you just feel so incredibly grateful for somehow discovering it? That’s how I feel right now. I remember looking at open blog tours, and the cover of this one just reached out and grabbed me. I knew I HAD to read it. I’m so thankful that I happened to see this one. What a heart-stopping, suspenseful thriller! It truly kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. There was not a dull moment. This one may be my favorite book this year so far. It was so good.

I did not like this book. From the beginning I thought each character was super unlikeable. Alexa was not a good Mom-sorry. I don’t want to judge her and I understand that she went through a lot, but your child behaved so horribly because you allowed that. I know she mentions not wanting to be a Mom but loving Lottie but it sure didn’t seem that way. I skimmed through the majority of the book, I can’t count it towards my yearly goal, but I found that twist of Alexa stealing Flora using the same language confusing? Then the twist at the end was just so silly and unrealistic. I know stranger things have happened but just no, that’s so extreme and unlikely and unfair! If the relationship wasn’t that bad between them, why would that happen anyways? It was reaching. I didn’t like any of the characters and I thought the story was too long and not well done.

Alex Martini is a widowed, workaholic attorney, who, let’s just say, being a mother doesn’t come naturally to. She and her daughter, Lottie, board a plane from London to Florida for her friend Marc’s wedding. During the reception, Lottie goes missing. This book follows dual perspectives from Alex and Quinn (a journalist) over two years to find out what happened to Lottie.

I haven’t had a book throw me for a loop like this in a while! It is slow to start, because at least for me, I thought the main characters (Alex and Quinn) were unlikeable at first. Plus, it felt very choppy and was hard to tell the timeline at times. However, once I hit 60% or so, there were so many twists and turns and I felt right there with the main character as she battles for answers. By the end of the book I was rooting for both Alex and Quinn. There were multiple times my mouth fell open when things were revealed — one in particular that made me question everything I’d read.

This was a perfect fast paced and shocking thriller. I enjoyed this book and will definitely read more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley & Avon Books for the EARC!

4.5 stars rounded up

This was my first read by this author and I was unsure what to expect. I would definitely describe this as a book of two halves as the first half, after the child’s disappearance, is a slow burner. The author seems to be trying to create the palpable tension as the days mount up and reflect those whose lives are now in limbo following this sudden event.

The second half ensures that the action ramps up rather a lot as the search for the possible kidnapper continues. This provides lots of trails that go cold, and also some unexpected twists. The ending of the book is completely unpredictable and one that I didn’t see coming.

All of the characters in this book are, in my opinion, very easy to dislike. They are selfish characters who seem to put their own agendas above others in the majority of cases. There were times where I identified with Alex and felt sorry for her and other times where she infuriated me and I couldn’t fathom her choices at all.

Tess definitely uses classic elements of a psychological thriller for effect. I liked the short chapters and the fact that we get to hear from the perpetrator. However, I don’t feel like this added as much to the story as I’d have liked it to.

The ending is definitely explosive and I would have liked to see this extended a little as it felt a little rushed in places.

Overall, this has been a tense story that evolves in unexpected ways. I have been glad I stuck with this one to see the shocking and original outcome.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Career-woman Alex is the single mother of 3 year old Lottie. They travel from their home in the Uk to Alex’s best friend’s destination wedding in Florida. While there, Lottie disappears and a major investigation ensues. The finger is pointed at Alex because she has made mistakes in the past and hasn’t always been the most present mother.

What a treat to find this book after DNF’ing more books this year than I have over the rest of my life combined, I really hope I am out of my slump! This book was a real page turner. I read it in 24 hours and when I put it down I couldn’t wait to get back to it. Alex was a believable character, in fact if I had had the misfortune of being a parent I could see myself being like her. And Lottie was a real handful, making her job more difficult. There were lots of twists and turns and I suspected everybody but I couldn’t figure out motive and execution. The end was far fetched, as noted by some other reviewers, but I was ok with it. I certainly was surprised and while unlikely, I suppose it wasn’t impossible. Anyway, this was my first read from this author and I will definitely be reading more.

'Stolen' by Tess Stimson is a psychological thriller with a fantastic plot that is really an edge of your seat kinda book.
You thought she was safe. You were wrong…
Alex knows her daughter would never wander off in a strange place. So when her three-year-old vanishes from an idyllic beach wedding, Alex immediately believes the worst.
The hunt for Lottie quickly becomes a world-wide search, but it’s not long before suspicion falls on her mother. Why wasn’t she watching Lottie?
Alex knows she’s not perfect, but she loves her child. And with all eyes on her, Alex fears they’ll never uncover the truth unless she takes matters into her own hands.
Who took Lottie Martini? And will she ever come home?
This fabulous thriller is mainly told from Alexa's point of view and we see how she feels right from the start. A human rights lawyer and single parent to Lottie she does admit that she does love Lottie but has found bonding a struggle. The fact her daughter disappears plunges her into the nightmare no parent ever wants to experience and she enters a horrific complex world of missing children, politics, paedophiles, the dark web and facing judgement from every form of the media and faceless trolls on the internet. As time passes, Alexa is that desperate she starts her own search to find her daughter. A search that will mentally push her to the edge and cause her to be suspicious of everyone in her life, including her own family. Alexa has people close to her who are not who they seem to be but would any of them have been involved with Lottie going missing?
A story that I see has similarities with the McCann's nightmare and that is scary enough for me as a mother. An emotional rollercoaster, an anguished mother, missing child and everything inbetween. I was hooked from the prologue and with such a sensitive subject the tension really was almost palpable and I was blaming almost everyone, even Alexa at times. She is a weird character at first, not one of the most likeable I have 'met', but as the story unfolds and her sheer dogged determination is apparent my opinion changed.
Quinn is a character who is a journalist and no, she isn't exactly problem free but she becomes obsessed with this child abduction story and we do have see her determination shine through in the chapters told from her point of view.
A book that is astonishingly good and as I said tense enough to keep you wondering if Alexa will ever see Lottie again. If you love a thriller that is bingeworthy try this!
Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources, netgalley and Avon Books for my copy of Stolen.

Thriller and suspense is a genre I have been exploring, reading and loving. And from beginning to end, "Stolen" was an amazing story, filled with intense emotions. The disappearance of a child is always hard to read about. Although I don't have children just yet, I have a lot of cousins and I am a big sister, so thinking about it calls strong emotions and I can't even imagine what parents would feel. The fact that Tess Stimson gave us realism in this story by comparing the real life case of Madeleine McCann (that disappeared in Portugal, and I'm from Portugal) was brilliant.

By now you may already know that this story is about a kidnapping. Alex's three-year-old child, Lottie, vanishes from a beach wedding, and lots of questions just had to the mystery and fear. It's like with so many other cases that have happened around the world. Not just Maddie McCann, but other - old and new, solved and unsolved - cases of missing kids in Portugal that I have followed in the news.

The brilliance of the novel is not just how realistic the characters and circumstances of the case were. The amazing thing was how the storyline developed. How the author gave us some information and yet opened so many possibilities in terms of the suspects and what happened, that I didn't know what to think. I was curious and I had theories but wasn't entire certain if I was right.

Overall, I loved the story. I'm trying to not give out spoilers. I can say I loved the story and how things went from the beginning to the resolution in the end. I was surprised, I was so focus, and I hope I can reread the book in the future so that I can see if there are any details along the book that I missed. I love this genre because of that, and because of how it left me wondering from start to finish.

[I want to thank Rachel, at Rachel’s Random Resources, and Tess Stimson for the eCopy of this book, via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.}

A mother's nightmare. You go to a destination wedding of a close friend, and your daughter is in the wedding party. She is only three, but as she leaves the ceremony to head to the reception, you are not worried. You ask someone in the wedding party to watch out for her and you go off for a bit to enjoy yourself. An hour later, she is missing. Did she wander off? Did someone take her? Alex knows her daughter would never wander off with someone she doesn't know. Why didn't she watch Lottie every second?

This is an emotional, twisty story. Anytime something happens with children, the first person looked at are the parents. If they didn't do it, then it is still their fault for not watching their child closer. Media plays a part in this story both vilifying and supporting Alex. Every time there is a sighting, off she goes to see if it is Lottie. I felt for Alex, especially as time goes one. The other person that plays a huge role in this story is Quinn, a journalist. She uses her contacts, investigative skills and her tenacious attitude to continue to search for Lottie long after her employers and the police have given up. Tess Stimson does an amazing job with this story, keeping my emotions at the surface all the time. I was sure I knew who had taken Lottie, I was positive and I was wrong. The characters in this story were wonderfully developed and described. They were not all likable, but they were realistic. The missing child, Lottie, is spoiled, stubborn, manipulative and a glutton. Alex, her mother, was happy as a wife, but did not want a child. When she was born, her husband Luca looked after her until their divorce and death when he was in a bridge collapse. Of course, she did love her and Lottie had become her world. Quinn, the journalist, is an alcoholic. She was involved in a bombing a few years earlier and became an amputee. She is bitter and angry, but when she gets a tingling in her spine when she is assigned to cover Lottie's abduction, she never gives up. This was a well-written story with tense moments, twists that were unexpected and hope that Lottie will be found unharmed. I was chewing my nails as this story progressed and finally came to a stunning end. Well done Tess Stimson.

Really enjoyed this as i alwys do with tess.

The plot is set out brilliantly and its every parents worse nightmare.

What a brilliant and at times sad story! In the end, I suspected everyone and I was still wrong! Wow, that was a humdinger of an ending!

This story is about every parent's nightmare. What do you do when your child disappears. It is impossible to keep an eye on them 24/7. When you are in a secure surrounding with people you know nothing can go wrong or can it? The criticism you have to endure if something like this happens can break people. It is very easy to throw stones if you are not in that position.

This is what happens to Alex when her 3-year-old daughter disappears from a wedding. Nobody has seen anything. She just vanished into thin air. Soon everything Alex does is being scrutinized and people are even suspecting she had something to do with Lottie's disappearance. What happened to Lottie? Will we ever know and is she still alive?

A brilliant read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Tess Stimson has created a novel that will have you constantly turning in different directions. The red herrings in Stolen took me by surprise, and kept me whole-heartedly invested.

From the begging to the riveting finale, you will be hooked. I couldn’t put this down and read it all in a day. The atmosphere of dread is heavy throughout the novel, ans as a reader, you just need to hold on tight for the ride.

The disappearance of a child is heartbreaking but to read the judgement of Alexa’s parenting was awful, too. Life doesn’t work the way we wish it did, and no body is perfect. That part alone created a pit in my stomach and a sense of empathy for Alexa.

The twists and turns are incredible. I haven’t read a story this good in a long time. While the subject matter is definitely not light hearted, this is an edge-of-your-seat ride, that I highly recommend.

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources for the review copy and the opportunity to honestly review this book on the blog tour. All opinions are my own and unbiased.

Alex was never really cut out to be a mother, and while she’s undoubtedly had a trial with her daughter Lottie at times, she loves her more than anything. As a woman with a good career, Alex loves her job. It’s hard balancing work and parenthood. It’s been even harder since Lottie’s father died. But when Lottie goes missing, the investigation tosses her and everyone for a loop. As it picks up steam, things go from bad to worse, and Alex can only hope that they can find Lottie, and fast.

The journalists in this story are brutal. If it were me, I would have got up and walked away from the interviews. In that, Stimson wrote the reporters well. I questioned Quinn when thinking of Timothy, thought: “despite his ginger hair.” I’m still unsure if that is supposed to be a weird dig against redheads. That’s a minor issue when you look at the book as a whole.

We have a strong, assertive woman who is flawed and relatable. She might not wear her heart on her sleeve, but she is desperate to find her daughter. Losing a child is every parent’s nightmare, and I cannot even imagine the pain and fear she is going through. Stimson did a fantastic job portraying the horror Alex was going through. Stolen is a mystery-turned thriller that’s a twisty story and will have you questioning everyone—nicely done.

Great read that’ held my interest. I was able to finish in a handful of sittings. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.