Thank you to Chad Zunker, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was good. It kept me on the edge of my seat and held my attention.

The family dynamic was there and done really well.

2.75/5⭐️
Going into Not Our Daughter, I had mixed expectations based on the varying reviews. The premise was intriguing—a mother fighting to prove that her teenage daughter isn’t the monster the world believes her to be. The emotional depth and high stakes should have made for a gripping, suspenseful read. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t quite live up to the potential.

While the story had its moments of tension and emotional pull, it ultimately felt underdeveloped. The characters, particularly the mother, had potential for complexity, but I found myself struggling to fully connect with them. The pacing also felt uneven—certain parts dragged while others seemed rushed, making it difficult to stay fully engaged.

That being said, there were some redeeming qualities. The premise itself is compelling, and there were moments of genuine emotional intensity. However, the lack of strong character development and a more immersive narrative kept it from being a standout for me.

Overall, Not Our Daughter had the foundation of a great domestic thriller but missed the mark in execution. If you’re drawn to the premise, it might be worth a read, but for me, it was a middle-of-the-road experience.

Not Our Daughter grabbed me from the very first page. The premise is gripping: a couple fostering a baby, only to be thrust into a nightmare when the baby's mother dies on their doorstep, warning them of a threat to the child. The tension is immediate, and I couldn’t put the book down, desperate to find out what happened.

Cole and Lisa Shipley’s life is turned upside down as they run from a past full of danger and secrets, all while trying to keep their adopted daughter safe. The addition of a teenage girl now awakening to the terrifying reality of their situation added a fresh dynamic to the story. Watching her struggle with the truth was heartbreaking yet fascinating.

I loved how the tension built throughout the book, especially with the FBI agent hot on their trail. The suspense is intense, and you feel every mile they travel as they uncover the terrifying truths about what happened all those years ago.

The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because some parts of the plot felt a bit repetitive. Still, Not Our Daughter is a tense, fast-paced thriller, and I definitely recommend it for fans of edge-of-your-seat suspense.

Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker is a fast paced thriller that keeps readers hooked with its gripping suspense and emotional depth. The story follows Cole and Lisa Shipley, who have spent years in hiding after a tragic and mysterious night that left them fleeing with an infant. When their past catches up to them, they find themselves on the run again, this time with their teenage daughter who is just beginning to uncover the truth.

Zunker masterfully blends action, mystery, and strong character development, creating a narrative that is both heart pounding and emotionally compelling. The twists are unpredictable, and the stakes remain high as the family races toward the truth while being pursued by relentless forces.

With well developed characters and a tightly woven plot, Not Our Daughter is a suspenseful and engaging read that will keep readers turning the pages until the very end.

Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker is a gripping, fast-paced thriller packed with legal drama and family tension. It keeps you hooked with plenty of suspense, even if some twists feel a bit far-fetched. Overall, it’s an emotional and engaging read, perfect for fans of high-stakes storytelling.

Great read! It was fast paced and suspenseful, keeping you on the edge of your seat. The story was emotional and sucked you right in, making you instantly feel connected to the characters. The ending also leaves you wondering, wanting more. If you’re looking for a book you won’t be able to put down, this is it!

I really liked this one!!

Cole and Lisa had been given a chance to foster a baby while mom was in recovery program. That is until mom shows up on their doorway, bleeding and before dropping dead, whispers to "keep her safe" and leave, as the they are coming for her daughter. They pack up their life as they know it, and leave. The FBI is fast on their trail because from how things look, they killed the mom and took off.

Cole takes them to CO, where they live a life under new names for the next 12 years -- Their newly minted 13 yr old, has a boyfriend, life is going swimmingly, until the feds were tipped off after Cole took money out of a savings account to get his daughter back surgery. He figured they were safe as so much time has passed and he hadn't disturbed a thing -- except for this. That one money move unravelled all of their hard work and now they need to dump their phones and go on the run again!

This cat and mouse chase was well narrated, and it played out like a movie in my head. This is my first from this author and it won't be my last. 4.5 stars rounded up

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the advanced copy for a chance to read early and review. Out now!

A huge thank you to Thomas & Mercer and Net Galley for this ARC 💖

Thirteen years ago, Cole and Lisa Shipley were fostering an infant with hopes of adopting her. Overnight everything was turned upside down, when the child’s mother bled to death on their front doorstep. Her last He’s coming here…for her! Save her. Afraid, bewildered, and with a baby in their arms, they fled. The longer they hid, the guiltier they looked.

This is one of my favorite reads of 2025, possibly in the top 10 of 2024! I loved this crime thriller. This read like an action movie. The writing was phenomenal, the visualizations on point, and I was holding my breath multiple times throughout. I feel like Chad Zunker is the offspring of Blake Crouch and TJ Newman and maybe S.A. Cosby is his uncle. Everything I love about those 3 authors is in this one title. There's family, survival, heartache, fear, and triumph. Also, you should read his bio as he sounds like a great human!!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Thomas&Mercer for the book #NotOurDaughter by #ChadZunker. Cole and Lisa are on the run with their teenage daughter, Mandy. When Mandy was a baby, she was being fostered by her now parents. Her birth mother had died at their door while telling them to run and protect her daughter. Now it's thirteen years later and they are on the run again. Can they outrun the past and escape this killer again? This is definitely a book you will want to read, it keeps you on your toes.

When Greg opens the door, after being awakened by constant knocking and ringing of the doorbell, he didn't imagine it would be to find a dying woman falling into his arms. Before her death, twenty-one year old Candace warns Greg to take her daughter and run, saving the baby from the person who killed her. As he and his wife Amy become the prime suspects in Candace's death, they have no choice but to take Marcy and flee.
Thirteen years later we met Carl and Lisa Shipley as they celebrate their daughter Jades fourteenth birthday. Within hours of celebrating, they find themselves on the run again, all because of one mistake. As one mistake leads to several others, Carl and his family soon find themselves being hunted by the FBI and a killer with a secret to protect and nowhere to hide.

Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker is a fast-paced page turner that is equal parts fun and exasperating. Reminiscent of The Fugitive the book is very much an on-the-run, cat-and-mouse game of a parents just trying to protect their daughter against very serious odds. The writing is well done, making the book and easy and quick read, It doesn't linger anywhere that it shouldn't but it does require that the reader suspend belief, not for the premise and subsequent chase, but for the fact that a man who was as thoughtful and methodical as Cole had been for thirteen years would make the increasingly poor decisions that he kept making throughout the book. Despite that, Not Our Daughter is a fun cat-and-mouse thriller that should satisfy the cravings of any lover of the genre.

Have you ever did this you start a book thinking I'm just going to start the book and read a couple chapters then it's hours later and your about to finish the book. This book is that good!! From the very first pages when Cole opens the door to Candace at his door step with blood on her and tells him to take his foster daughter and RUN this book sucks you in and your tearing thru the pages! Excellent fast paced book and loved every minute of the wild ride. Recommend setting a day to read this book because wants you start you won't stop reading! Such a great book!

Dollycas’s Thoughts

He’s coming here…for her! Save her.

That’s what the mother of the baby Cole and Lisa Shipley have been fostering says as she was bleeding to death on their doorstep. Unsure of what to do and no time to think Cole and Lisa take the baby and disappear. They are immediately accused of the woman’s death because their efforts to adopt the child didn’t go as they had planned. In an effort to prove their innocence, they send a video to an attorney to give to police but it changes nothing.

Thirteen years later they are living in a small town in Colorado. Using aliases they have become part of the community and actually feel safe. Then Cole makes a mistake that makes their whereabouts known. It is time to run again. Before they can get out of town there is another murder and Cole is wrongly blamed for the death. Moving quickly they start a journey to find another safe place but unlike the last time, they have a confused teenager with a lot of questions.

It is not just the FBI agent who has been on this case since it started trying to close his case. There is someone else after them with orders to kill.

Can this family reach safety? Will the truth finally be revealed? Or will Cole, Lisa, and their “daughter” become the killer’s next victims?

I found Chad Zunker a couple of years ago when I was looking for a “Z” author for a reading challenge and now I anxiously await each new book he writes.

In Not Our Daughter we meet Cole and Lisa Shipley. They are good people doing a good thing in fostering a baby, Jade, with hopes of adopting her. We also meet FBI Agent Mark Burns who has been trying to bring the Shipleys in from the start. He is also dealing with a moody teenage daughter after divorcing her mother. The author has created characters with so much depth that you can root for them immediately. I enjoy the way they evolved through the story with Agent Burns questioning himself about his theory. Cole and Lisa realizing they should have told Jade more or as much as her age could handle. Her willingness to be involved in the quest to save them shows she was brought up right and mature for her age after she finally knew the truth. The family’s love was palpable and Cole and Lisa would go above and beyond to keep Jade safe.

This story is full of action that unfolds at breakneck speed. Cole and Lisa had a plan but the FBI was close and fast so adjustments had to be made. Before they could even get out of town bullets were flying and roads were being blocked. The chase was on and some heartwarming family moments were interweaved with the edge-of-your-seat suspense. Again plans needed to change and soon they were changing on the fly as the danger increased. The short cliffhanging chapters make the book extremely hard to put down. With the author’s detailed descriptions, I could easily envision every scene. This book would make a great movie.

Coming in at just under 250 pages I thought the ending was a little rushed but I was very happy that the reason this case popped up on everyone’s radar was addressed. It is left to our imagination whether there was follow-through and how the “long legal battle” played out.

Not Our Daughter was a terrific game of cat and mouse that I escaped right into. With genuine true-to-life characters, readers are taken on an intense and terrifying journey. Chad Zunker doesn’t disappoint.

Quick and easy read that captivates you from the beginning. It may have wrapped up a little too nicely, but I was ok with that! You’ll want to finish this one in one sitting.

Headline: Finely-crafted, fast-paced, unputdownable!

Book Review: Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker
Published by Thomas & Mercer, February 11, 2025

★★★★☆ (4.25 Stars, Positive!)

I first read a novel by thriller writer Chad Zunker when Book 1 of his "David Adams" series was featured as an Amazon First Reads selection in November 2019. I just love how the author, a former UT Longhorns varsity football player /journalism graduate /lawyer /family man, creates his own brand of thriller — fast-paced, non-stop action, imbued with astute legal and financial angles, and in the forefront, family drama and compassion.

“An Equal Justice” (2019). David Adams, Ivy League-educated with humble beginnings and now an associate in a prestigious law firm, perceives unethical anomalies bordering on illegality in the course of the firm's practice, and slowly gets disillusioned. He gets off the fast train to fame and fortune, even as he morphs into a fiery warrior and advocate for the destitute, the homeless, and the vulnerable.

// "Not Our Daughter" (2024) //

A fugitive couple, de-facto parents to a child informally adopted under the most tragic circumstances, manages to escape and find refuge in suburbia, quietly hidden and ensconced in the Rockies even as they remain under the FBI's radar, in turn, unbeknownst, surreptitiously monitored by a third party, none other than the monsters responsible for the death of the child's mother.

It is thirteen years later, when certain financial exigencies leave an electronic trace in the banking system that all hell breaks loose — all the way up to the highest echelons of the third branch of government...!

Finely-crafted, fast-paced, unputdownable!

Review based on an advanced reading copy courtesy of Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley.

Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker is a fascinating thriller. This book had me hooked from the very first pages.
I was immediately drawn into the beginning and the characters that came alive on the pages.

This was a fast-paced, heart-pounding ride that blends action, suspense, and emotional stakes. The tension is high as Cole and Lisa Shipley flee to protect their daughter, uncovering shocking truths along the way. The “family first” theme drives every decision, but Jade can be a frustrating character at times, making choices that put herself and her family at risk. With relentless pursuit, unexpected twists, and a compelling character in Burns, this popcorn crime thriller delivers. Bonus points for the Austin, TX🤘🏾 connections! A must-read for fans of fugitives-on-the-run thrillers.

Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker is one of the most thrilling books I've read in a long time. I finished the book in one day and could not put it down! It is that good! Cole and Lisa Shipley were fostering a nine month old baby and wanted to adopt her. Her mother had problems with drugs and alcohol so the baby had been placed in foster care. One night they were all in bed when there was frantic knocking at their door. Cole pulled on some pants and went downstairs to see who it was. When he looked out the peephole he was shocked to see the baby's mother. Cole opened the door and the woman rushed in. She was in a panicked state and when Cole looked at her she had blood all over the front of her shirt. She then collapsed to the floor. She told Cole that he had to leave now and protect the baby. He's coming for her. Cole didn't know who he was, but knew she was serious.

Cole, Lisa, and the baby were out of the house and gone in 5 minutes or less. When they were driving, Cole filled Lisa in on what had happened. They were going to have to leave the life they knew behind and start a new one somewhere else to keep their daughter safe. Cole and Lisa wanted to adopt the baby, but that wouldn't be necessary now. They simply had to vanish and keep her safe. They end up in a small Colorado town under the alias' of Cole and Lisa Shipley. They have been safe here for 13 years even though they are on the FBI's most wanted list. That all changes when Cole does something to alert the FBI to his whereabouts. After being so happy and safe in Colorado, they have to quickly leave and relocate again. Luckily, they have a plan and have prepared in case this ever happened. The only problem now is their daughter is 14 and doesn't understand what's going on. They've never told her about how they came to be her parents.

Will Cole, Lisa, and their daughter get away from the FBI? Will the person pursuing them who really killed the mother find them before the FBI? It seems like every police officer has their pictures and are looking for them. How will they be able to get away this time? Their car is on everyone's radar. If they dump it, how will they get away? They left their phones behind and destroyed them, but will a teenager follow her parents rules about no calls or social media? This book will have you reading at such a frantic pace that you'll finish it quickly. and your heart will be racing! Finish everything you need to get done before you start Not Our Daughter because you'll be reading a long time. I rate Not Our Daughter 5 stars with my highest recommendation. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced copy of Not Our Daughter in exchange for a fair review.
#NotOurDaughter

Out now!

Would recommend if you love:
-LOTS of action
-Family on the run
-Decade old mystery
-FBI/ police procedural as part of the storyline

As always, a Chad Zunker story is filled with action and high-thrill moments! This family certainly had their share of tension as they ran from the FBI. I loved the short chapters, which kept me turning pages in a rush to find out what would happen to the Shipleys. This had me screaming at the characters several times like "what are you dooooing" LOL but it added to the thrill of the story. I kind of figured where this was headed pretty early on, as I imagine seasoned thriller readers will too, but it didn't take away from the story AT ALL. I found myself rooting for the family and needing to know how this would play out.

If I have one little gripe, it's how many times the word "so" is used in this. Specifically towards the beginning there was a (very short) chapter that had "so much" and "so many" used 4 or 5 times in a few pages; and like random times it didn't really add anything to the sentence. It wasn't enough to make me stop reading but it was something I DID notice.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the eARC.

This was an enjoyable thriller. It didn't rock my socks off, but I still had a good time with it. I'd for sure recommend to fellow thriller readers.

Chad Zunker brings Not Our Daughter a thriller/ suspense novel following a family on the run.

Greg and Amy Olsen were going to adopt the baby they were fostering, Marcy, when the court gave the birth mother, Candace, custody. That night Candace turns up at their house, covered in blood, and begs for them to immediately run away and save Marcy because "He's coming here... for her." She dies on their doorstep and Greg and Amy went on the run to protect Marcy.
Thirteen years later they are hiding and living under the radar in a small Colorado town when Greg withdraws money from a Cayman Islands account. Since they were suspected in the death of Candace, the account was being monitored so the withdrawal triggers a new FBI manhunt. FBI agent Mark Burns, who was on the original case, is immediately in pursuit. Making their situation more perilous is the fact that the man who killed Candace is now also hunting for them.

This is a well-written, classic cat and mouse trope of pursuit and escape. Here an innocent family is on the run being pursued by the known and unknown. They have to use their wits and attention to details to evade being captured while sending evidence of their innocence to the FBI. You'll be cheering the family on and hope they can escape the clutches of the FBI, police, and the mystery man.
Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley.