‘Loved loved loved this book!… What an incredible story… Will have you holding your breath until the shocking ending. I was glued to this book and couldn’t go to sleep until I had finished it. And the next day I read it again!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐She becomes aware of the silence at the other end of the line. A prickling sensation crawls up her arms. Her heart speeds up. ‘Found who?’ she … ‘Found who?’ she asks, slowly, carefully, deliberately.
‘They found Daniel.’
Six years ago
Megan waits at the school gates for her six-year-old son, Daniel. As the playground empties, panic bubbles inside her. Daniel is nowhere to be found. Her darling son is missing.
Six years later
After years of sleepless nights and endless days of missing her son, Megan finally gets the call she has been dreaming about. Daniel has walked into a police station in a remote town just a few miles away.
Megan is overjoyed – her son is finally coming home. She has kept Daniel’s room, with his Cookie Monster poster on the wall and a stack of Lego under the bed, in perfect shape to welcome him back. But when he returns, there is something different about Daniel…
According to the police, Daniel was kidnapped by his father. After his dad died in a fire, Daniel was finally able to escape. Desperate to find out the truth, Megan tries to talk to her little boy – but he barely answers her questions. Longing to help him heal, Megan tries everything – his favourite chocolate milkshake, a reunion with his best friend, a present for every birthday missed – but still, Daniel is distant.
And as they struggle to connect, Megan begins to suspect that there is more to the story. Soon, she fears that her son is hiding a secret. A secret that could destroy her family…
A heartbreaking, emotional and poignant drama about a family in turmoil. Fans of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty and Linda Green – this moving novel is for you.
Readers absolutely love The Boy in the Photo:
‘Incredible… It’s going on my list of favourite reads of the year. I had tears streaming down my cheeks… I was blown away… I really can’t say enough great things about this book. It is a must-read’ Jaynie’s Book Reviews, 5 stars
’OMG… Simply amazing… Heartbreaking… I went and hugged my daughter and messaged my son “I love you”.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Absolutely heartbreaking and absolutely beautiful. I loved everything about this book. Make sure that you have tissues at hand because you will need them.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘OMG!!!!! An absolute meteor shower of stars for this one! Fantabulous! Jaw-dropping. Twisty… So, so wonderful… If I could rate a book 100 stars, I would give them… An outstanding read.’ Sandy’s Book a Day Blog, 5 stars
‘OMG…WOW!… Fast paced, edge-of-your-seat and an emotional rollercoaster that was a thrill ride from beginning to end… I highly recommend it!!’ Confessions of a Bookaholic, 5 stars
‘Loved loved loved this book!… What an incredible story… Told in a riveting way that will have you holding your breath until the shocking ending. I was glued to this book and couldn’t go to sleep until I had finished it. And the next day I read it again.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars
’OMG… What an emotional rollercoaster this book was!!! One minute I was crying and the next I’m shocked… I was so heartbroken.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Wow!… Took me for an emotional ride.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘One hell of an emotional read and then some. I loved it… Oh my giddy aunt, this is a book that is guaranteed to tug on the heartstrings.’ Ginger Book Geek
‘Two simple words, LOVED IT… OMG.’ Book Reviews for umore
What would it be like to have your kidnapped child returned six years after he vanished? The protagonist of this novel dreamed of this happy resolution all the years her little boy was gone, only to have him return as a hostile adolescent filled with the venom his father had fed him for all the years he was gone. Can a twelve-year-old be a psychopath? The reader will root for the healing of both mother and son while fearing for everyone’s safety.
Really liked this book. How tragic to have a child taken and when he gets taken back, the damage to his mind by his father. A good read.
You know a book made an impact on you when you can’t stop thinking about it long after you finished reading it.
The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope is a tautly constructed family drama at the center of which is Daniel, who is finally reunited with his mother, Megan, six years after being kidnapped by his father.
It was a parent’s worst nightmare. Megan finally extricated herself from her abusive marriage to Greg, an emotional and sometimes physical bully. But because they shared a son, Daniel, she could not completely avoid contact with him. Even after the custody and visitation arrangements were in place, and the financial issues resolved, Greg continued emailing and texting Megan, attempting to convince her to reconcile. He blamed her for destroying their family, telling her, “You’ll know this pain one day.” Megan wanted to believe Greg’s words were nothing more than an idle threat, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was so angry and unhinged that he might attempt to hurt her or, worse, Daniel.
And then it happened. Greg did something he had never, ever done before: he picked Daniel up from school. Without Megan’s knowledge or consent. Megan soon discovered that Greg’s cell and landline telephone numbers were disconnected, and he quit his job a month earlier. Greg’s parents insisted they had not seen Greg and did not know his whereabouts. Megan’s anguished publicized pleas for her son’s return went unheeded, and his abduction became a cold case, although the detective assigned to it, Michael, insisted he would never stop looking for Daniel.
As the years passed, Megan refused to entertain the idea that her son could be dead. She drew strength from the fact that Greg loved Daniel, believing Greg was being raised and cared for by his father, and would return to her as an adult. After Daniel had been gone for five years, Megan found herself guilt-ridden when she realized she had emotionally arrived at a place of acceptance. Eventually, she agreed to have coffee with Michael, who reached out every year on the anniversary of Daniel’s disappearance to make sure Megan knew he had not forgotten and would never give up the search. With no alternative but to go on living, Megan agreed to marry Michael and they became parents to six-month-old Evie.
When Daniel suddenly walks into a police station, announcing his identity and reporting that his father died when the ramshackle cabin in the woods where they had been living burned down, Megan is flooded with joy and relief . . . and questions about what Daniel has experienced during the six years he was missing. She hopes their strong emotional bond will still exist when they are reunited, and is anxious about Daniel’s transition into the new family Megan and Michael have formed in his absence.
Trope effectively relates the story through alternating chapters set in different time periods. The book opens in the present day as Megan learns that Daniel’s whereabouts have been revealed. Trope then takes readers back six years to the day Daniel was abducted by Greg, providing the perspectives of both Megan and Daniel. Interspersed chapters are set on the anniversaries of Daniel’s disappearance, advancing the story by one-year increments and providing insight into Daniel’s experiences as he and Greg moved from place to place, and Greg systematically engaged in parental alienation — the process of breaking down a child’s relationship with the other parent. Greg told Daniel horrible lies about Megan designed to make Daniel believe she neither loved nor wanted to care for him. Likewise, Trope reveals Megan’s emotional journey as she endured years without her son. The characters’ backstories provide context and heighten reader empathy when, in successive chapters, Trope thrusts them back into the drama playing out in the present.
Megan leans, understandably, on Michael, who is able to remain somewhat detached because of his profession and experience, as well as the fact that he never knew Daniel. She also seeks guidance from the therapist retained to treat Daniel, who advises her not to push but, rather, to permit Daniel to relate his experiences in his own time and way. However, Megan remains suspicious, even though DNA testing conclusively confirms Daniel’s identity. His behavior is disturbing, alarming, and frightening. The sweet little boy Megan raised is gone and in his place a nearly thirteen-year-old adolescent exhibits anger, hostility, and resentment. Gradually, he reveals the lies Greg told him about Megan, but seems unconvinced when Megan offers the truth. Daniel clings obsessively to an old cell phone he says lacks a SIM card on which photographs of his father and the places to which they traveled while Greg was evading the authorities are stored. At one point, Megan hears Daniel talking to someone when he is alone in his room. As they await confirmation that the fire victim discovered in the ruins of the burned-out cabin was, in fact, Greg, Megan grows increasingly concerned that her son has been so effectively brainwashed, his view of the world inalterably skewed by the years with his father, that he may never become a functioning member of the family and their relationship may never be repaired. Indeed, Megan comes to wonder what horrible acts Daniel might have become capable of committing, and ponders whether it is safe to trust him with Evie.
Trope keeps the action moving at an unrelenting pace as readers’ suspicions grow along with Megan’s. Because she painstakingly and compellingly reveals what happened to Megan and Daniel during the years they were apart, they are each endearing characters. With Daniel, in particular, Trope has crafted a complex, believable, and heartbreakingly sympathetic young man. He is an innocent victim caught up in a heinous scheme rooted in a need for control and retribution by his father. Trope credibly examines the extent of the psychological damage he sustained. Daniel’s bewilderment and confusion is palpable as he struggles to reconcile the mother with whom he is reunited with the one he remembers and, in contrast, the lies he heard from his father for six long years.
And every parent will understand Megan’s anguish, first about finding herself married to a man who tried to control her and then, when that failed, focused his demented quest for revenge on his young son. Megan’s evolution from utter despair to effectively managing her grief and finding happiness in her new marriage and second chance at mothering is equally believable and compassionately portrayed.
The Boy in the Photo is also another cautionary tale about the dangers lurking in cyberspace. Trope includes a harrowing subplot about Megan’s online interactions with other parents whose children were abducted by their former partners that nearly results in devastating consequences.
With its intriguing characters, contemporary topics, and plenty of suspense and surprising plot twists, The Boy in the Photo is engrossing and, ultimately, affirming.
Thanks to NetGalley for an advance reader’s copy and Grand Central Publishing for a physical copy of the book.
This book had me thinking I knew what was happening several times, but I was wrong. I was suspicious of her on line friends off & on, but decided no. Every mothers fear is what this book is about plus an abusive mate. I was surprised by the plan at the end and the ending itself.
The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope exemplifies the psychological thriller. A six-year-old boy is taken from his mom. And the taker is naturally the boy’s father and ex-husband of the frantic and discombobulated mother. Why did the father take his child? As revenge for his broken marriage.
Six years go by and unbelievably Daniel, the missing child miraculously appears at a local police station. Megan, Daniel’s mom is thrilled, at least at first. Is Daniel truly the child that she lost six years ago? Where was he and why did he appear out of thin air? And what about his personality? Weirdness abounds as the reader is treated to twists and turns that produce a wonderfully unpredictable denouement that leaves the reader gasping. A sure-fire winner in an overpopulated genre.
Daniel walks into a police station, states his name and tells them he has been missing for six years. He was taken from his mother, by his own father. This is the news Megan has been holding her breathe for, for over half a decade. Her baby boy is coming home! Finally, and her son claims that her ex-husband died in the fire, so he cannot come back for Daniel ever again.
But six years is a long time to miss in a child’s life. Daniel is now twelve, on the brink of thirteen and it is a very huge learning curve for all involved. Megan is not sure how to get Daniel to open up, and yet anytime he does speak, it’s like her ex-husband is standing right in front of her. I mean, there son was with him this whole time- so this should not be a surprise but there is something that is odd and she can’t quite put her finger on it. But everyone is reassuring her, that this transition is going to take a lot of time, and mishaps and learning fro all involved. Time, that is what everyone keeps reminding her to give. Time!
The police come to question Daniel, about the events of his kidnapping and upbringing, as well as the events that lead up to the fire that killed his father. It will take time to confirm that it was his father that did die in that shack, but the story being told is not fitting the picture that was given when he walked into that police department weeks ago.
Is Daniel hiding something, or is this him not knowing how to properly act and function as a normal teenager? His father had him hidden away, and brainwashed that people were always out to get them, and there were many rules Daniel had to follow so his father did not get angry, but the whole time he was being told his was his mother’s fault. She was to blame for everything. Why his dad had to take him, why they have no money, why they cannot stay in one place, why his dad is the way he is… it never ends. Will Daniel ever be able to see the truth about what really happened and who is to blame, or is it too late?
This was such a thriller ride of a novel! I will be looking up and order and her other novels to read as well. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for the free book, I have found another author to add to my list of thriller writers.
The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope is a highly suspenseful, engrossing present-day novel that takes place in Australia.
Megan takes her six-year-old son Daniel to school, but at the end of the school day when she goes to pick him up, he isn’t there. Megan frantically goes into the school to search for him, but learns his father has picked him up. The arrangement is that Greg, her abusive, former husband, only has supervised visits with his son. A search begins, but with no success.
Six years later, her current husband Michael, a police detective, calls from work to tell her they’ve found Daniel. The twelve-year old boy seemingly wandered into a police station, dirty, disheveled and confused.
When Daniel, now twelve, is returned to Megan he is full of hate and anger. Slowly, the story of living with his bitter, controlling father surfaces. Megan and Michael patiently try to work with the boy, but there is always something strange and sinister hovering over them.
The story toggles through the years in time from the anniversary date of Daniel’s disappearance to the present day, both from the boy and his mother’s point of view.
The Boy in the Photo is a psychological read that kept me eagerly turning the pages. I could feel Megan’s pain, sadness and desperation both before Daniel’s disappearance and after he is returned to her. To have a child kidnapped by an estranged parent is uncommon but not unheard of, and as I read this novel, I realized that much of the story is probably realistic. This novel shows the strong bond between mother and child, and the confusion and trauma that occurs when that union is threatened.
A wonderful heartwarming story. And sad as well.
This book held my attention from the very start. I enjoyed all the twists and did not have it figured out until the end.
Six years ago, Megan’s ex-husband took their young son out of school and disappeared. Daniel was 6 years old. She has since remarried and has an infant daughter.
Today she received a phone call … her son had walked into a police station, gave his name and said his father was dead.
Megan has dreamed about this moment every day for 6 years. But the reunion isn’t going as well as expected. Daniel seems cold and distant … and angry. He is grieving the loss of his father and doesn’t seem to connect with his family. Daniel is not the same little boy who has spent six years with a cruel father who has filled his head with lies.
But Daniel has a terrible secret that he can’t share …..
It’s an emotional journey, from the day he left with his father, through every anniversary date, up to and including the events of today. The story is told by Daniel and by Megan. There are some heart-breaking moments with a few surprises along the way. Watch out for the major twist at the conclusion.
Many thanks to the author /Grand Central Publishing / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological drama. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
This was such an amazing book…
I think the book was a little far fetch for me.
Enjoyed this book because was very different and an interesting read with unpredictable twists.
It was a great read really kept you interested till the end even though I guessed the ending I loved it.
Could happen so easily.
Kept my interest. Good read
I enjoyed reading this book
The story held my interest. I found it hard to put down. The plot is quite believable until the twists at the end.
Great book although very realistic!