The Boy in the Photo in Aussie Readers

Dec 05, 2019 PattyMacDotComma rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-netgalley-done, kindle, fiction, australian-author, mystery-crime-thriller, aa

3.5★
“Greg could be charming and convincing when he wanted to be. Megan knew that better than anyone. She had found herself easily persuaded out of her own opinions and thoughts for years.”

[My notes don't include any spoilers, as the promotional material for the book clearly describes the situations I've alluded to.]

Megan had been charmed into marrying him and then convinced to stay for several years, in spite of increased misgivings. She adores her little boy, Daniel, and the two are very close. ...more

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Jun 20, 2019 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: aussie-author, arc-are, netgalley-reviews

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 bir 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. ...more

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Jul 20, 2019 Paula Phillips rated it liked it

If you are in the mood for a mystery novel then The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope is the read for you. The novel starts off with a case that could happen to anyone as Megan and her husband argue like cats and dogs as he is controlling and abusive towards her. Megan has had enough, so she takes her son Daniel and moves out. Trying to start new, Megan enrols Daniel into school and things seem to be working until one day when Megan's worst nightmare happens. She has gone to school to pick up Dan ...more

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Jun 24, 2019 Brenda rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2019-release, mystery, read-on-kindle, aussie-authors, suspense, net-galley, own-read, arc, thriller

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 prayi ...more

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