The Child In The Photo by Kerry Wilkinson

Title: The Child In The Photo

Author: Kerry Wilkinson

Genre: Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Mystery

Published: June 14th 2021

Publisher: Bookouture

BLURB

I stare at the newspaper article about a baby snatched from the back of a car thirty years ago, and wonder why someone would post it through my door. Looking closer, my blood freezes. The little girl in the photo has an unusual scar – just like mine. I’ve never met anyone with one like it. Is this stolen child… me?

Trembling with shock, I know I have to confront my mother. My parents got me through a horrific accident, helped me find a job I love teaching art, and even with buying my own house. But was it all built on lies?

She tells me the day I was born was the best day of her life, and I’m flooded with guilt for questioning her – but why do I catch her burning papers in the garden the next day?

Then I come home to find a woman sitting on my doorstep, covered in bruises and claiming she knows who abducted me. I don’t know if I can trust her – or if I’ll be the next to get hurt.

Because all the while, I’ve been hiding my own secret. Does whoever sent the article know what really happened the day of my accident? Desperate for the truth, I break into the house of my supposed kidnapper. Inside, I find a handwritten list of names. A shiver goes down my spine as I realise wasn’t the only child to be stolen.

Then I hear a key in the lock, and I know my life is in terrible danger…

AMAZING, ENJOYABLE AND SHOCKING FAMILY DRAMA

Hope is a young lady, living a normal life. Out of the blue, she receives a newspaper clipping in her mail that is from 34 years ago. It tells the story of a 6 month old baby that was kidnapped from a car. Something remarkable about the baby is a scarred ear she has. Hope is 34 and also has a scarred ear exactly like the one in the picture. She confronts her mom who adamantly say it’s a lie but Hope isn’t convinced. She starts her own investigation and soon discovers that she indeed, is the baby from the newspaper. The hunt to finding her real birth parents and the story behind her kidnapping begins.

I finished this book in one day and I enjoyed it. It’s a drama filled with secrets, betrayals and love. I love Hope’s character and her relationship with her neighbor. I think she’s a normal person trying to move through life and now this bombshell just falls on her. Her trusting someone she doesn’t know just because she says she knows the truth that Hope is seeking for makes Hope more human. She was desperate for the truth and couldn’t see any other way around it. After an accident she had years ago, Hope struggled a lot with her amputated leg but fought through. I really love the setting – kinda not urban and not too country.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and the author for the arc copy of The Child In The Photo.