Missing by Ruby Speechley
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 25th September 2023
Published: 27th September 2023
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Single mum Ellie is shown a missing person post on Facebook.
It’s of her three-year-old son, Tyler…
But he’s right there, holding her hand.
Surely this is some kind of prank – she knows her friend Louise can go too far with her jokes sometimes. And Ellie is used to the other mums gossiping at the school gates…
But now the other parents are questioning whether Tyler is really her child.
Ellie does everything she can to prove the post is fake, but the longer it goes on she knows it is malicious. Who would do this to her? And why?
It could be her ex, Darren, but deep down she knows it must be linked to what happened all those years ago – the night she’s been doing her best to forget…
All she knows is that she has to keep her son safe – no matter what.
MY THOUGHTS:
It's every mother's worst nightmare...
Except Ellie is having different kind of nightmares. Ones featuring clowns and snake tattoos and a very heavy sense of deja vu. And then there is the daytime nightmare where whispers at her son's nursery lead a friend to show her a Facebook post in which a missing person poster has been shared around. A missing person poster with her son's photo on it! But Tyler is not missing. He's right here holding her hand and climbing into the back seat of her car. Surely this is a prank...isn't it?
But the other mums are not seeing the funny side of it as they each pass judgement on Ellie. She's used to them gossiping but now they are questioning whether Tyler is really her son. Some hurl vicious accusations her way while others merely insinuate.
With the help of her friend Louise, Ellie tries to prove that the post is fake but that means reactivating her Facebook account which she deactivated when she was harrassed by someone she thought was her friend. But the longer this goes on and the more the post is shared, the harder it is going to be to narrow it down and find just who has it in for her.
Ellie is a single mum and lives alone with her 3 year old son Tyler. His father, Darren, has never admitted paternity and has refused to pay any child maintenance but Ellie is getting to the point that she is going to need his financial help with the raising of their son. But the more she tries to contact him, the more vitriol she receives back from his new girlfriend. And Darren is more vehement than ever that he is not Tyler's father. But Ellie knows she was not unfaithful...so who else could it be? Unless...no.
The shadow of a memory lingers in the back of her mind from four years previously on the eve of her weekend away to Jersey with best friend Molly. What happened that night? If anything? And is it linked to what is plaguing her now?
This is a fairly easy and quick read that does bare some sinister and creepy undertones. Things like stalking, rape, revenge porn to name a few. That and that the internet is forever. I liked Ellie and Katie but the two were also infuriating. For example, the incident with Ellie's flat key that Katie lost...why did she not see why Ellie was so upset? And then leaving Ellie's son in the care of her boyfriend, someone Ellie had never met, and thinking that was OK? And Ellie made me scratch my head on occasion too.
The writing is an easy style and the chapters short and snappy (my favourite kind). I am always a sucker for missing child tropes, although the said child is not actually missing, but it is still a good read. The twists were fairly predictable but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of a good story.
Overall, a quick easy read with a satisfying end.
I would like to thank #RubySpeechley, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #Missing in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Ruby is a mum of three was born in Lisbon, Portugal at the time of the first earthquake there in 200 years! She has been a journalist and worked in PR.
Ruby’s debut novel Someone Else’s Baby, a chilling psychological thriller, follows a young woman, Charlotte who has always dreamed of becoming a surrogate. When she and her partner Steve, choose Malcolm and Brenda, a middle-aged couple who they find on a surrogacy forum to become the intended parents, Charlotte believes she is about to fulfil her dream of helping a loving couple finally become a family, only to find that her act of kindness comes with devastating consequences.
Ruby’s debut was published by Hera in ebook in July 2019, and following a fantastic digital run, was published in paperback in January 2020. She now publishes with Boldwood Books.
Ruby’s second novel, Every Little Secret, was published in April 2020. Her next novel, A Mother Like You, published in November 2020. Ruby’s fourth novel, The Face at the Window was published in July 2021! Her most recent book, Gone, was published in February 2023.
Ruby lives in Cheshire with her husband and two of her three children and two Springer spaniels. She has an older son and two grandsons.
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