The Baby by A.J. McDine
Genre: Domestic thriller
Read: 20th April 2024
Audio Links:
Published: 23rd April 2024
★★★★ 4.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
There’s a baby in your house. It isn’t yours…
The day I was told I’d never be able to have a child, my world came crashing down. My husband says he still loves me but I lie awake at night, wishing we could have a family.
One morning, my husband’s side of the bed is cold and empty. I hear a noise and head downstairs.
In the middle of the rug in my living room is a wooden drawer. Swaddled inside, with perfect rosy cheeks and beautiful round blue eyes, a baby gazes up at me.
I shiver. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, but this baby is not mine…
An absolutely addictive page-turner with heart-pounding twists from beginning to end. Fans of The Woman in the Window, Freida McFadden and Lisa Jewell won’t be able to put this jaw-dropping psychological thriller down!
MY THOUGHTS:
There's a baby in her house...but she hasn't got a baby...
This is a deliciously devious domestic thriller that I devoured in one sitting! My first foray with Ms McDine, I was captivated from the very start despite its obvious predictability in part but that certainly didn't deter my enjoyment of this twisted thrill ride.
Lucy and Miles have been married for some ten years or so, him having rescued her from one man's over zealous attentions on a night out before sweeping her off her feet and up the aisle. Before she knows it, she is living the high life in Dubai where Miles has been seconded as an engineer on a oil rig. They make a life for themselves there before a decade later, Miles receives a transfer to a rig in the North Sea off the coast of Aberdeen. Coinciding with the sudden death of her grandfather, Lucy flies home to make the arrangements before Miles joins her. And together, they set up home in the sleepy village where her grandfather lived in the cottage he bequeathed Lucy.
One morning, with Miles offshore for four weeks, Lucy awakes from yet another blackout drunken stupor with the hangover from hell and a baby in her living room. A baby? But she doesn't have a baby!
What ensues is a whole lot of craziness that is a little far fetched but somehow makes perfect sense to Lucy. She scours the news sites, watches the news, anything to throw some light on what the hell is happening. But no one has come forward to claim their baby is missing. So where did he come from? Did she steal it from someone and not remember?
Lucy's to-ing and fro-ing over what to do for the best ties her up in all sorts of knots. All she has ever wanted was to be a mother but Miles made it perfectly clear that children were not in his plan...something he neglected to tell her before they were married, despite him saying he had done so. Lucy would never have married him had she known his aversion to becoming a father. So what does she do? It's clear the baby is cared for and has come from somewhere...but where? And where is his mother?
Lucy knows she should call the police...but something is stopping her. The all encompassing feeling of a little life trusting her, his eyes locked on hers as she feeds him, bathes him, changes him. After twenty four hours Lucy knows she can't give him up. This child needs her.
And then she has another problem. Miles. What to tell him. And how will he react? He's offshore for another few weeks so she has time, and by then she will have found the baby's mother. But then she hears the crunch of gravel on the drive...No, it can't be. Miles is home. How is she going to explain a baby?
This was such a fun and entertaining thriller from start to finish. It's obvious from the start that Lucy has a problem with alcohol but I detect an even bigger problem with Miles. How could she not see him for what he is? A manipulative, controlling man who could sulk for England if he doesn't get his way. Everything he did I could see through a much clearer lens than Lucy could and I did not like what I saw from the very first moment he opened his mouth. Every phone call, ever text, every conversation, every action...it is all about him and what he wants. So what does this mean for her now that there's a baby to consider? Nothing he does surprises me.
The story unfolds primarily through Lucy's eyes - sometimes vodka or wine induced while at other times, clear as day. There is the brief narrative from one other closer to the end as everything begins to fall into place.
It is very hard to say what I want to say without revealing any spoilers so needless to say, You'll just have to go out and check it out for yourself. You won't be sorry!
An almost 5 star read, there were a couple of things I felt could have been tied up/explained more to be clearer by the end though I guess I just made my own mind up as to how they played out...even if they were not explained in the end, I still have my suspicions.
A fantastic read! I'll be sure to check out her other thrillers.
I would like to thank #AJMcDine, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheBaby in exchange for an honest review.
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MEET THE AUTHOR:
She lives in Kent in the UK with her husband, fellow thriller writer A J Wills, their two sons and a pair of very demanding cats.
The author of dark, domestic thrillers, she loves to keep her readers guessing till the very last page.
When she’s not writing, playing tennis or attempting to run a 5k, she can generally be found gazing blankly out of the window as she dreams up conflict and tension for her poor characters.
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