Book review: The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft

Eighteen years ago your baby daughter was snatched. Today, she came back. A sinister and darkly compelling psychological thriller from the No.1 bestselling author of The Girl With No Past. Eighteen years ago, Simone Porter’s six-month-old daughter, Helena, was abducted. Simone and husband, Matt, have slowly rebuilt their shattered lives, but the pain at losing their child has never left them. Then a young woman, Grace, appears out of the blue and tells Simone she has information about her stolen baby. But just who is Grace – and can Simone trust her? When Grace herself disappears, Simone becomes embroiled in a desperate search for her daughter and the woman who has vital clues about her whereabouts. Simone is inching closer to the truth but it’ll take her into the dangerous and disturbing territory. Simone lost her baby. Will she lose her life trying to find her?

* Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *

Just finished reading this book and must say: WOW! Comparing with her previous book, another WOW! This author is getting better and better!

This time, the story starts eighteen years ago when a baby girl is missing. Little Helena is kidnapped from the park while her grandmother is watching her. Litle girl's parents never stopped looking for her, never got over the fact that she might be alive somewhere.

Eighteen years later, a young woman, Grace, appears in front of the mother. She claims that she might be the missing girl. She even has the toy the little girl had when she disappeared. But this young woman might be a criminal, might be a liar and she might have just committed a murder.

Simone, the mother, is torn by her pain. She wants to believe that this woman is her long-time-lost daughter, but she is aware that it might be a scam. She wants to trust Grace (she agrees for DNA testing) and tries to help her. She even goes with her in the apartment where Grace supposedly has killed the man who tried to rape her. But there is nobody there. Not even a single trace that any violence ever happened there. Not to mention the missing dead body. Soon after that, Grace disappears without a trace and Simone decides to take matters in her own hands. To find Grace, no matter if she is her daughter or not, find the dead body from the apartment and find her inner peace about her long lost daughter.

But nothing can prepare her for the truth....

I must say, this time, Mrs. Croft really nailed it! I can see many improvements since her last book, which was her debut by the way, but this time, she really nailed it! I started reading with some reservations, but I got hooked from the beginning and couldn't put it down. From the beginning to the end, the story is totally gripping and unpredictable. It is a real whirlpool of events that makes you bite your nails till the last page. Crime into crime, mystery into a mystery, very well written plot with a jaw-dropping ending. So, if you are in the mood for spending some time with a psychological thriller that will make your blood run cold, then this is a book for you! I totally recommend it!

My opinion: 5 / 5.