Published By: Zaffre
Pages: 400
Released On: 27/02/2025
You thought she was safe. You were wrong.
Lauren can’t wait to see her daughter again, to pick her up from university at the end of her first term. But when she arrives at her hall and knocks on the door to her room, a stranger opens it.
At first, Lauren thinks she must have the wrong room, or the wrong floor. Maybe even the wrong building.
But she soon realises the truth: Evie’s not there. She hasn’t been there for weeks. So where is she?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Zaffre for an advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I own two of T.M Logan’s books – The Mother, and The Dream Home – but they’re still on my tbr list, and yet I knew I wanted to read The Daughter from the first time I saw it. Hopefully it lives up to my expectations and then I can jump in with the other two.
This is another one of those books where I really just want to say “it’s really, really good”, but realise that’s not quite professional enough. But take it from me – it is a very good book.
I think parents will get something completely different from this. It’s hard enough for your child to go off to University, but to suddenly not be able to find them is a whole different level, and so I think they will get more out of that side of it than others.
I read it as someone who graduated 11 years ago, which gives another perspective on the story. I remember the early mornings, the overflowing bins, the dirty plates in the sink. Memories – not all that good, and Logan has depicted them so well.
It is mainly set in the present time, once Lauren cannot find her daughter Evie, but every so often we get a flashback – nine months before, eight months before etc. This gives us context and adds to the information we need to try and work out what’s happened.
What I enjoyed most about it was how real it felt. A lot of thrillers and crime fiction are explosive, a bit fantasy and unrealistic. But you go with it because it is entertaining and it doesn’t necessarily need to be real. But this…as frightening as it is to acknowledge, what happens in this could very well be happening in reality (well, most of it anyway), and that adds to the fear factor of reading it.
It is full of twists and shocks but not an absurd amount. It all still works in context; it’s not a twist at every corner, because I would find that too much and too discombobulated (good word), but he’s found the right amount to thrill and keep you interested.
Either T.M Logan is very good at research, or he’s got some dark secrets. It’s another book I read in less than 24 hours as I just couldn’t keep away. I will definitely be picking up his other books and getting stuck in now!
This was a proper police crime drama – just without the police. There’s a reason why he is so popular with readers and that’s because he creates such addictive stories.
Books By Your Bedside 