A quick paced story about a teenage daughter who goes missing and her mother who goes all out to find her allowing no one to get in her way. You definitely have to be willing to suspend belief about certain situations but if you can, it's a wild ride. ( )

Once again a Nicci French stand alone. Once again another missing teen. This one does seem to take on a bit of urgency as the entire story takes place in maybe 24 hours. The story occurs as the Mom and two teens are preparing for a trip abroad but haven't prepared their baggage and there is car trouble before they leave and the teen daughter doesn't come home from her paper route. I'd read it because it's Nicci French. ( )

Losing You by Nicci French is a 2020 William Morrow Publication (Originally published in 2005)

Nina and her kids are excited about their upcoming trip to Florida, where Nina will celebrate her birthday with her new boyfriend. Her plans go horribly awry when her teenage daughter, Charlie, fails to come home after a sleepover.

Law enforcement is useless, quoting their usual spiel about teenagers- suggesting Charlie will turn up soon, or that she could be a runaway- etc.

Refusing to sit on her hands, Nina goes in search of her daughter, only to discover she didn’t know Charlie as well as she thought…

I will snap up any book this dynamic duo writes. Because of that, I picked this book up thinking it was a new release, only to discover, once I sat down to read it, that it was a reissue.

The book was originally published back in 2005, which irritated me a little at first, because while the book wasn’t expressly marketed as a new release, it was implied. I shook it off, though, because I have always wanted to read some of French’s older books, so no harm, no foul, really.

This may not be the absolute best effort by French, but for some reason, once I got started on the book, I found myself unwilling to put it down. I blew through it at lightening speed, compelled by Nina’s Herculean task of locating Charlie virtually on her own. The atmosphere was also a plus, and the way the story was layered and how it unfolded kept me riveted to the pages.

Other than Nina’s tenacity to save her daughter, and the frightening secret lives of teenagers, the book doesn’t really allow the reader much of an opportunity to attach themselves to the characters. The story is not original, by any stretch of the imagination- but for some reason, that missing child/teen trope sucks me in every single time. The pacing is brisk, without sacrificing the suspense, but the book is a little sparse and narrowly focused on Nina’s one-woman show.

Still, it works, for an ‘in the moment’ spot of entertainment. I don’t know if, six months from now, I’ll be able to recall specifics of this book, but overall, it was a thrilling way to pass away a hot, muggy afternoon.

3.5 stars ( )

This was an exhausting read. I was stressed before Charlie even went missing, since we were dealing with a family about to set off for the airport for a trip abroad and they hadn't even finished packing! The whole action of the book takes place over the next 6 hours or so, with Nina racing around the island, which is at the same time small enough to race around multiple times, and also big enough to support a secondary school. I enjoyed her shaking off the police, who seemed competent enough but didn't share her sense of urgency, and mercilessly dragging a series of friends and acquaintances into her search. The ending made sense, although the information needed to work out what had happened was revealed very late on.

I'm not sure what purpose the boyfriend Christian served - he spent the novel stuck on the M25 with Nina ignoring him. I think that relationship might be over. ( )

In Losing You by Nicci French, a worried mother faces every parents' worst fear: a missing child.

Nina Landry, along with her new boyfriend, Christian and her two children, fifteen year old daughter, Charlotte "Charlie" and eleven year old son Jackson, are about to depart for their vacation to Florida. In the midst of tying up the trip's loose ends, Nina is growing increasingly concerned when she cannot reach Charlie. Her daughter spent the night before with friends but she has failed to return home nor is she answering her phone. Growing more frantic, Nina immediately contacts the local police who are not exactly overly helpful. Nina continues searching for Charlie on her own and a shocking discovery ratchets up her fears for her daughter's safety.

Nina and her kids have been through a rough period since their relocation to Sandling Island. She is now divorced from the kids' father Rory and works as a maths teacher. Nina is in a newish relationship with Christian but she remains cautiously optimistic about their future. Her relationship with Charlie is strong but her daughter tends to be tempestuous and willing to fight for what she believes in. Charlie has recently been the target of bullying from her classmates, but she has recently made friends with the circle of girls who were involved. One of Nina's concerns about Charlie going missing is the fact she slept over with the former bullies. Can she believe their assertions they do not know anything about Charlie's disappearance?

With the police unwilling to put much effort into locating Charlie, Nina does not worry about offending or angering anyone during her search for her daughter. As the situation turns more dire, Nina is not at all confident the police are doing as much as they should be to find Charlie. She is further stunned by shocking discoveries about someone close to her and the kids. With the police distracted by these latest revelations, Nina takes matters into her own hands as she grows more desperate to locate Charlie.

Mysteries often need a suspension of disbelief to fully enjoy the unfolding story and it eventually becomes impossible to comfortably go with the storyline. While her worry and desperation are completely understandable, Nina's impulsivity and lack of cooperation with the police hinders their investigation. Her uncanny ability to uncover leads and unearth new information strains readers' credulity. The mystery moves at a brisk pace but the extremely tight timeframe is somewhat unrealistic since the entire mystery takes place during approximately five to six hours.

Losing You is a fast-paced and cleverly written mystery. The novel's beginning is strong and the entire story has a smooth flow since there are no chapter breaks. Unfortunately, Nina's over the top decisions are exasperating. With shocking twists and unbelievable turns, Nicci French brings the novel to an action-packed conclusion. While the mystery of Charlie's disappearance is completely wrapped up, some rather important parts of the storylines are frustratingly unresolved. ( )