Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid

 Nonfiction by Tanya Nicole Kach and Lawrence Fisher

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In 1996 Tanya Kach was a fourteen-year-old girl from a troubled home. Her emotionally distant father had written off her mentally ill mother after a difficult divorce, and he actively tried to keep Tanya from seeing her mom. Meanwhile, he had remarried and abdicated responsibility for Tanya to his new wife, whom Tanya hated. Tanya was looking for love and acceptance, and for a parental figure.

Unfortunately, she found Tom Hose, a security guard at the middle school (!!!!) who took an interest in her, convinced to come home with him, and kept her locked up in his upstairs room for ten years. (!!!!!!!!)

This is a true story, as unbelievable as it sounds, about a girl who thought maybe nobody cared about her, a predator who convinced her it was definitely true, and a bunch of authority figures (teachers and cops) who looked the other way and didn't try very hard to help.

Her lawyer and co-writer Lawrence Fisher has been working for years to help Tanya reintegrate into society, and get some justice from a system that failed her. It's an interesting story but pretty hard to read because of how sad it is.

The Taken Ones

 Amazon Prime Kindle Fiction by Jess Lourey

https://www.amazon.com

This is the first book in the "Steinbeck and Reed" series and it's definitely hooked me to read the next one.

Detective Evangeline "Van" Reed works in the cold case division of the Minnesota BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) and volunteers at the animal shelter in her spare time. Van is a former Minneapolis police officer who operates strongly on hunches, many of which are uncannily correct. In this story she is assigned to reopen the case of "The Taken Ones," a pair of little girls who disappeared in the woods of suburban Minneapolis in 1980. She enlists the help of colleague Harry Steinbeck, who is a by-the-book man opposite her in temperament. Surprisingly, they work well together.

This was an exciting mystery with good characters and several surprises.

I also read recently (FREE!) from Amazon Prime Kindle: Don't Let Her Stay

The Chain

 Fiction by Adrian McKinty

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Thirteen-year-old Kylie is waiting for the school bus when she's abducted at gunpoint. Her mother Rachel receives a ransom call, but the kidnappers don't just want money for Kylie's return. They also want Rachel to join The Chain and kidnap another person's child...

This was a super exciting thriller with several surprises!

I also read by this author: The Island

All the Lost Things

 Fiction by Michelle Sacks

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Seven year-old Dolly is "going on an adventure" with her dad, but in the back of her mind she realizes something is wrong about this unexpected road trip. Why did Dad forget to pack any of her things? Why doesn't he let her call and talk to Mom? And where are they going anyways?

It's obvious to the reader that Dad has abducted Dolly and Mom doesn't know where they are. But the telling of the story through the child's eyes makes the book really unique. This was a really good book, although it was also sad.

Love You More

 Fiction by Lisa Gardner

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, detective D. D. Warren has to solve a mystery involving Tessa Leoni, a woman who has apparently shot and killed her abusive husband after a severe beating. But she is more concerned about her nine year old daughter, who is inexplicably missing from the house.

But the picture doesn’t add up: Did Tessa’s husband actually beat her? And where is her little daughter?

This was a pretty good mystery story. 

The Escape Artist

 Fiction by Diane Chamberlain

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Susanna Miller is a young single mother with an eleven-month-old son called Tyler whom she loves desperately. So when her ex-husband Jim and his new wife Peggy win custody of Tyler, Susanna feels she has no choice but the take her little boy and run away, changing her name and leaving everything behind her.

This was an exciting story with memorable characters.

I also read recently by this author: Summer's Child

The Stepchild

 Fiction by Nicole Trope

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Leslie left Millie, her three year old daughter, at home while she went to the grocery store, trusting her twelve year old stepdaughter Shelby to babysit. When Leslie came back, Millie was gone. Shelby said the child ran away, but did she really? And for that matter, did Leslie really go to the grocery store? And what about Randall, the girls' father; was he really out golfing?

This was an exciting thriller with several surprises. 

I also read by this author: The Boy in the Photo

The Boy in the Photo

 Fiction by Nicole Trope

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Megan's ex-husband stole her son Daniel away from her when the boy was six years old. For many years after that, Megan searched and searched for him, her life on hold. But now she has a new husband and a new baby girl. Then she gets the call that Daniel has been found! 

Megan is overjoyed, but the brooding twelve-year old who comes home with her from the police station is nothing like the sweet boy she remembers. Can she rebuild their relationship?

This was an exciting  (although a little anxiety-producing) story with a surprise at the end.

I also read by this author: The Family Across the Street

The Deep End of the Ocean

 Fiction by Jacqueline Mitchard

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Beth Cappadora is a successful photographer and happy mother of three when the unthinkable happens: her three-year-old son Ben disappears. Suddenly, nothing else matters to her. She forgets her career, her her husband, even her remaining two children: seven-year-old Vincent and baby Kerry. Her grief is all consuming. As a mother I can both understand her desperate feelings, and equally want to shake her senseless for her ignorant failings. 

And then, ten years later, Ben is found; still this is not a happily-ever-after, but another difficulty. Where has he been all this time? And how can he still be the same child that they lost, especially when they are not the same family that they were?

This was a sad story but a good one.

I also read by this author: Two if by Sea

Two Little Girls in Blue

 Fiction by Mary Higgins Clark

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Kelly and Kathy Frawley, identical three-year-old twins, are kidnapped from their bedroom and an eight million dollar ransom is demanded. But Mr. and Mrs. Frawley aren't millionaires; there's no way they could pay that much money. Or is there?

This was classic Mary Higgins Clark suspense, a great thriller that keeps you guessing!

I also read recently by this author: You Don't Own Me

The Last House on Needless Street

 Fiction by Catriona Ward

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was another book that I hated but I can’t explain why without spoilers. (See also: I’m thinking of ending things.)

The story starts out with a creepy man and his cat, and a missing girl that he might have abducted. Then the sister of the missing girl tries to find out for herself for sure if he is a kidnapper. Except they are all crazy: the man, the sister, even the cat! Everything in this story is crazy.

Dear Child

 Fiction by Romy Haussmann 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

At the beginning of this book, there is a girl injured in a hit and run accident and brought to the hospital with her young daughter. The child says her mother is called Lena; and there is a missing woman by that name the police have been seeking for years. But is this the same person? And who is the child?

This story, set in Germany and originally written on German, is billed on the back cover as "Room meets Gone Girl." That's a pretty accurate description, and it's quite as good a thriller as those two books.

Ten Little Girls

 Fiction by Willow Rose.

https://www.amazon.com

This book is apparently number NINE in a series. And do you see any indication of that on the cover? The way publishers do not label these things is extremely frustrating to me. 

To be fair, this story can probably stand alone; I didn't get the sense that I was missing huge chunks of information while reading it. But I digress.

At an elementary school in Florida, ten little girls get on the wrong bus and are kidnapped. (One child is the daughter of Rebekka Franck, who is the main character of the book series I mentioned; but that is the only real link to the series I think.) Why were the girls taken, and will they come home alive? These are the questions that keep you reading.

I wasn't wholly sold on the ending; the explanation for the kidnapping seemed far-fetched, But still, it was a good-enough thriller.

I also read by this author: What Hurts the Most.

Girl Last Seen

 Fiction by Nina Laurin

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

It's been ten years since thirteen-year-old Laney was found on the side of the road, cold and alone, after having been abducted and kept prisoner for three years. She has sort-of gotten her life back on track, working two jobs and trying to forget her ordeal. 

But one day she sees the missing poster of a ten-year-old girl who looks just like herself at ten years old, the year she'd gone missing. Could her kidnapper be responsible?

This was an okay thriller, but it dragged a little too much to work as an audiobook.

Children for Sale Trilogy

Fiction by JJ West

https://www.amazon.com

This is a set of three books available only through amazon.com with kindle unlimited, about a mass kidnapping of American kids by a foreign entity. 

It was an interesting idea, but the story was not well-executed. I didn't believe a lot of the plot, the characters were not realistic, and the ending left a lot of loose threads hanging. 

I'm not giving it a complete thumbs-down because I did finish all three (short) books, but I don't recommend this series.

Lost Innocents

Fiction by Patricia MacDonald.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This was an exciting thriller that begins with the kidnapping of an infant and his 15-year-old babysitter. There is also a young couple with a three-year-old who have had some legal troubles that they hope are over.

The story was very good and I liked the characters a lot. There were several surprises!

I also read recently by this author: Cast into Doubt

I'd Know You Anywhere

Fiction by Laura Lippman.


https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, a woman receives an unexpected letter from a man who has been on death row for over ten years. He was a kidnapper and serial killer, and she was the only one of his victims who lived. What does he want?

Really good book!!



I also read recently by this author: The Power of Three

Ransom

Fiction by Lois Duncan.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book starts out with a group of high school students who get on the bus after school, not concerned that the man at the wheel is not their regular driver. Instead he is a kidnapper! (I don't consider revealing that fact to be a spoiler, by the way, seeing as the name of the book  is "Ransom".)

This was an exciting story. I've recently been enjoying rediscovering Lois Duncan's young-adult books, many of which I read over twenty-five years ago as a teenager myself. They are definitely worth the re-read for me, and should be still quite readable for teens today.



I also read by this author: They Never Came Home

Thirty Girls

Fiction by Susan Minot.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book was about a group of Catholic boarding-school girls who were kidnapped by rebels in Uganda, and a journalist who comes to Africa to write their story. It's set sometime in the early 1990's.

It was well-written but difficult to read.

Room

Fiction by Emma Donoghue.


http://www.barnesandnoble.com

This story is written from the point of view of a five-year-old boy who lives in one locked room with his mother. He's never lived anywhere else, because his mother was kidnapped and has been held there more than seven years.

Really good story.