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Dear Child

A Novel

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

"Jane Collingwood, Nicky Diss, and Simon Slater narrate as three parts of a fractured triangle brought together by a terrifying abduction...this mind-bending thriller is sure to enthrall listeners." — AudioFile Magazine
This program includes an exclusive author's note, read by Romy Hausmann

Bustle Best Books of Fall 2020
Publishers Weekly Top 10 Mysteries & Thrillers of Fall 2020
She Reads Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2020
A woman held captive finally escapes—but can she ever really get away?

Gone Girl
meets Room in this #1 internationally bestselling thriller from one of Germany's hottest new talents

A windowless shack in the woods. A dash to safety. But when a woman finally escapes her captor, the end of the story is only the beginning of her nightmare.
She says her name is Lena. Lena, who disappeared without a trace 14 years prior. She fits the profile. She has the distinctive scar. But her family swears that she isn't their Lena.
The little girl who escaped the woods with her knows things she isn't sharing, and Lena's devastated father is trying to piece together details that don't quite fit. Lena is desperate to begin again, but something tells her that her tormentor still wants to get back what belongs to him...and that she may not be able to truly escape until the whole truth about what happened in the woods finally emerges.
Twisty, suspenseful, and psychologically clever, Romy Hausmann's Dear Child is a captivating thriller with all the ingredients of a breakout hit.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books
"A trio of well-cast, English-accented performers embody the unreliable narrators of German author Hausmann's debut thriller, each of whom is harboring secrets...Nothing is as it seems here, and listeners will be enthralled as each new twist is revealed." —Booklist
"Chilling, original and mesmerizing." —David Baldacci
"[A] tantalizingly disturbing debut...As enthralling as it is thought-provoking." —New York Times Book Review

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 3, 2020
      Early in German author Hausmann’s outstanding debut, a woman is hit by a car in a forest on the German-Czech border. The police believe the victim may be Lena Beck, a college student who disappeared in Munich 13 years earlier. After a search of the forest reveals a windowless cabin, a horrific story begins taking shape: Lena was abducted and forced to live in captivity while giving birth to a girl and a boy. When Lena’s father, Matthias, arrives at the hospital to identify his daughter, however, he says it’s not her. But the young girl with her—the woman’s alleged daughter—looks exactly like a younger Lena. A DNA test confirms both children are, in fact, Matthias’s grandchildren. As the traumatized woman and the two kids struggle to adapt to life outside of the cabin, Matthias vows to find out what happened to his daughter. The multiple points of view and numerous plot twists sustain the breakneck pacing, but the book’s real power lies in the author’s insightful and sensitive portrayal of the characters involved in the tragedy. This darkly disturbing thriller definitely marks Hausmann as a writer to watch.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      A woman stumbles into the road one night and is struck by a car. Is she really Lena Beck, who disappeared more than a dozen years ago? Jane Collingwood, Nicky Diss, and Simon Slater narrate as three parts of a fractured triangle brought together by a terrifying abduction. Slater embodies gruff Matthias, a grieving father whose search for his daughter has driven him to the brink. Collingwood's young Hannah seems remarkably well adjusted for an adolescent recluse, but her secret depths are subtly hinted at through tone and other vocal cues. As the possible Lena, Diss expertly portrays a woman nearly shattered by her experiences and uncertain of how to pick up the pieces. Despite some minor editing flaws, this mind-bending thriller is sure to enthrall listeners. N.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

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  • English

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