Author: Jackie Kabler
Publisher: HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter
Date Published: May 11, 2023
This book blew me away! Every little piece of the plot was well thought out and kept you guessing through the entire story!
It’s a typical day in a little village named Littleford. A group of 10 children and 4 teachers board a minibus for a field trip. Only it’s not the brand-new Mercedes minibus, it’s a reliable clunker rented from a local taxi company. So, when the children and teachers don’t return as expected, with no communication, there is no GPS tracker on the bus. None of the teachers are answering their phones, and the children aren’t allowed phones. And it’s starting to get dark.
While the parents and school personnel imagine the various scenarios that might be happening (no cell service, traffic emergencies, an accident), when police are called on the scene they are starting to suspect that this might be a kidnapping. But when no ransom call comes in, even with a few wealthy parents among the group, the police are stymied – where could a bus and 10 kids and 4 adults have disappeared to?
And then the call comes with the startling message, “One of you has a secret. We know what it is. And if you want to keep it a secret, it’s time to PAY.”
Throughout the book, we’re privy to a few secrets the parents are hiding. But when the parents get together, we learn there is more than one family with a secret. But whose is big enough for a ransom?
I thoroughly enjoyed Kabler’s use of suspense as she built her characters around a situation many parents fear but think could never happen to them, all the while maintaining the suspense and moral choices these families must make.
Thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for an advance reader’s copy.
Background photo courtesy of @cuellar on Unsplash.
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