Review: The Child's Secret by Amanda Brooke

A little girl is missing. Her parents are hiding something. Who will pay the price?
When eight-year-old Jasmine Peterson goes missing, the police want to know everything.
What is local park ranger, Sam McIntyre, running away from and why did he go out of his way to befriend a young girl?
Why can’t Jasmine’s mother and father stand to be in the same room as each other?
With every passing minute, an unstoppable chain of events hurtles towards a tragic conclusion.

Everyone has secrets. The question is: who will pay the price?



Ikira's Review: 4 out of 5 stars

This is the first of Amanda Brooke's storys I have read. The author was recommended to me by a fellow booky lover and I was not dissappointed.

Ms Brooke writes fantastically well. She brings you in to the world she clearly knows very well and makes you fall in love/hate. The visuals provided lead to a very clear map in your head which is something I truly admire - it's a difficult feat to achieve for some authors.

This story revolves around a young girl; Jasmine, who you will come to love as though she is your own. We start with finding out that Jasmine is missing and as the story unfolds in the now common then vs now format of alternating chapters, we enter the lives of Jasmines family, the local Park Ranger Sam and his Landlady. Each of the adult characters has something to hide although we don't know this to begin with.

The story of each character unfolds, leading you down a few paths of potential discovery - a few false leads and some real revelations. Each one made me question my previous assumptions about the characters on their own and the overall conclusion to the story.

Jasmines parents could have their own story and understanding the life of her mother especially is very difficult to comprehend - what a strong but equally down-beaten character she is! Her story helped me to walk a little in the shoes of a life I have been very fortunate to avoid. The road Jasmines father chose is one I came too close to as a child and I believe from reading this book that the author must have some experience of the same either directly or through speaking to others - her representation of the character and his thoughts/actions were spot on from my own experience.

It's very well written overall and the by-story about the Allerton Oak is magical - I definitely want to visit!