Dear Child

A Novel

By: Romy Hausmann

Narrated by: Jane Collingwood, Nicky Diss, Simon Slater

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

"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

Amazon.com Best Books of the Year - 2020

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 number-one internationally best-selling 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)

©2020 Romy Hausmann (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

You won’t put it down

The use of repeating lines and visceral descriptions of the emotions of three different characters is phenomenal. I reorganized my thoughts and decided on six different endings thorough out the novel and every single one of them was wrong. This story kept me on my toes the whole time with realistic characters brought to life through the wonderful narrators. Highly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of thrillers!

Good story

Kept me entertained and guessing until the end. The male narrators voice was annoying at times. But otherwise enjoyable.

Ohhhhh yeaaaahhh!

I love it when I finally find a book that is so well done, I’m motivated enough to tell everyone about it! All summer I’ve been waiting for that book until I spent a credit on this one. The author is providing us with the unique opportunity to witness how strength, courage and beauty can spring from horrific events. Get this book. Now!!!

No twist “thriller”

I finished the book only because I was waiting for the twist to come. It never did. It’s another long drawn out anticlimactic word vomit. Disappointing

Great story and Narration

Love this book! Twisty and psychological. Great character development, specifically with in depth psychological aspect of characters. Fascinating read without gratuitous violence or abuse. Highly recommend.

Time well spent

This is an excellent book. It is a thriller and, while not gruesome in the literal sense of the word, it does include abuse. I love the epilogue! I look forward to reading Romy Hausmann’s next book.

Repulsive, saliva-ridden narration kills the story

Overall this could be a good story; unfortunately two of the narrators make disgusting mouth sounds throughout which completely kill the enjoyment. I got hooked listening to the lesser of the repulsive narrators so i stuck with the story, but every time the male narrator spoke I nearly gagged - you can hear the wet saliva in his mouth, the lip smacking and swallowing and overall gross liquidness of it. If this kind of stuff bothers you skip the story - its good, but not worth the torture.

Keeps you listening

Great character development. This is a captivating look at how humans can behave when exposed to significant psychological events in their life. The narrators bring each character to life and keep the suspense flowing.

Good book

I really enjoyed this book until the end. A woman kidnapped and tortured ended up having to be a loving mother while she was captive.

Really good

I really enjoyed listening to this thriller. I got a little confused in spots with who was who, maybe the German names helped that to happen to me, not sure. I didn't agree with her philosophies at the end of the book about how this could happen to anyone and caused by love. no no no, this takes a sicko, period! Killing someone to protect a loved one, yes, of course I can see that happening, torture, imprisonment, rape, what the heck kind of person thinks like that!