Other People's Children

By: Jeff Hoffmann

Narrated by: Michael David Axtell, Amanda Dolan, Madeleine Maby, Marni Penning, Tara Sands, Pete Simonelli

Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

An “engrossing debut” novel (Laura Dave, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me) about a couple whose dreams of adoption push them to do the unthinkable when their baby’s birth family steps into the picture.

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO SAVE YOUR FAMILY?

As soon as Gail and Jon Durbin bring home their adopted baby Maya, she becomes the glue that mends their fractured marriage.

But the Durbin’s social worker, Paige, can’t find the teenage birth mother to sign the consent forms. By law, Carli has seventy-two hours to change her mind. Without her signature, the adoption will unravel.

Carli is desperate to pursue her dreams, so giving her baby a life with the Durbins seems like the right choice - until her own mother throws down an ultimatum. Soon Carli realizes how few choices she has.

As the hours tick by, Paige knows that the Durbins’ marriage won’t survive the loss of Maya, but everyone’s life is shattered when they - and baby Maya - disappear without a trace.

Filled with heartrending turns, Other People’s Children is a riveting thriller you’ll find impossible to put down.

©2021 Hoffmann Ventures LLC. All rights reserved. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Kept me listening for the most part

Easy listening and had me wanting more most of the time. Was surprised to notice it was a male author since usually this subject is written by women. The only place that was a little noticeable the author was male was the part when Carly and Gail bonded before the birth of the baby. The listener did not get to experience it at the beginning of the story yet there were multiple references to it throughout the story. A slight slip up on character development, but definitely more good than bad in this book and that slight slip up is not enough to keep me from recommending this story. Performers were excellent all of them!

A soup of clichés

As far as the reading goes, I don’t have a particular problem. The story, however, is stale. Each character does not have any serious development, and in the end they are all rushed into a conclusion to allow the author to wrap it all up in a pretty bow-tie. Each and every character is such a cliché. To make it all worse, the author throws in there a bunch of psychological theories as subjects of study, almost as if to show that the author is proficient on the subject matter, where in fact they could have opted for a more profound development of one or two of the main characters. Supposedly this is a debut, but still, it left me underwhelmed on all fronts.

Terrible

How many smells can you use to describe a baby?? None of the characters was likable whatsoever. Old storyline but not written as well as many. Returning it if I can.

OPC

A more than good read! A little disappointing at the ending but I guess there really wasn’t more to be told.

Not So Thrilling Thriller

Overall it was well written but the characters and their decisions took me by surprise. The subject matter allowed for a thought provoking discussion at our book club.

Engaging & heartbreaking

I had no idea what this book was about when I started, but it engaged me immediately

Kept Me Guessing

I strongly recommend Other People’s Children. The book is a very good, unpredictable story with plenty of twists and turns. Tension and curiosity build as the book progresses. The characters are well formed and believable and the emotions they feel well portrayed as the story unfolds. The narration is really excellent and I was totally gripped as I couldn’t wait to find out what happens to the baby.