Single Mother

An Absolutely Unputdownable Psychological Thriller with a Jaw-Dropping Twist

By: Samantha Hayes

Narrated by: Zara Ramm

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

"She’s nowhere," Mel cries frantically down the line. "She’s completely disappeared." Mel can hardly breathe her chest is so tight. She lets out the sob she’s been holding in. "And it’s all my fault...."

I nearly threw the letter about the inheritance away with the recycling. Late for work, worrying about how I would afford new school shoes for Kate, I just assumed it was a mistake. But perhaps moving to a new home in a quiet seaside town would be the fresh start we both need. Away from the school bullies making Kate’s life a misery, and out of the clutches of my dangerous ex. 

But in this new place where nobody knows our names, why do I hear locals whispering behind my back and have the uneasy feeling that my daughter is hiding something from me? Am I reading too much into the threatening messages left around our new home? Are the glimpses of my ex’s battered red truck real, or imagined?   

I will do anything to protect my daughter. She’s all I’ve ever wanted and all I really have, but the moment I opened that letter and accepted the gift, I walked us right into a dangerous trap. I need to get Kate to open up about the secret she’s keeping, but she’s not spoken a word since she found that little pile of bones buried in the garden.   

Days later, she goes missing.... 

A jaw-dropping, addictive, and totally twisty psychological thriller that will have you sleeping with the light on! Perfect for anyone who loved The Girl on the Train, Friend Request, or The Wife Between Us. 

Listeners love Samantha Hayes: 

"Oh my life! This book had me captivated from the very first page!... I loved this book! There are some huge shocks and twists which will have you gasping!... Clever, captivating, devious, exciting and non-stop. I highly recommend this book!" (The Book Reviewing Mum Blog, five stars)  

"OMG!... Hits you between the eyes with the most perfectly placed plot twist that had never even crossed your mind! You certainly won’t see where this one is going so just buckle up and enjoy the ride.... A brilliant page-turner! It has an incredibly satisfying ending that sent shivers down my spine and an exquisite twist that made my heart sing! Loved, loved, loved it!" (My Chestnut Reading Tree, five stars)

©2021 Samantha Hayes (P)2020 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

Another publication that needs more editing

With a one hour and three minutes left in the book, one sentence is said twice, “well a package of digestive do, I haven’t forgotten the cake“. This is been so many books lately that the publisher has failed to edit properly. Sometimes the narrator says things twice and different inflections used, and this case it sounds like the same phrase but said twice. Very frustrating. Aunties publisher supposed to be a professional?

Good Read

Original storyline, not the same old, same old over and over again. Looked forward to having time to listen, didn't want it to end. Good narrator.

I love the ending of the book

Great book! Easy to follow. And a great twisty ending. My favorite book of all time is her other book Liar’s Wife.

Good Read

I loved this book. Likable characters, good story. Good narration. Highly recommend this book. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Awful

Everything about this book was long winded. The characters were boring and the story itself tried to come together at every chapter and failed.

pretty good story

Not sure why it was called single mother. I mean she was a single mother but that had nothing to do with the story line. I would have called it the inheritance. But whatever. It was a good story.

Soap opera

The story rambles with poor transitions through events. The main character is a poorly developed mass of emotional drama. Couldn’t wait to finish it.

Far-fetched, sorry to say….

Author Samantha Hayes pens a tale that starts out so well and had me hooked, then midway through, the plot takes a drastic drop, zigzagging all over the place. Narration by Zara Ramm is, as always, precise but even she couldn’t save this one. I have to say I was disappointed as I had high hopes but about midway through, its appeal was lost, I didn’t care anymore and I quickly fast-forwarded to the end. Thankfully, it was an Audible special for $4.99 and I didn’t waste a treasured credit.
👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

is there a plot?

I'm halfway thru and there is just no story here. no mystery, no excitement. ill try to finish but its not looking good that I will make it to the end of this story.

You won’t want to stop!

I loved every part of this book!!
I loved how it’s not easy to get confused with so many characters like most books. I love how each title ends with you wanting to just hear a piece more because you just have to know what’s going on. I always feel like I can pretty well guess the problem, but this book through me and I actually enjoyed that far more! Usually when that happened it doesn’t make since and is quiet annoying but not this book! Every part of this book was perfect!! Want more like it!

BORING

Definitely not a suspense/thriller! Author's other books are much better. I really struggled to finish (narrators' voice could have had something to do with it).

Well deserved 5⭐️...HIGHLY RECOMMEND

IVE READ ALL SAMANTHA HAYES BOOKS AND THIS WAS DEFO NEAR THE TOP WITH HER VERY BEST
SOMETIMES FELT BIT PREDICTABLE, BUT THEN COMPLETELY GETS YOU, AT OTHER PARTS
KEEP THEM COMING,LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT RELEASE PLEASE!!

Predictable

I wanted to like this book and held out to the end but the characters were annoying and frustratingly so plus the story was predictable should be free

I am a big fan of SH and this is amazing

I love this story, I usually use audible to relax and fall asleep to the stories but this one I listened to over the day and loved it

Fascinating story

I really enjoyed this book, it really got me thinking. Nothing seemed right, but always looked good on the surface. Fast moving and fascinating.

O.M.G. I loved it!!

The start draws you in, but the ending phenomenal. I listened with my mouth open, drawing in a breath.

Sooooo predictable!

Sadly I had to stop listening to this book as it was so tedious and predictable

Disappointing and waste of a credit

I didn’t like any of the characters in this book and the repetitiveness drove me mad. In one paragraph, the words, ‘Mel trailed off’ were used three times. Mel, the main character has had a hard life, but is totally unlikable and stupid. The narrator is annoying and over acts.

I guessed the ‘twist’ early on and it’s almost like the author didn’t think that was enough, and decided to add another one in. The end turns quite disgusting and the subject of child abuse is done with a total lack of sensitivity. It’s like the author tried to add too much in and it became confusing- abandoned child, domestic violence, bullying, job loss, missing child, child abuse, incest, murder.

Even the 12 year old daughter annoyed me.

Too predictable and dull

I struggled to get to the end of the book but held on and there just wasn’t any payout to make it worth it. Too much was predictable and the mother character was infuriating the way she didn’t even properly question her daughter on really important things. Not realistic at all.

Plot seemed OK but writing style so amateur

Not all writers fit my preferred style and I am willing to give and take a bit with thrillers. Sometimes I know I'm not the intended reader type and try to be forgiving .. I'm not expecting literary level writing in a Psych Thriller ( although love it when I get this.. but easy read / listen is more important for me in this genre).

The very amateur level of story telling in this book however made it an impossible listen. I tried really hard to keep going and the plot is actually quite interesting but I've decided to give up.

There appears to be no attempt at characterisation. Dialogue is very awkward and unrealistic. Plot is constantly spelt out .. everything is spelt out. It's incredibly boring...

Just noticed that this author has loads of published books. I guess there's no such thing as a bad book just the disconnect between reader and book... which was definitely the case here. I struggled on for 6 hours and couldn't cope with another 4 so gave up.