Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“You thought she was safe. You were wrong.”

WHY have I not read T.M. Logan’s books before now?! I’ve had a couple on my shelf for years but with his brand new book releasing very soon, I just had to start with The Daughter. And WOW. This is one you absolutely MUST pick up and I don’t think I’ll ever stop thinking about it! Such a heart-pounding, pulse-quickening read, filled to the brim with suspense, tension and those short sharp chapters you completely fly through. Absolute perfection! I’m so happy to be sharing my review of The Daughter, releasing 27th Feb!

About the book

Lauren can’t wait to see her daughter again, to pick her up from university at the end of her first term. But when she arrives at her hall and knocks on the door to her room, a stranger opens it.

At first, Lauren thinks she must have the wrong room, or the wrong floor. Maybe even the wrong building.

But she soon realises the truth: Evie’s not there. She hasn’t been there for weeks. So where is she?

The beginning

Good god, as soon as that first chapter was over, I knew I’d bloody love this book. Right from the start, I was questioning everything and flying through chapters. It’s instantly pacy and it’s one of those books that hooks you in effortlessly. We meet Lauren who is heading to her daughter’s uni accommodation to bring her home for Christmas. And she can’t wait. I don’t have kids, but I imagine when you let your baby into the wild for the first time, it’s hard. And we can really feel that from Lauren. All she wants is her girl back home for two glorious weeks before she has to return. But the trip certainly doesn’t go to plan. When she gets to her daughter’s room, Evie’s not there. And upon more investigation, Evie hasn’t been there for weeks. She voluntarily withdrew from her course and no one can tell Lauren where she is. The tension was high. I felt the fear and the panic radiating from Lauren’s thoughts and actions. It was all so brilliantly written and I couldn’t get enough! The more Lauren searches for answers, the more we realise Evie had lied. And we learn it isn’t the first time she’d disappeared…

“I remember that we’ve been in contact in the last few days and a new idea starts to take hold. An idea that grows stronger with every breath: that maybe the distance that has grown between my daughter and I was far, far greater than I ever imagined. That perhaps I don’t know her at all any more.”

The ending of literally every chapter had me eager to start the next. I loved the cliff hangers, the intrigue, the uncertainty. And when we read some chapters from Evie’s perspective from months ago, we start to understand where it all began. A lost dog. Getting to know Scott, the dog’s owner. Multiple meet ups, their own little secret. Of course, my first thought was that Scott had abducted her, that he had something to do with her disappearance. But I knew it would be much, much deeper than that. Lauren’s dedication to finding out the truth really tugged at my heart. Her son, Lucas, is also doing all he can to help get to the bottom of his sister’s disappearance. I was so drawn to the CCTV footage, perplexed by Evie’s left belongings. Craig Farley, a security guy for the university was an absolute angel in pointing Lauren and Lucas in the right direction. I loved meeting new characters, some I couldn’t help but suspect. This book was stuck in my head constantly. I couldn’t put it down for long before I’d just have to pick it back up. I just absolutely loved it so far!

The middle

Following Evie’s trail was so incredibly addictive. You really feel like you’re zipping around the streets of London with Lauren and Lucas, trying your hardest to get information from people who simply can’t give it due to data protection, or won’t give it to you because of something else they’re trying to hide. Who can be trusted? What has Evie gotten herself into that she maybe can’t get out of? Lauren and Lucas form quite the team when it comes to playing detective, doing things they probably shouldn’t do to find Evie. But, putting myself in their shoes, I would absolutely do the same. No question. I quickly sensed they were heading into dangerous territory as soon as they’re given the address of a nightclub. I didn’t trust the owner, yet I was sure they were heading in the right direction. Their trail was getting slightly warm. The theories running through my head kept changing and intensifying, and I could not stop thinking about where Evie was and what she was doing. Whether she was safe, if she even wanted to come home. I couldn’t wait to find out the truth.

“…perhaps there is a pattern to these young women going missing. A pattern repeated across the capital, the modus operandi of someone who might have done this many times before. The pattern of a predator.“

There is the most brilliant mid-point twist that changed everything. I loved it so much! It made me look at the plot in a whole new way and it had me even more desperate to get to Evie’s chapters. There is so much more to this whole thing than we first realise and I loved how more and more layers are added to this already gripping story. Lucas continued to be my favourite character; the different ways in which he thinks to help (even though some of his ideas were certainly not legal) and how he just acts as a person was so brilliant. I thought he added so much to this story, and Lauren’s search for Evie wouldn’t be the same without him, nor would Lauren be at the stage she was at if it wasn’t for him thinking in new ways. They really did need each other, and I loved that about them. There are also some unnerving scenes which built up so much intrigue and excitement; coordinates of Lauren’s house posted through their hotel room door, being followed, videos posted online spreading fake news, an arrest. And knowing that more than one person was keeping secrets in this story had me reading and reading and reading. It was so addictive!

The end

After finding and meeting another mother going through the exact same situation, there is more information, more hope in finding their missing daughters together. There were eerie similarities between Lauren and Ruth’s situation, what their daughters could potentially be caught up in. Was the same person responsible for both disappearances? As they travel together to their next suspicious location, I was so drawn into the beautiful descriptions of London, as well as the thoughts and feelings they were experiencing as they arrive at a dodgy looking warehouse. Dread. Fear. Uncertainty. And I felt them all too. I was there in that warehouse. I was sneaking from room to room with Lauren and Ruth as they look for something, anything which could lead them to their daughters. The risk, the danger Lauren was putting them both in felt so intense that I forgot to breathe at times! I saw every single detail play out in front of me and it was utterly brilliant. But there’s another fabulous twist, an unexpected reveal which changed the whole tone of the book and had me thinking about everything in a whole new light. Just wow.

“The horror of it comes rushing up fast, as if a huge black void has opened up at my feet and I’m standing right at the edge. Nothing to hold onto, nothing below me at all but cold, black emptiness.”

The ending chapters were wild. The truth was insane. There were so many intricate parts to that ending, so many components that worked so incredibly well together leading up to that finale. It’s so twisty and even though it was very late at night when I got to this point in the book, I could not stop reading until I’d finished! It was such an exciting ride and I never knew what fate would have in store for these characters. It was so tense and one of the best endings I’ve read for so many reasons. At times, I feared the absolute worst, the author perfectly instilling a sense of fear and dread into us readers. It was truly magnificent. And the final chapter ends in such a satisfying way. It isn’t often I miss characters after a book is done, but I’ll certainly miss these ones. And this book is one I’ll be thinking about for a long, long time! I am so desperate to read more of T.M. Logan’s work after this. And I’m sure he’s a new auto-buy author for me! If you love thrillers as much as I do, then you will adore this – genuinely one of the best I’ve ever read. I’ll be recommending it to everyone!

Overall thoughts

The Daughter is one of those books where putting it down or taking a break actually feels painful. It’s my favourite type of thriller and it is written to perfection! I was completely hooked from the start and from then on, I couldn’t get enough of this storyline. I was obsessed with finding out the truth about Lauren’s daughter, Evie. I was constantly guessing the plot, only to find myself way off when the twists and reveals were thrown our way. The constant feeling of not knowing what was around every corner was addictive, and the surprises we got were so satisfying. There’s a consistent layer of tension, of fear, of uncertainty throughout the entire book and it felt so damn good to read. The characters are developed so incredibly well and because of that, it felt such a realistic read. Pacy, gripping and all-consuming. A fantastic thriller!

HUGE thanks to the author, T.M. Logan, and the team at Zaffre Books for my proof copy! There are still a few days to pre-order The Daughter before its publication on the 27th Feb, which you can do through Amazon or wherever you buy your books. Make sure you’re following the author over on Instagram, X/Twitter and Bluesky for more updates!

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