Although the author obviously has talent, she has wasted little of it on this book about characters with whom audiences do not wish to identify.

The mother in this book is a basket case, completely uncaring about her family, and the reader finds himself unable to sympathize with her over the loss of her son. Most readers will sympathize with her husband instead; he has born the brunt of her problems for years and continues to do so after she loses her son at a class reunion.

I really had problems getting into this book. Admittedly, at the end, it did leave me thinking about it somewhat, but it is slow and unrealistic. I don't consider this book to be any sort of "future classic." If I don't consider reading a book for a 2nd time, then something's wrong (my friends have always teased me about reading books over and over); this book was borrowed from a friend and returned promptly when I finished it.

The kid is found and he's fine. That's not a spoiler; you can read it on the jacket. However, I had to skip to the second half to see for myself, and I read in other reviews that other people did, too. I really didn't want to be reading a book about a child being kidnapped and killed or abused. And that's not what it was at all, so rest assured.

The first half of the book is about what happens with a family when their middle child, a three-year-old, is kidnapped. The second half is about what happens with them when he comes back, nine years later. They're a dysfunctional family either way, and the most interesting question for me that this story raises is whether they would have been like that even if the boy hadn't been kidnapped (and whether the boy wasn't in fact better off having been raised by his kidnappers). It really made me stop and think about my own performance as a mother, whether I'm giving my kids enough attention or am going through life in a self-centered haze.

The (slightly) negative points for me were, first, the sometimes too long introspective passages from the mother's point of view. I skipped over some of those. We already know her mindset and her self-reproach and self-absorbedness fairly early on, and I felt that it was repeated too often. The other thing that bothered me a bit was the too tidy coincidence of so many key characters from the past either being dead or having memory loss due to Alzheimer's or catatonia. It was only nine years, not fifty. It's obvious that the author simply didn't want to have to get deeply into the kidnapper's motivation, or was advised by her editor to cut out 100 pages somewhere, and this was a quick way to avoid those issues. I really would have been interested to have at least one scene where the kidnapper spoke, if only in an internal monologue.

This book was just ok. The plot-line was interesting but, honestly, the only character I liked was Reese/Vincent. Sam/Ben I liked, as well, but, since we did not really get to know him too well, this was a minor interest for me. I actually had a fondness for Reese. That poor kid! Anyone interested in psychology might find Reese and his struggles fascinating. And I strongly disliked Beth. For the main character that we followed in the book, that is not a good thing.
I also felt the book was a tad long. While I get the approach of dwelling on things like Beth was (really in her mindset), it was too much for me many times. . .and, again, led to me not liking Beth. I wanted her to pull herself together and/or get help. I got excited about mid-book and then started checking out again.
Overall, the Reese and Sam relationship was the most intriguing to me and I felt that the story/plot could have been told in a way that allowed me to connect better.

2.5/5

I've read and reread this book a thousand times over. I get lost in the sorrow I feel for this family. Everytime I read this story I feel differently about the choices this family makes. I don't have children so it is hard to imagine the heart break of having one kidnapped. I think it is impossible to not get attached to these characters.

Oprah book club's first pick. Wasn't bad, but wasn't that good either.

I read this book the first time back in the 90’s when it came out, and I really
loved it and I would have given it 5 stars. For some reason, I wanted to reread it 25 years later. It was different this time around, interestingly. Back then I was the mother of a 10 year old and was about the same age as the main character, Beth. I empathized with her and wrung my hands with her. This time, I am retired and a grandmother to two. I did not like it as well as the first time, though I did like it a lot! First off, it is somewhat dated, as far as social mores go, which is not uncommon, but I find that I sort of dislike Beth, and I feel a bit judgmental regarding her. Not one of us could say how we would be after having a child lost, disappeared, gone-for 9 years. Even the healthiest of families can unravel when a disaster happens. There are just some things that occur in the book that go beyond crazy grief. My heart ached for the eldest child, Vincent. ACHED. Do I have to like Beth to like the story? No, not at all. The story is compelling, well told. I rooted for this family, and invested in them. The relationships were interesting, the dynamics were realistic. It was definitely a family drama, not a police procedural. There were moments I laughed out loud. There were a couple of times I teared up. I definitely am glad I reread it and I want to read more by this author. Strangely enough, being the avid reader that I am, I have not read another by her. I plan to remedy this!

Oprah's Book Club: A mother's 3 year old son was kidnapped while her back was turned checking into a hotel. I related most with the brother that didn't watch his brother like the mother asked. This was the subplot that held the book together. The mother recognizes her lost son 9 years later mowing lawns. He was innocent in the whole thing and it was sad for him to have two families and to feel torn between having to choose between them.

A horrible thing happens, and the rest is a bore. Yawn.

This book relies heavily on coincidence, which is usually a sign of bad writing. In this case, however, the coincidence is more of a result of a "what if" question, rather than a "how can I loop this all together" scenario. I think its an interesting idea, what happens when the little boy is found, but the bad guys feel like the good guys and the good guys don't feel like anything?
One thing that struck me about this book was how self-centered the main character was. I can't comprehend what she went through, of course, but on some level it just wasn't about her anymore, I would think. Ehh, read it and see what you think.

I'm traumatized. Child gets kidnapped. Family completely falls apart & remaining kids are neglected. Everyone is messed up and struggling to live day by day. Fast forward a bunch of years. Older kidnapped kid is found & taken from his not-really family. He doesn't fit in with his real family and everyone is tragically messed up. They work a few things out, but everyone is emotionally scarred and yes, messed up for life.

What the heck? Oprah likes her book club to be super duper sad. All the time.

This was a heartbreaking story of a lost 3 year old boy. His mother who already treated his older brother badly, literally fell apart after Ben was kidnapped. So the novel expounds ad nauseam on all the particulars of how the FBI and the cops searched for the child, for many years. The end was a little bit settled but not really.