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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
A child abduction; the investigation involves the ongoing threat to the child; the conclusion is harrowing
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Some
Some sexual content; the nature of the crime is implied to involve abuse
Substance Use
Barely any
Mild content
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
The psychological weight of not knowing — the specific torture of waiting for information while a child is missing
What this book is about
A small boy is taken from outside a school in broad daylight in Lafferton — simply gone, in the space of a moment that nobody properly witnessed. DCS Simon Serrailler leads the investigation while the town holds its breath and the boy's family lives in a particular kind of suspended despair. Susan Hill's second Serrailler novel is the most emotionally brutal of the series: a child abduction told with restraint that makes the waiting worse than any graphic description could. The investigation's progress is slow, realistic, and accompanied by the constant awareness of what the boy may be suffering.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
second Simon Serrailler novel; child abduction — harrowing
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