A moonshine of the mind.

Three childhood friends, Adam, J.J. and Danny, spent all of their free time together until, one night, Danny is stolen. Not long after, another little girl from 20 miles away is taken. Despite intensive searching, they are never found.
Twenty years later, Adam feels the pull to return to his old home only to find that a new child has gone missing that very day, a girl called Rachel who lived in the house next door to that of his old playmate, J.J. Still beset with grief and guilt at the death of Danny, Adam still has nightmares about his and the first girl's deaths. Now he believes he must solve this latest kidnap and bring Rachel home, alive. But who will believe his terrifying visions that he believes come from the child, especially as his father and grandfather had both been deemed mad and he, himself, had been considered unstable as a boy, the very reason his grandmother had sent him away from the small rural town so many years before?
The race is on to find Rachel, but with so much forested land to cover and Rachel's own asthma problem and no inhaler, the chances are very bleak.

Superbly written to build both characters and tension as the book proceeds, this paranormal thriller is not airy fairy ghosts and magical appearances, but hard nitty gritty, brief nightmare visions, often puzzling and terrifying to Adam. Dialogue and emotions feel real. Hidden family secrets uncovered. People are not simply good or evil but a realistic mix. It all seems totally plausible right to the very satisfying ending.

The book is further enhanced by the narration of Alex Knox. His voice is pleasing to the ear, with good intonation and conveying emotion but without overdramatisation. He paces the text well, not too quickly, further building a feel for the Adam character. All of the protagonists have their own distinctly appropriate voicings, a!so. A good performance which enhances the story.

I was fortunate in being freely gifted, at my request, a complimentary copy of Prodigal, from the rights holder, via Audiobook Boom. Thank you so much. I am not often a fan of straightforward paranormal stories but this one was not a normal paranormal book. It felt real, possible, but still mysterious. Life can be like that.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening and recommend it as a very good read.

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