-
The Child
- Narrated by: Mandy Williams, Rosalyn Landor, Katharine Lee McEwan, Steve West
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $28.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Suspect
- By: Fiona Barton
- Narrated by: Susan Duerden, Fiona Hardingham, Nicholas Guy Smith, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When two 18-year-old girls go missing in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft, and frantic with worry. What were the girls up to before they disappeared? Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth - and this time is no exception. But she can’t help but think of her own son, whom she hasn’t seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling.
-
-
So boring
- By NJS on 02-15-19
By: Fiona Barton
-
Local Gone Missing
- By: Fiona Barton
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Glaister, Jayne Entwistle, Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.
By: Fiona Barton
-
The Baby Shower
- By: S.E. Lynes
- Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She bursts into my life like a storm, and nothing is the same again. One by one, I watch as my friends fall under her spell. Only I see that her smiles don’t reach her cold, furious eyes. And when I’m accused of things I didn’t do, when my home is vandalized, I know she’s behind it. But she only lets her mask slip when no one is looking, so if I say anything, I’ll look crazy. So when the baby shower comes around, I’m sitting on a velvet sofa in a posh hotel room, surrounded by balloons. But that afternoon, I finally learn the unbelievable truth. There is no baby....
-
-
Psychological page-turner
- By Sheila S on 04-04-22
By: S.E. Lynes
-
After the Wedding
- By: Laura Elliot
- Narrated by: Michele Moran
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christine and Jessica cross paths working at the advertising agency Christine runs with her husband. These two women are about to uncover the dark secrets of their own traumatic pasts. But they have no idea that they are connected. The shocking truth of what happened at the wedding all those years ago, and what became of Margaret, is going to blow their lives apart in more ways than each of them could ever have imagined....
-
-
It was okay...
- By Daisey on 06-01-22
By: Laura Elliot
-
The Truth About Melody Browne
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When she was 9 years old, Melody Browne's house burned down, and it took all of her childhood memories with it. Now she's a single mother of a teenage boy living in Central London. She hasn't seen her parents since she left home at 15, but she doesn't mind. She's better off on her own. She works as a dinner lady at her son's school and has no idea where her humdrum life is heading. But one summer's night, a hypnotist inadvertently unlocks memories of her childhood, and her whole life is turned upside down.
-
-
So much potential.....what a letdown!!!
- By cheryl coen on 11-15-20
By: Lisa Jewell
-
Try Not to Breathe
- A Novel
- By: Holly Seddon
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden, Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alex Dale is lost. Destructive habits have cost her a marriage and a journalism career. All she has left is her routine: a morning run until her body aches, then a few hours of forgettable work before the past grabs hold and drags her down. Every day is treading water, every night is drowning. Until Alex discovers Amy Stevenson. Amy Stevenson, who was just another girl from a nearby town until the day she was found unconscious after a merciless assault.
-
-
Couldn't stop listening
- By Kathleen Ammon on 02-28-16
By: Holly Seddon
-
The Suspect
- By: Fiona Barton
- Narrated by: Susan Duerden, Fiona Hardingham, Nicholas Guy Smith, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When two 18-year-old girls go missing in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight: desperate, bereft, and frantic with worry. What were the girls up to before they disappeared? Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth - and this time is no exception. But she can’t help but think of her own son, whom she hasn’t seen in two years, since he left home to go travelling.
-
-
So boring
- By NJS on 02-15-19
By: Fiona Barton
-
Local Gone Missing
- By: Fiona Barton
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Glaister, Jayne Entwistle, Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective—or she was before a medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing—the weekenders renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.
By: Fiona Barton
-
The Baby Shower
- By: S.E. Lynes
- Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
She bursts into my life like a storm, and nothing is the same again. One by one, I watch as my friends fall under her spell. Only I see that her smiles don’t reach her cold, furious eyes. And when I’m accused of things I didn’t do, when my home is vandalized, I know she’s behind it. But she only lets her mask slip when no one is looking, so if I say anything, I’ll look crazy. So when the baby shower comes around, I’m sitting on a velvet sofa in a posh hotel room, surrounded by balloons. But that afternoon, I finally learn the unbelievable truth. There is no baby....
-
-
Psychological page-turner
- By Sheila S on 04-04-22
By: S.E. Lynes
-
After the Wedding
- By: Laura Elliot
- Narrated by: Michele Moran
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christine and Jessica cross paths working at the advertising agency Christine runs with her husband. These two women are about to uncover the dark secrets of their own traumatic pasts. But they have no idea that they are connected. The shocking truth of what happened at the wedding all those years ago, and what became of Margaret, is going to blow their lives apart in more ways than each of them could ever have imagined....
-
-
It was okay...
- By Daisey on 06-01-22
By: Laura Elliot
-
The Truth About Melody Browne
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Antonia Beamish
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When she was 9 years old, Melody Browne's house burned down, and it took all of her childhood memories with it. Now she's a single mother of a teenage boy living in Central London. She hasn't seen her parents since she left home at 15, but she doesn't mind. She's better off on her own. She works as a dinner lady at her son's school and has no idea where her humdrum life is heading. But one summer's night, a hypnotist inadvertently unlocks memories of her childhood, and her whole life is turned upside down.
-
-
So much potential.....what a letdown!!!
- By cheryl coen on 11-15-20
By: Lisa Jewell
-
Try Not to Breathe
- A Novel
- By: Holly Seddon
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden, Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alex Dale is lost. Destructive habits have cost her a marriage and a journalism career. All she has left is her routine: a morning run until her body aches, then a few hours of forgettable work before the past grabs hold and drags her down. Every day is treading water, every night is drowning. Until Alex discovers Amy Stevenson. Amy Stevenson, who was just another girl from a nearby town until the day she was found unconscious after a merciless assault.
-
-
Couldn't stop listening
- By Kathleen Ammon on 02-28-16
By: Holly Seddon
-
The New Wife
- A Totally Gripping Psychological Thriller with a Twist You Won't See Coming
- By: Sue Watson
- Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My darling son, Sam, is marrying his childhood sweetheart, and I couldn’t be prouder of the man he’s grown into. Walking out on his abusive father all those years ago was the best thing I ever did. And today he stands, tall and handsome, saying "I do" to my dream daughter-in-law. If I hadn’t pushed them together all those years ago, he might never have found a girl as perfect as Lauren. It’s true what they say, mother always knows best.
-
-
IT WAS NOT OBVIOUS!!
- By Yolonda on 12-12-21
By: Sue Watson
-
The Night She Disappeared
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Joanne Froggatt
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend. One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite place for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”
-
-
Oh my… gave me chills
- By Kelly on 09-10-21
By: Lisa Jewell
-
The Family Holiday
- By: Shalini Boland
- Narrated by: Katie Villa
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The white-washed Italian villa is perfect. I thought it might feel odd, living in a stranger’s house for the summer, but as my husband and children swim in the infinity pool, I start to relax. And then, in the back of a wardrobe, I find something that shatters everything.... Sparkling green eyes, square jaw, lopsided smile. A young man with his arm around a beautiful woman. The picture is old and faded, but I’d recognize him anywhere. The man is my husband.
-
-
Entertaining
- By Christel Thomas on 04-02-22
By: Shalini Boland
-
Losing You
- A Novel
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nina Landry awakens on her 40th birthday, anticipating a day filled with excitement. She, her new boyfriend, and her two children are taking a trip - leaving their home on Sandling Island, off the coast of England, for a dream vacation. As soon as her 15-year-old daughter, Charlie, returns from a sleepover, they can get ready to leave. But Charlie doesn’t come home at the expected time. As minutes and then hours tick by, Nina’s annoyance soon changes to concern, and then to a chilling certainty that something terrible has happened.
-
-
Really good book!
- By Julie on 02-25-20
By: Nicci French
-
Invisible Girl
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Donna Banya, Katherine Kelly, Connor Swindells
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Owen Pick’s life is falling apart. In his 30s and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct - accusations he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel forums, where he meets a charismatic and mysterious figure. Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen.
-
-
Hate it ended!! Lisa Jewell, you did it again!!!!
- By Lisa Lawson on 10-15-20
By: Lisa Jewell
-
The Downstairs Neighbor
- By: Helen Cooper
- Narrated by: Jasmine Blackborow
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From her downstairs apartment in suburban London, Emma has often overheard the everyday life of the seemingly perfect family upstairs - Steph, Paul and teenage daughter Freya - but has never got to know them. Until one day, she hears something that seizes her attention: Freya has vanished and the police are questioning Steph and Paul about their life. Do either of you have any enemies? Anyone who might want to harm or threaten you?
-
-
PLEASE. ignore the negativity and give it a listen
- By Jerusha on 09-10-21
By: Helen Cooper
-
The Secrets She Keeps
- A Novel
- By: Michael Robotham
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Agatha is pregnant and works part time stocking shelves at a grocery store in a ritzy London suburb, counting down the days until her baby is due. As the hours of her shifts creep by in increasing discomfort, the one thing she looks forward to at work is catching a glimpse of Meghan, the effortlessly chic customer whose elegant lifestyle dazzles her. Meghan has it all: two perfect children, a handsome husband, a happy marriage, and a stylish group of friends, and she writes perfectly droll confessional posts on her popular parenting blog.
-
-
Struggled to finish
- By Robin on 09-01-17
By: Michael Robotham
-
The Therapist
- A Novel
- By: B. A. Paris
- Narrated by: Olivia Dowd, Thomas Judd
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive.... As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before. Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem....
-
-
Disappointing
- By Travis on 07-18-21
By: B. A. Paris
-
Playing Nice
- A Novel
- By: JP Delaney
- Narrated by: Ben Elliot, Amelia Cormack, Peter Forbes
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pete Riley answers the door one morning and lets in a parent's worst nightmare. On his doorstep is Miles Lambert, a stranger who breaks the devastating news that Pete's son, Theo, isn't actually his son - he is the Lamberts', switched at birth by an understaffed hospital while their real son was sent home with Miles and his wife, Lucy. For Pete, his partner Maddie, and the little boy they've been raising for the past two years, life will never be the same again.
-
-
A real page turner!
- By Sheila S on 07-30-20
By: JP Delaney
-
The Husband's Secret
- By: Liane Moriarty
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive....
-
-
Misrepresented as a thriller
- By hfm2211 on 10-08-18
By: Liane Moriarty
-
The Birthday Party
- By: Wendy Dranfield
- Narrated by: Sarah Borges
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kathy Hamilton drives away from her sister-in-law’s pristine-white suburban house in Maple Falls certain she’s left her daughter in safe hands. On the hottest day of the year, a birthday is the perfect excuse to gather friends, family, and neighbors around the pool for a barbecue. But when she returns hours later to find her little girl has vanished, her world shatters.
-
-
fabulous
- By lisa on 01-16-22
By: Wendy Dranfield
-
Blue Monday
- Frieda Klein, Book 1
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Beth Chalmers
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frieda Klein is a solitary, incisive psychotherapist who spends her sleepless nights walking along the ancient rivers that have been forced underground in modern London. She believes that the world is a messy, uncontrollable place. The abduction of five-year-old Matthew Farraday provokes a national outcry and a desperate police hunt. And when his face is splashed over the newspapers, Frieda cannot ignore the coincidence: one of her patients has been having dreams in which he has a hunger for just such a child.
-
-
Engrossing thriller - an easy "read"
- By Hilary on 08-15-13
By: Nicci French
Publisher's Summary
The author of the stunning New York Times best seller The Widow returns with a brand-new novel of twisting psychological suspense.
As an old house is demolished in a gentrifying section of London, a workman discovers a tiny skeleton, buried for years. For journalist Kate Waters, it's a story that deserves attention. She cobbles together a piece for her newspaper, but at a loss for answers, she can only pose a question: Who is the Building Site Baby?
As Kate investigates, she unearths connections to a crime that rocked the city decades earlier: A newborn baby was stolen from the maternity ward in a local hospital and was never found. Her heartbroken parents were left devastated by the loss.
But there is more to the story, and Kate is drawn - house by house - into the pasts of the people who once lived in this neighborhood that has given up its greatest mystery. And she soon finds herself the keeper of unexpected secrets that erupt in the lives of three women - and torn between what she can and cannot tell.
Critic Reviews
"Tense, tantalizing, and ultimately very satisfying...definitely one of the year’s must-reads.” (Lee Child, number-one New York Times best-selling author)
"Fiona Barton brings back reporter Kate Waters from the best-selling The Widow and delivers another winner with The Child....A truly engaging tale.” (Associated Press)
“[Jean is] a fascinating puzzle…Barton knows how to ramp up tension.” (The New York Times Book Review)
More from the same
What listeners say about The Child
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Denys
- 07-18-17
Lost in Narration
Any additional comments?
It's a good story. I did confuse the characters as the narrator's voices were not distinct and the name Anna is not that much different from Emma. As noted by previous reviewers, I too was bored by the endless ruminating and internal dialogue.
20 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Yates
- 05-09-18
Great mystery enhanced by narration
A nicely crafted and satisfying mystery. Barton uses four main narrative threads with four different point of view characters: Kate, a middle-aged reporter; Angela, a 60-something woman who has lasting grief rooted in the snatching of her newborn from a hospital decades earlier; Emma, a 40-something book editor with lasting emotional issues from a rocky childhood; and Jude, Emma's mother. The narrators are all excellent, with the one caveat that the woman portraying Kate's chapters talks very slowly (but this is easily remedied by putting her on 1.25 speed). The one chapter narrated from a male character's perspective feels a bit odd, though, as it is only a one-off.
These four women, their secrets and scars and needs, are brought to the surface and intensified when the remains of a baby are found on a building site. The titular child at first appears to be the missing Alice, Angela's stolen baby. But as the book progresses, other possibilities arise and the plot becomes more complex and the psychological tolls each of these women has suffered becomes evermore taut and harrowing.
The true protagonist of the book is Kate. In her role as reporter, she is the one that becomes interested in the baby that is found on Howard Street. It is clear immediately that the body is decades old, so it is Kate's own personal drive to make this into a story (and escape the mundane and crass celebrity stories she is inundated with) that propels the press coverage forward and, in turn, contributes to the investigation. More importantly, her doggedness not only helps to reveal the truth, but also gives each of the other women some form of release, empowerment, closure, or justice. In the end, there is a well-constructed twist and resolution (though I thought Kate was a bit slow on the uptake in grasping exactly what was going on), that manages to be gasp-worthy but not so improbable to destroy the grounded nature of the book. And it is the three-dimensional depiction of the four women, of their grief and anger and uncertainty, that makes this more than a run of the mill mystery. Barton gets full marks for well-realized characters and an exciting conclusion that avoided jumping any sharks. Recommended.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mel
- 07-25-17
Pacing Problems
Had this not been so highly recommended by a friend, I don't think I could have pushed on to finish this book because of the painstakingly slow progress and the straight recounting style the author, a former journalist herself, uses to tell this story. Usually, I appreciate a *show-don't-tell* type of read, feeling engaged in the process of fleshing out a novel. Too often Barton seemed to dawdle on the details in her procedural, until what were supposed to be interesting pieces of a puzzle felt like belabored points.
This is a book that is probably best as a companion for a couple of days, one to listen to a little while, set down at night, and pick up at your leisure. A good book for occupying time, because it's not a bad book, it's just not a book that holds you by the throat or one that is written with beautiful prose you might scribble down in a journal. Myself, by the end of what felt like a long slog, I felt too worn down to even care about the heart-rending journey I'd just listened to.
About the narration: Barton does very well including multiple points of view through her characters. The cast does a good job in most cases with their narration but I felt the total presentation lacked consistency. Some of the transitions between characters were confusing.
36 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 04-25-18
You'll need patience
It's slow at first, but if you stick it out to be end, it's definitely worth the wait
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John Tebbutt
- 03-08-18
Sluggish and poorly read
I could not make it through this book. The story is slow to develop, obvious, and fails to pique the interest.
Aside from Rosalyn Landor, the readers are slow and monotonous. Attempts at accents are inept and irritating.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Julie
- 08-17-17
Avid mystery story listener loved this audio book!
This is now one of my top rated listens! Great narration, interesting story and characters. Really nicely done!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RueRue
- 07-15-17
Listen to this if you enjoyed "The Widow"
This is a bit of a slow starter, with several shifting POVs that require attention to keep the characters separate. It helps that there are multiple narrators. Unfortunately, the voices were not particularly engaging. The outcome of the disparate plot lines was apparent to me at about the 2/3 point, but it was rewarding to have everything nicely concluded with an emotional ending. If you liked this author's previous book, " The Widow", this is similar in style.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Toni
- 04-17-18
Very depressing storyline
I love this author! However I was not too impressed with this book! I think it was beautifully written and great narration but the story was slow and was pretty depressing.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Teresa
- 07-03-17
tears
Well I knew what the ending was going to be by chapter 50.. But the ending chapters were great!!! The tears we're flowing!!!!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jayne M
- 08-05-17
Tedious
The storyline is very labored. Coupled with strange narration this made for a very boring audiobook experience. Not interesting enough to continue listening.
4 people found this helpful