The Unheard: A Novel
The Unheard: A Novel book cover

The Unheard: A Novel

Kindle Edition

by
Price
$12.99
Publisher
William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date

Description

"Fans of psychological thrillers with seemingly vulnerable but empowered women who take drastic action to save their families will love this nerve-jangling story." -- Library Journal (starred review) "The English writing team of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French delivers another well-plotted winner... fans will devour it." -- Booklist on The Unheard “With such a unique storyline… the author was able to provide multiple distractions to keep the ending a surprise. The added twist makes it especially interesting as a bit of a bait-and-switch technique… another satisfying story packed with suspense.”xa0 -- Novels Alive on The Unheard "Razor-sharp writing by French expertly amps the tension." -- People on The Lying Room “Full of unexpected turns . . . . Immensely satisfying.”xa0 -- New York Times Book Review on House of Correction "Will leave readers questioning everything they think they know." -- Popsugar on House of Correction "Ingenious . . . French’s best book yet . . . This house of correction is booby-trapped with twists, the floors paved with trapdoors, quicksand churning in the garden. Enter if you dare." -- A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window , on House of Correction “Seamlessly shifts from prison drama to procedural to legal thriller—and finally to an ingenious twist on the locked-room mystery. French continues to impress.”xa0 -- Publishers Weekly on House of Correction --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Nicci French is the pseudonym of English wife-and-husband team Nicci Gerrard and Sean French. Their acclaimed novels of psychological suspense have sold more than 8 million copies around the world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Features & Highlights

  • “Nicci French is a specialist in the kind of evil that burrows from within.” —
  • New York Times Book Review
  • In this new heart-pounding standalone from the internationally bestselling author that
  • People
  • calls “razor sharp,” a single mother suspects her young daughter has witnessed a horrible crime when the girl draws a disturbing picture—but the deadly path to unravel the truth could cost her everything.
  • Maybe Tess is overprotective, but passing her daughter off to her ex and his new young wife fills her with a sense of dread. It’s not that Jason is a bad father—it just hurts to see him enjoying married life with someone else. Still, she owes it to her daughter Poppy to make this arrangement work.
  • But Poppy returns from the weekend tired and withdrawn. And when she shows Tess a crayon drawing—an image so simple and violent that Tess can hardly make sense of it——Poppy can only explain with the words, “He did kill her.”
  • Something is horribly wrong. Tess is certain Poppy saw something—or something happened to her—that she’s too young to understand. Jason insists the weekend went off without a hitch. Doctors advise that Poppy may be reacting to her parents’ separation. And as the days go on, even Poppy’s disturbing memory seems to fade. But a mother knows her daughter, and Tess is determined to discover the truth. Her search will set off an explosive tempest of dark secrets and buried crimes—and more than one life may be at stake.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(931)
★★★★
25%
(776)
★★★
15%
(466)
★★
7%
(217)
★
23%
(714)

Most Helpful Reviews

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What happened here??

Did I miss a critical piece to this story? How did Poppy see what she supposedly saw? I can't make the leap or perform the mental gymnastics. I was trying to piece together what happened and how Poppy was somehow involved. I can't get there. Tess comes off like a crazy woman. Her intuition is just not there and has things so twisted, I was frustrated with her and like the detectives, I was willing her to stop the insanity. I thought this story was too far fetched. No. No. No. Just no.
13 people found this helpful
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Too long of a read for no reason

I can't say that i liked any of the characters but Tess really annoyed me. This book could have been completed in 200 less pages. It took me awhile to finish reading it. It did not hold my attention. The plot was thin and there were holes in it. How does your daughter witness something like that but you are didn't. The book never explained when Poppy was alone with Aiden to witness the crime when it happened at the victim's apartment. Too many holes in this story.
13 people found this helpful
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Yet another endangered child!

What is wrong with you people in the UK? Is every book or movie or TV show going to be about kidnapping or murder or just plain harming children? Like a lot of you, I have been bingeing TV crime shows on Britbox and other venues. Many of these 'entertainments' are about crimes against children: bloody, dismembered, kidnapped, raped, disposed of in hideous ways children.

I like the old Nicci French books. They were fun reads about psychopaths, bad boyfriends, and other bad people. But here is another book about a child in danger. Ugh. No thanks...

I gave it three stars for okay writing. I subtracted two stars for crimes against children.
8 people found this helpful
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Icky People Doing Icky Things

I like Nikki French and their clever plots with good writing. However, there was no one to like in this book. Self-centered Tess and her bratty 3-year old daughter. This child seemed to have no boundaries, let alone manners of any kind. She was extremely over-indulged. Then there was the father of the child, arrogant and possibly a pathological liar.The new boyfriend was a nice nerd and a push-over. Tess went about her business, without being able to see that she was pushy and offensive to others. She was also irrational and invasive--not smart. The ending? How did that happen? Literally. That character must have had a split-personality, for there wasn't a clue or a heads-up about what he was able to do! None of it worked for me.....
6 people found this helpful
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3.33 ish!

3.33!!
One of my favorite authors. This is a good story.

The main character, her thoughts as narrator, felt slightly immature to me.... for lack of a better word. It's possible I'm setting unfair expectations after reading so many 4 and 5 star reads from this duo author magnifique?
However, I will be eagerly awaiting their next book! Thanks William Morrow & Custom House!
3 people found this helpful
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The ending made me regret sticking with it.

I’m willing to tolerate really dumb characters that miss easy solutions early on in order to make, well, a story of it, so I stuck with it. Then the ending. What can I say besides it might have been the worst ending ever, had I been more invested in the book.
3 people found this helpful
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Main character is annoying

Tess spent years with Jason, producing a daughter named Poppy, however they never married. Jason breaks up with Tess and gets a new much younger woman who he marries and moves into their home. Tess is working through the hurt and trying to co-parent with Jason. Tess has a new boyfriend she likes and is adjusting to living in her new home with Poppy. When Poppy comes home after a weekend with Jason and draws a frightening picture Tess is convinced Poppy saw something while in her fathers care. Poppy continues to show odd behavior, and Tess is determined to find out what Poppy saw. As Tess starts to question everyone in her life, she appears to be coming unhinged to all those around her, however a series of events shows Tess just may be on to something and maybe Poppy did see something.

I have to say Tess is probably one of the most annoying characters I have ever read about. I really did not like her at all. If I didn’t want to know who “did it” I would’ve stopped reading. This character just did so many things that made no sense and literally made her look stupid. I do my best to try to find redeeming qualities in books or characters I read about but this main character had none. I will say the rest of the story and the suspense kept me going because I really wanted to find out what really happened, but to make this main character a woman who really acts like she doesn’t have a clue really turned me off. I do want to thank Scene of the Crime and William Morrow Books for the ARC.
3 people found this helpful
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Godawful, but book gets a star for sucking me in

Thought it was a story of a woman protecting her daughter, being gaslit by everyone in her life. Actually a story of an annoying woman and her exasperating 3-year-old making everyone (including the police) miserable with her baseless accusations against every man she knows. She’d be right at home during the Satanic Panic of the ‘80s.
2 people found this helpful
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Huh?!?!?

The book was suspenseful, yes. But I almost want to go back to the start to find out what I missed for the killer to be who it was. It made no sense. Someone please tell me, and I'm not spoiling the ending, how do you connect Poppy's picture and use of foul language to the killer? I have found two of these author's books to be an ending killer so far and the other book had such poor writing. This book is written well but throws a bucket of water on you at the end.
2 people found this helpful
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Confusing

Tess, the narrator of the storry, is the most annoying woman on the planet. Her actions are totally unbelievable. And, what could a three year old see to turn her overnight to a mentally disturbed child. It is never explained why the swearing, the hurting other children, the drawings that make no sense. And I had to read the ending over again to understand the hidden objects to have the killer arrested??
2 people found this helpful

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