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The Child Before cover art

The Child Before

By: Michael Scanlon
Narrated by: Ruairi Conaghan
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Publisher's Summary

An absolutely gripping detective thriller

She began to sing, the girl. Her voice was soft, so soft it was almost of the wind. It was a lullaby. She cradled her arms, rocking them gently back and forth. As if she was holding a baby. But she was not. Her arms were empty.

On a cold morning a cyclist finds the brutally-slaughtered body of a woman in her car, on a remote lane leading to the long-abandoned Irish village of Kelly’s Forge. 

But when Detective Finnegan Beck arrives from the nearby town of Cross Beg to investigate he notices there’s a baby’s seat in the back of the car. A bottle of baby’s milk lying in the footwell. And no child. 

Little Róisín isn’t the first child to go missing from that same remote location though. There was another baby girl, taken more than 50 years before, who was never found. Has too much time passed for there to be a connection, or does something - or someone - link these two crimes? 

Beck claims he does not want to stay in Cross Beg. His heart is back in Dublin, with the woman he loves. But, knowing that a child’s life depends on him changes things. He knows he has to find the missing baby girl. Because if he doesn’t, he fears there’s a chance everyone will give up the baby for dead, just like they did before....

This dark and twisted novel will keep you up all night. Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, Patricia Gibney, and Rachel Caine.

©2019 Michael Scanlon (P)2019 Bookouture

What listeners say about The Child Before

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Great story

I really enjoyed this. However, being an Aussie I had to laugh at the Crocodile Dundee accent and way of talking. Unless you live way out in this country we don’t talk and sound like that.

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Finnegan Beck - an addictive character.

The author Michael Scanlon's powerful descriptive skills make you part of the scene - they take you there with a cliff hanger to end every chapter. The narration by Ruairi Cobaghan is second to none. He lives the part. Enjoy this gripping novel.

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Good for debut novel

I did feel, in parts that I lost the exact track of a couple of characters. However I did enjoy the book and will try the next one by this author.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.