The Kidnapping Kind
Finley Walker’s picture-perfect life shatters the moment her infant son is stolen from his crib. As Detectives Sadie Lawson and Rhett Callahan investigate, the nightmare doubles: a second baby vanishes, this time from Camille Jefferson, a secretive newcomer whose husband has also disappeared without a trace. With no clear link between the families, the detectives must unravel a tangled web of lies and buried truths to find the children before time runs out.
- Finley - Craig’s wife, social worker
- Craig - Finley’s husband
- Silas - Finley and Craig’s son, 3 months old
- Sadie Lawson - Police detective
- Rhett Callahan - Police detective
- Camille (Mila/M.H.) - Finley’s sister, Craig’s mistress, Jonah's mother
- Jonah - Camille’s son, 3 months old
- Brent Jefferson - Elderly man whose identity Camille stole
- Trevor - Finley’s father
- Quinn - Finley’s stepmother
- Donya - Trevor’s housekeeper
- Sylvia Sanders - Finley’s birth mother
- Finley wakes up to discover Silas was kidnapped overnight.
- Her-Before: She is pregnant and engaged to the baby’s father, with the wedding in three months.
- Now: Finley tells Sadie she suspects Craig is having an affair.
- Finley-Before: While pregnant, Finley works at the hospital and treats a new patient who goes by the name M.H.
- M.H. is 23 weeks pregnant and claims her husband is abusive.
- Now: Camille wakes to find Jonah missing and calls 911, saying Brent had already left for work before she discovered Jonah was gone.
- No one can reach Brent, and he never shows up for work at Craig's trucking company.
- Quinn started dating Trevor when Finley was very young.
- Trevor and Sylvia divorced when Finley was little and he hasn't heard from her since.
- Sadie learns Sylvia had another child. When Finley was two, Sylvia drove under the influence and crashed into a river. Her infant drowned, but Finley was unharmed.
- Finley-Before: Finley finds an article about the car accident, revealing Sylvia was charged with a crime. Trevor had told Finley that Sylvia died in the accident, and Finley never knew she had a sibling.
- Finley confronts Trevor, who says Sylvia reached out after getting out of prison asking to see Finley, but he refused.
- Her-Before: She believes her husband is having an affair with the nanny.
- She has an affair with the gardener and becomes pregnant with his baby.
- Finley-Before: M.H. tells Finley her name is Mila.
- Now: Rhett finds doorbell camera footage showing Craig leaving Camille’s house at the same time she was calling 911.
- During an interview, Craig admits to Sadie that he was having an affair with Camille.
- Her-Before: Her is Sylvia. Sylvia has a second baby and names her Camille.
- Quinn is the nanny who is having an affair with Sylvia’s husband, Trevor.
- Now: While pregnant, Finley hired a PI to track down Sylvia, whom she then contacts. She also has the PI investigate who Craig is sleeping with.
- Finley learns from her PI that the woman Craig is seeing is named Camille. She drives to the address and finds Mila there with Quinn, revealing Mila is Camille.
- Quinn-Before: Quinn slips something into Sylvia's wine.
- Sylvia drinks the wine, feels dizzy, and goes for a drive to try to wake up.
- Quinn follows Sylvia, and after the crash, she puts Finley into Sylvia's car and takes Camille with her so the police will believe Camille drowned in the river.
- Quinn pays Donya to give Camille to her sister to be raised as her niece.
- After Sylvia goes to jail for manslaughter, Quinn tells Trevor the truth that Camille is not his baby.
- Camille-Before: Camille was raised by Donya's sister, Margaret, who tells her the truth about her real family on her deathbed. Camille then comes to town looking for Finley, the sister who had the life she was denied.
- Camille manufactured a meeting with Craig, and soon after, the affair began.
- Camille intentionally gets pregnant to further destroy Finley’s life.
- Camille confronts Quinn, tells her she knows the truth, and blackmails her into paying her into an account under the name Brent Jefferson, a man whose identity Camille stole.
- Camille tells Craig to add Brent Jefferson to the payroll so she can siphon money from Finley’s father.
- Donya tells Finley that Camille is her half-sister and explains how Quinn framed Sylvia for Camille’s death, and Finley records the conversation.
- Craig is arrested for fraud, identity theft, embezzlement, and the kidnapping of Jonah and Silas.
- Camille gets arrested for identity theft and embezzlement.
- Now: Finley emails the recorded conversation with Donya to Sadie and Rhett, along with all payroll documents tied to Brent Jefferson.
- Finley-Before: The night Craig sneaks out to see Camille, Finley takes Silas to Sylvia and then goes to Camille’s house to gather proof of the affair for her divorce.
- While there, Finley decides to kidnap Jonah and frame Craig for both babies’ disappearance.
- Now: Finley meets Sylvia at a beach cottage where Jonah and Silas have been kept safe.
This was an enjoyable psychological thriller with a good writing style and medium-sized chapters that kept the pace moving. The story is told through multiple POVs and alternates between past and present timelines. While the frequent switching between perspectives took a moment to get into, it ultimately wove together a good story.
The plot features some solid twists that fit the genre well and that will catch most people off-guard. The book could have benefited from one more round of polish to catch several grammatical errors, but it didn't prevent me from finding this book an engaging read.
Even though this isn't listed as a formal series, it was nice to see Sadie and Rhett again, who we met in The Murdering Kind. There were some plot points left up in the air regarding Rhett, so I am hoping that means another book featuring this duo will be coming soon!
- Finley - Alive - Reunited with her mother and relieved to be free of her cheating husband
- Sylvia - Alive - Happily reunited with her daughter
- Craig - Alive - Under arrest for kidnapping Jonah and Silas
- Camille - Alive - Under arrest for identity theft, embezzlement
- Quinn - Alive - Likely to be arrested for framing Sylvia for murder
- Brent - Dead - Found dead under mysterious circumstances
- Donya - Alive - May be arrested for keeping Quinn’s actions against Sylvia secret
- Kidnapping
- Infidelity
- Mention of domestic abuse
- Blackmail
Publisher: Independently Published
ASIN: B0GLJ2KM7L
Publication Date: February 4, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
