Started this month with an ARC book by A.R. Torre, an author I haven’t read something from before now and I must say I will read another book by her soon because I quite liked it!

This new book is called ‘While they were watching’ and will be released on the 22^nd of February.

With social media nowadays and the fact that in some countries (certainly not mine) you can get rich while streaming your live but don’t let those clips fool you, not everything is always as it seems.

In this book we fellow four families; Horton, Decatour, Rockfield and Tanuyaka. All of these families are rich and are in the same social circles and they all have this one thing in common. A child around the age of five and they all have nannies so the adults can focus on their careers and that what brings in the big bucks.

For the Horton family it is social media and partnerships with well known brands; going live on numerous occasions and filming snippets throughout the day with at their center their lovely daughter Madison who is soon turning five which means they have to make sure that her birthday party is worth mentioning. The cost of said party is around $2 million but they think with all the attention surrounding the family they can make double. With the cameras rolling they seem like a warm family but with the cameras off it’s the nanny that takes care of Madison, with the parents Lyle and Nadia only thinking about their image and how to stay relevant while hiding a big fat secret right under every one’s noses.

This party is something else; no phones allowed inside of the house during the party and the nannies are supposed to attend all the kids’ activities whilst the parents that did come have a nice and relaxing time in the library of the house. But then something happens; four masked men with guns come into the library and demand every adult in the room to hand over their valuables and wallets or else they will hurt the children, after that is taken the people’s wrists and ankles are zip tide and the fire doors are locked from the outside. The men claim that they will be freed within the hour. Without phones and without any help on this floor there is no way of knowing if the children are left alone or not.

No such luck, in the room the children are making a fairy habitat the four men storm in and spraying four kids with some gas can and they lose consciousness. One nanny tried her hardest to protect her kid but got sprayed for her effort. Only four kids were taken, the ones with what on paper seems the richest families. The men shove the kids in duffel bags – even one nanny gets taken and they shut the fire doors, locking them on the outside.

Once the adults are freed and it becomes clear that kids were taken the police get involved, but with families with that much money they’ll always secure the best companies to get their kids back.

The ransom is high, $5 million per child in bitcoin for their save return and not every family is able to pay.

Will the police be able to find the children before the ransom exchange? Which family isn’t able to pay and what happens to that child? Was there help from the inside? And what is the Horton family’s big secret? Read it and find out!

I’m giving this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars!