I owe huge gratitude to Darius F Mirza MA FRCS, the Professor of Hepatobiliary and Transplant Surgery at QE Hospital and Birmingham Children’s Hospital. You were so generous with your time both over email and on the telephone, answering my many, many questions. I have had to take artistic licence with this book for the sake of fiction but I remain in awe of the life-changing and life-saving work you carry out every single day. By simplifying the details I am in no way depreciating the skill of you and your dedicated expert team.

Louise Molina, thanks for your nursing expertise. Any mistakes are purely my own.

My friends and my family who have put up with me locking myself away while I wrote another book, particularly Natalie, Sarah, Mum, Karen, Bekkii, Pete and, of course, Glyn who I think of often.

Tim, my husband, who has yet again supported me through my first-draft angst.

I’m ridiculously proud of my exceptional children, Callum, Kai and Finley, who will ALWAYS remain the centre of my world.

And Ian Hawley. With all my love.

Book Club Questions

1)Who did you think had taken the boys? Did your opinion change as the story progressed?

2)‘His generation don’t have the innocence of those before. They don’t believe people are inherently good. They’ve grown up with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, the worst of humanity streaked across their screens.’

Connor refers to the negative impact of social media on his generation. What do you think the positives are? Discuss.

3)Everyone in the book has a secret. Do you think this is true of most families?

4)‘“Chicken.” Tyler had tucked his elbows into his waist and flapped his arms like a bird.

‘“I’m not scared,” Connor said. But he was.’

Connor has been involved in an incident that has left him with a huge amount of guilt and regret. What are your thoughts on peer pressure? Can you understand why people, particularly children, succumb to it?

5)Which character did you have the most empathy for and why?

6)‘When the boys were small they had a Stretch Armstrong action figure. They’d each tug on an arm, laughing as the limbs grew and grew, wondering if he would snap. I feel like that toy now. Wishing I could snake one arm out around Connor and keep the other one here around Kieron.’

Lucy feels torn between her children. When Tyler went missing do you think she should have left Kieron in hospital and gone to Connor?

7)‘This is not just Kieron’s illness. It’s everyone’s.’

Discuss the impact a sick family member can have on the rest of the family. Do you think this family could have communicated more effectively?