Review of 'The Day I Lost You' by Alex Sinclair

Erika dreads returning to the penthouse home she used to share with her husband Michael. But her primary concern is for her daughter Alice, nicknamed Bunny, and how upset she will be not to have one of her favorite toys with her, left in the last visit with her father. Unfortunately, the elevator malfunctions, leaving Erika and the little girl stuck between floors. Erika manages to pry open the doors, leaving enough space for the girl to get out, but far too small for Erika. When she finally gets the elevator up and running again, she returns to the 7th floor and finds Alice nowhere to be seen. Frantic now, she searches the entire building with the help of the desk clerk, a retired maintenance worker, and the current head of maintenance. As they comb the building from top to bottom and in between, Erika is more and more convinced that her ex Michael has arranged for the kidnapping of his own child and has colluded with the retired worker and his son, an ex-con working also in maintenance there. During the hunt, Erika recalls the change in her husband's attitude toward her both during and after her pregnancy and the sense that he cared nothing at all for her now. A baffling shift from the loving and compassionate man who was working so hard to build an incredible future for them all. When Bunny is finally located, underneath a bed in the retired maintenance man's apartment, all Erika cares about is getting her home. Police remain on the scene to confront Michael's part in this plan......and the truth is revealed. Erika lost her baby at eight and a half months following a panic attack in the elevator when it got stuck. Doctors desperately tried to save her, but it was too late. And Michael finds Erika in the hospital, cradling their stillborn child. Even once taken from her, Erika insists that the child is still alive and she is eventually committed to a psychiatric facility. Sadly, after three and a half years, she is still not able to return to reality, resulting in her escaping while on a day trip from the facility and making her way to her previous home and, seeing the ex-con's daughter, immediately believes that he has been lured into kidnapping Bunny for Michael. A journey fraught with parental panic and guilt. Absolutely fantastic ending.