Not Yours to Keep - by Zelly Ruskin (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Called a "sensational debut" by Rea Frey, this psychological thriller delves into themes of reproductive rights and healthcare, confronting the complexities that define family--or the risks that lose it all.

Billie Campbell, a Massachusetts adoption specialist grappling with fertility issues, dreams of adopting a baby, but not just any baby--her pregnant client's baby. While her longing threatens to send her down a dark path, her husband, Tyler, is keeping secrets: he's full of doubts about becoming a father, and he's also trying to figure out who is sending him upsetting anonymous texts and photos. On the other side of town, Anne, a woman scarred by childhood abuse, obsesses with a second chance at becoming a family with the two people she regrets ever having let go of: the baby she gave up for adoption twenty years ago and the man of her dreams.

Their lives become entangled when the client's newborn is abducted, and Billie becomes a prime suspect.

Amid the chaos unleashed by the abduction, Tyler uncovers a link between the person tormenting him and the abduction--but now Billie has disappeared too. The race to find both her and the baby is on; but will they find them before it's too late?

Review Quotes

2024 Best Book Awards Winner in Best New Fiction
2024 American Fiction Awards Winner in Mystery/Suspense: General

"A missing newborn, an adoption worker struggling with infertility, and an abused woman desperate for a second chance at motherhood, all collide in Ruskin's page-turning debut. About the ache for love, the desperate choices of birth and adoptive parents, and the struggles to make and keep a family, Not Yours to Keep is a stunner."--Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder

"An often intriguing narrative about loss and enduring hope."--Kirkus Reviews

"One missing baby. A missing woman. Lots of secrets, lies, twists, and turns. In this heartfelt and heart-pounding domestic suspense, I found myself racing to the breathtaking conclusion. A sensational debut."--Rea Frey, #1 best-selling author of Don't Forget Me and The Other Year

"Part emotional story of adoption and motherhood, and part heart-pounding suspense, Not Yours To Keep will have you racing to the end as you are swept into the lives of three people on a collision course."--Lyn Liao Butler, best-selling author of Someone Else's Life

"Two women are pulled together by their complicated relationships to motherhood in the tense but humane thriller Not Yours to Keep...whose suspense is directed by the intense emotions brought forth by the loss--or unrealized gain--of a child."--Foreword Clarion Review

"With a gentle hand and tender heart, Not Yours to Keep examines what it really means to be a family. With captivating prose and a plot that will have you on the edge of your seat, Ruskin explores the ways we cleave to hope no matter how much adversity or unexpected change we face. Most definitely a novel that will keep you glued to the pages as you race toward the unexpected conclusion, Ruskin's debut is a gem and a true winner!"--Jacqueline Friedland USA Today best-selling author of He Gets that From Me

"Zelly Ruskin's ability to combine her career and personal experience with fertility issues and adoption procedures into the fictional mystery Not Yours to Keep makes for a compelling read. This debut novel will both rivet and educate couples facing such life-changing dilemmas and decisions."--IndieReader

About the Author

Zelly Ruskin is a social worker who worked in adoption and foster care. She loves traveling, hiking with her (now adult) children, and, as a survivor, is passionate about and volunteers for Brain Aneurysm Awareness. Zelly and her ridiculous doodle, Strudel, currently live in New York City.