Nora de Jong's mother is murdered and her baby is kidnapped in the opening pages of this book. Nora becomes impatient with the progress made by the police in solving the crimes and she takes on the investigation herself. In doing so, she learns of some information about her parents that leads her to Amsterdam where she uncovers her family history during the search for her kidnapped daughter and for the identity of her mother's killer.

The background for the story includes information about the German occupation of Amsterdam during World War II. The topic of how the war impacted the Dutch people is of some interest. The plot also has some potential as a good read. However, the characters are not well developed. And I, unfortunately, found the writing style to be somewhat simplistic and some of the scenes to be a little contrived. If you can read the book with a less critical viewpoint than me, you may enjoy reading about Nora' s plight in the book The Tulip Eaters. (ARC)
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The book opens with a crime and continues with mystery, suspense, and twists. I enjoyed the story but found a couple of errors. On the first page of Chapter 71 (short chapters), there is reference to the child sleeping in a bassinet; the child is 2 by then and wouldn't fit in a bassinet, nor would anyone try to fit a child that age in one. Near the end of the page 328, there is a name error -- "I think it means that Abram, Nora's lover....." Nora should be Anneke. I found at least one other typo error.

Locales are Texas and Holland, with a young mother searching for her 6-month-old baby who was kidnapped by the son of a man who had just killed her mother, the baby's grandmother. The search leads back to WW II and a little-known bit of history of how the war played out in Holland and affected families, neighbors, and friends. As with all wars, there was nothing good about it. There is only passing mention of the tulip eaters, but I suspect the title has to do with desperation -- what people may be forced to do in desperate times.

It's a good story if you enjoy mystery and suspense. ( )

I had hoped for so much more. It was flat, it was unbelievable and it was a waste of time. I love reading books about WWII, but this was really not a good read. Find something else if you enjoy books from that period of history. ( )

I received a ARC through Goodreads.
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I would rate this book... 3.5 stars.

This story was fascinating and immediately captured my attention pretty much from page one. I mean how could it not when pretty much in the first scene we see Nora witness a crime scene, a rather horrific one mind you.

I'm trying to decide this next part: either the author's writing was so convincing that it riled up my emotions or I am in total disbelief that such a thing was possible. By this I am referring to what stupid thoughts went through Ariel's head to prompt him to immediately dismiss returning Rose to Nora, instead him choosing the riskier and much more dangerous route? Sure there wouldn't be any further point to parts of the story, but come on for someone who seems so logical and level headed, he did a lot of stupid stuff.

Kudos to Nora, who shows just the lengths a mother goes to in order to find her abducted daughter. She took steps to find her daughter and connect the impossible dots, when all else doubted her. Anneke is such a fascinating character, and even more so when we find out about her past much later in the book. It was nice to read a few fairly strong female characters in the story...the guys...not so much.

I would have loved it if more ends were tied up with the ending. like ultimately what happens to Amarisa; how did they explain the recovery of Rose to the authorities; how Ariel and Leah picks up the pieces; and is the rest of the family ever told about Anneke's side of the story. Also I have to wonder, just how did Issac find Anneke? ( )

Quick read, mystery thriller - some historical WW II references. Only brief reference to Dutch tulips. I still have to read about the Tulip "Crash" of a few centuries ago....like stock market bubble of last decade.
OK, just not on my top of 2013 list. ( )