The disappearance of schoolboy Philip Cairns has baffled detectives and his family and remains unsolved 35 years later, despite an intensive garda investigation, extensive searches and multiple media appeals. The quiet 13-year-old was snatched in broad daylight while returning to school in Rathfarnham, Dublin, on a bright autumn day, never to be seen again. The Boy Who Never Came Home will give the inside story on the investigation from the detectives who worked on the case as well as their theories on what they believe may have happened to the missing teenager.

The book scrutinises in-depth the only named suspect, prolific paedophile Eamon Cooke, who was dubbed Ireland's Jimmy Savile. New revelations unearthed by the author about the serial child abuser also potentially connect him further to the young boy's disappearance. World renowned forensic psychologist Dr Julian Boon, who is known as the English 'real life Cracker' and worked on high-profile murder cases including that of serial killer Harold Shipman, also gives his thoughts on what he believes happened to the young boy.

While behind all the headlines is a family who have never given up searching for Philip and who have had to endure the trauma of not knowing what happened to their loved one. Their only wish now if to be able to recover his body so they can have a grave to visit.