Ratings25
Average rating4
Nothing short of a roller coaster!
Fast paced, with twists at the right places.
Not worth missing.
D. D. Warren is back for her second adventure, and second time being overshadowed by supporting character, Bobby Dodge. They're reunited by a crime scene that's decades old and contains multiple bodies of little girls – the chamber they're found in is worthy of Thomas Harris or Val McDermid, and will immediately grab the reader's attention (or turn them off to the book straightaway).
Soon after the news hits the press, a young woman comes forward claiming that they've misidentified one of the girls, as she's the actual Annabelle Granger. The tale she tells convinces the detectives (mostly), and provides fuel for their investigation. I won't get into Annabelle's story – it's worth checking out the novel just for it – but it's at once totally believable and preposterous.
Dodge and Warren face many obstacles along their way – both from the past and present. And following the crooked path to the killer – and Annabelle's real history – is more complicated and dangerous than anyone would expect. Including crossing paths with Catherine Rose Gagnon (from the previous volume, [b:Alone|32527|Alone (Detective D.D. Warren, #1)|Lisa Gardner|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388261074s/32527.jpg|235306]). The last couple of chapters will keep you turning the pages as quickly as you can.
This is twisted, creepy, disturbing, suspenseful, and not very predictable (although I realized who the bad guy was a long time before the Warren or Dodge did). While I don't know that it excels in any of these areas, it delivers what it promises. A good read. I'll be back, and not just to see if Warren ever gets the prime narrative spot in her eponymous series.
If this book doesn't cement Lisa Gardner as a fantastic author and earn her a spot as one of my favorites, then no other book of hers will. I found it very hard, next to impossible even, to put this book down. I loved the story, the characters, the suspense, everything about this book. I tried to figure out where the story was going, thought I had it, but I was wrong. Great story with a perfect ending.
Another Lisa Gardner page-turner.
I have a real problem putting her books down and tend to read them in a day, despite a busy life juggling deadlines of my own and kids!
Interestingly, the day I started reading this, I saw the deal in Publishers Marketplace: this book is being optioned for a movie!
I'm reading the DD Warren series out of order but it doesn't matter.
Each book is a great stand-alone and this one is no exception, with enough twists and turns to have you guessing who-dunnit till the last pages.
Excellent read.
It started out really good and then the last three chapters or so it just fizzled out and dragged. Annabelle turned into your typical damsel in distress and all around dummy. For someone who spent her whole life suspicious she sure seemed to throw away all those suspicions at a very precarious time.