Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: January 18, 2022
Source: ALC via Brilliance Audio
Summary:
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a thrilling new novel that sends Frankie Elkin into the woods in search of a lost man–and the shocking truth about why he went missing in the first place.
Frankie Elkin, who readers first met in Before She Disappeared, learns of a young man who has gone missing in a national forest. Law enforcement has abandoned the search, but a crew of people led by the young man’s father are still looking. Sensing a father’s desperation, Frankie agrees to help–but soon sees that a missing person isn’t all that’s wrong here. And when more people start to vanish, Frankie realizes she’s up against something very dark–and she’s running out of time.
My thoughts:
It’s no secret that I am a HUGE Lisa Gardner fan! I’ve read just about all of her books and so last year after reading, and loving, Before She Disappears I was thrilled to find out that there would be more Frankie Elkin. I just knew we hadn’t seen the last of her and as much as I loved that first book, I loved this latest one even more!
Once again, we have another completely gripping, tense read. I found myself totally engaged in this story and even though I was listening, I did not want to put it down. I ended up finishing this one in a day because I just needed to know what was going to happen next. It was so atmospheric, and the combination of the cold case and the setting in the Wyoming National Park makes for such a great read – I love a good wilderness survival story!
I loved that we get a bit more about Frankie’s background here in this second book. That’s not to say if you haven’t read the first book that you will be lost, but as someone who prefers to read series in order, I always love the continued character development and growth and I think Lisa Gardner is giving us just enough to keep us interested and coming back for more. At the same time, we do learn just enough about the other characters involved in this case to keep us engaged and believe me, while there are quite a few here they each have such unique personalities that it becomes quite easy to keep track of who is who. I personally ended up loving Luciana, Bob, Miguel and of course, Daisy the cadaver dog.
I loved that there is this underlying sense that nothing is as it seems. As Frankie joins the group to search for Tim, she is not only trying to help ascertain what happened that fateful night, and navigate the dangers of the national forest, but she is also trying to gauge just what everyone seems to be hiding…because make no mistake about it. They all have their own secrets.
This book kept me guessing all the way through and I had no idea where it was headed. The suspense builds quite nicely and the ending took me by surprise. I’m so glad Lisa Gardner decided to revisit Frankie Elkin and I hope she does so again!
Audio thoughts:
This was another stellar audio book. Hillary Huber brought her A-game to narrate this one and I absolutely loved it! Her pacing and intonation were spot on and she infused just the right amount of tension and emotion into her voice as necessary. I’m quite familiar with Hillary Huber and know when I see her name listed as the narrator, I’m in good hands!
Books in this series:
- Before She Disappeared
- One Step Too Far
