Monday, February 1, 2016

Find Her ~ Lisa Gardner (earc) review [@LisaGardnerBks @DuttonBooks]

Find Her (Detective DD Warren #8)
Dutton Books
February 2, 2016
400 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

** review contains some spoilers for Fear Nothing (Detective D.D. Warren #7) **

Flora Dane is a victim.

Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure.

Flora Dane is a survivor.

Miraculously alive after her ordeal, Flora has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life, working with her FBI victim advocate, Samuel Keynes. She has a mother who’s never stopped loving her, a brother who is scared of the person she’s become, and a bedroom wall covered with photos of other girls who’ve never made it home.

Flora Dane is reckless.

. . . or is she? When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the scene of a crime—a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him—she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante? And with her firsthand knowledge of criminal behavior, could she hold the key to rescuing a missing college student whose abduction has rocked Boston? When Flora herself disappears, D.D. realizes a far more sinister predator is out there. One who’s determined that this time, Flora Dane will never escape. And now it is all up to D. D. Warren to find her.

If you aren't reading Lisa Gardner's Detective D.D. Warren series, you absolutely are missing out. I love this thriller, suspense, mystery series and its main character D.D. Warren and the latest installment Find Her was superb.

Though each of the novels can be read on their own, I really am enjoying the development we are getting of D.D.'s character and the progression of her relationships. I particularly liked that, though this book can still be read separate from the others, there was more follow-up to what happened in Fear Nothing (and in the interim, as well).

[spoilers - for #7] D.D.'s shoulder injury impacted not only her ability to fully do her job but also to fully live her life. It would have been possible to make that a non-issue, to jump forward enough in time and say, 'Oh, that? It's all better now. No worries.' That didn't happen and the book - and character - are better for it. It is still a part of D.D.'s life, still impacts how - and even if - she is able to do her job. I was not expecting her role to be altered but liked that (and how) it was. It was an interesting switch. [/spoilers]

The tease of the beginning that was in 3 Truths and A Lie absolutely had me ready to read Find Her but also left me confused as to who our the woman was and what her role in Find Her was going to be. Even better? I don't think I could have told you even after I started Find Her. This one - both character and story - are full of twists, turns, the unexpected, and even some  of the confusing and/or misleading. It's fantastic.

If you've read it, this one reminded me of The Neighbor (Detective D.D. Warren #3) with the character you can't really put a finger on. You don't know if she's the good guy, the bad guy, or some combination of the two. The more we think we learn about her character, her motives, what's really happening and who's doing what, the more questions we find.

There were some great parallels between the characters and their lives that I didn't recognize until the end, but once I did it was easy to see how they'd been present throughout the story and enhanced things. Flora, along with her past and present, provided an thrilling, unpredictable and very satisfying read.

(There's mention of a previous case that may be spoiler-y for Hide, the second book in the series. But unless you read that mention and then Hide right after each other, it's fine. Even then it probably is.)

Really, if you aren't reading this series you need to start.

Don't forget to read 3 Truths and A Lie for an original short story featuring D.D. Warren and a sneak peek at the beginning of Find Her!







review copy received thanks to publisher, via NetGalley

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