The plot of this story made no sense whatsoever and none of the baddies/suspects seemed to have thought through any of their actions to their logical conclusion. I am uncomfortable with the sort of violent rampage that occurred at the end, although I think it was meant to be admirable. ( )

My mom bought this for me a few years ago and I finally got around to reading it. I've never read Lisa Gardner before so I don't know what is considered a 'typical' style for her, but I genuinely enjoyed the alternating perspectives of D.D. Warren and Tessa Leoni. It worked for me from a style and narrative perspective.

The general theme of the book is parenthood and the lengths a parent would go to if their child was threatened. It works well, playing Tessa's love for her daughter Sophie off of D.D.'s discovery of her own unplanned pregnancy. Tessa blooms as the story goes on, her first person narration doesn't feel tired in comparison to D.D's more stoic third person, and by the end I was eager to read more stories about her.

The plot itself laid out nicely, unraveling quickly enough to pull you along but at a satisfying pace.

A well-deserved 7.7/10 (rounded up for GR) ( )

Amazing again!! Just when you think you know what's happening she twists the plot on you and sends you off in another direction only to yank you back on to another path before dragging you back into your original line but throwing in a bunch of details you missed on your way through!! This one was a wild ride!! ( )

Spoilers. Trigger warnings for rape: specifically Rape as Both Backstory and Massive Plot Point-Described Multiple Times, domestic violence, strong misogyny, sexual abuse, parents protecting your abuser, victim-blaming, presumed child murder, motor vehicular fatalities, and other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting because this book stressed me out so much.

I took notes while I was reading, and this book was repetitive in many ways, so my notes will be too. I'll start by stating that "Black and Blue" by Anna Quindlen has domestic violence in it via cop, told by the survivor, an ER nurse. That novel is actually respectful to battered spouses. It doesn't cutesy-up kids in a cheap ploy for sympathy. It doesn't have the rampant misogyny. It's a novel about fleeing from a bad situation, why, and what happens sometimes. I made comparisons in my head for the first thirty pages.

I first read this four years ago. I picked it up again given that I've become a more critical reader and wanted to write a more thorough review. The book opens with a presumed member of law enforcement shooting zir husband and narrating it in a way that's odd even for first person POV, which can be clumsy at times. For a violent scene, it's melodramatic. How annoying. The novel switches back and forth between Tessa Leoni's and DD Warren's perspectives. Leoni's is told in first person; DD in third. I just realized this was a way to introduce Leoni into the series as a whole. It was not a clever idea. It is not effective. This book, on second read, moves at the pace of semi-crystallized honey until halfway through, when it turns into an action movie. DD's pregnancy is telegraphed super hard from practically the moment she's introduced, and I'm not pointing this out just because I've read the novel before. I'm pointing it out because four years later, I'm sometimes able to pick things up better. "The Boss" by Abigail Barnette has the protagonist experience the same symptoms, but it's done in a much more subtle way for a different reason.

The audience is clearly supposed to see Leoni as tough and maybe unhinged. She was just a whiny martyr most of the time. I'm sorry you gave birth alone, but stop mentioning it every five fucking pages. And being pregnant alone? As opposed to what? Leoni could have belabored the single mother aspect and I would have immediately supported such characterization and been curious about such development. Instead, she, "ooh tra la la, single motherhood is no real obstacle for me, nor do I go in-depth about the conflicts and feelings it causes in relation to my paramilitary, male-dominated career with weird hours. No, I take it all in stride." LAME. She mentions what dead kids look like from motor vehicular accidents, and lady, shut up.

For some reason, the author decides to have Leoni explain to readers how she killed her husband at the forty percent mark. The only reason I kept reading was because I didn't remember how the novel. Except, oops, at the seventy percent mark, it's revealed the forty percent mark was misleading. (narrows his eyes) If the author was trying to make Leoni and Warren foils for each other somehow, she failed. Buddy cops? No. I'm--not sure what the intent was. This novel is an excellent example of adults having the mindset of middle schoolers who are slowly realizing the opposite gender doesn't have cooties, but they're not sure how to act now that they know. You could make a drinking game out of it, but even with pacing yourself, you'd incur liver damage.

Halfway through the book, Leoni's husband's gambling addiction is introduced. It's not foreshadowed at all, yet it's the motive, plot twist, and characterization! Why did the author structure the book this way? Tessa's experiences in prison were cliche ones designed to further her "tough and a martyr" act. The book became increasingly full of plot contrivance, "Because the Plot Says So" and too-quick pacing as the page count increased. The epilogue was entirely italicized in the edition I read, which I disliked, and what an absurd ending. ( )

Good mystery. A female state trooper appears to have shot her abusive husband, but her biological daughter is missing. Then it turns out she has killed her best friend's brother after an alleged sex attack. She plans and executes a daring escape to track down her daughter and punish those responsible. Bobby Dodge plays a pivotal role in the novel, and if this is the last DD Warren book, the series ending is classic. ( )