[My Review]
Find Her by Lisa Gardner is the 8th novel in the Detective D.D. Warren series, so I was keen to see if this would have any effect on the way I enjoyed the book, or whether on reflection I should have started from the first novel, Alone. Having finished this (and raced through it pretty quickly!) I can say that I hugely enjoyed this novel, and though it referenced what I assumed to be past book’s events, I didn’t feel this hampered my enjoyment.
There are gruesome parts to this story, but it’s not horrendous- a lot is implied. You can imagine what’s happening to a Flora, though later in the novel the author spells out the sexual assault she goes through, and it’s quite disturbing, even as someone who reads a lot of crime. The characters were interesting to read about, though you don’t feel like you learn very much about D.D.’s personal life as she’s so focused on the case in hand- but I liked her. She isn’t perfect and has her faults but is interesting to read about and you are rooting for her and her colleagues to find the missing girls before it’s too late!
I found the kidnapper in this novel really chilling as you can imagine him being just an outwardly normal, but actually horrendous man who you could easily bump into anywhere. You really get a sense of Flora’s desperation as weeks go past locked up with him, but her determination to stay alive is amazing. She is a proper ‘bad-ass’ female character and it’s great to read about someone like this, and D.D too, instead of women always being helpless and in need of being rescued!
The narrative is fast paced but didn’t rush or feel too hasty, meaning I never felt bored or impatient and really enjoyed this novel. I would definitely read more from Lisa Gardner, and others from this series.
[Rating: 4/5]
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy of this novel in return for an honest review