Part of this is on me because detective stories that don't involve psychological aspects have to be REALLY darn good...but this was very complex and convoluted and not particularly gripping and there were a lot of random elements that I didn't quite buy. ( )

Full of twists and turns....very impressive how Burke takes the reader into such detail over quiet a span of years as McKenna Jordan tries to make sense of mistakes..... or was she correct in her legal and writing careers that created such disasters for herself along the way? ( )

This book had a lot going on! Alafair Burke is an author whose work I enjoy, most of the previous ones I’ve read being legal thrillers. In this novel, McKenna is a prosecutor turned journalist turned searcher for a friend who disappeared ten years before who she thinks maybe she might have spotted in a video when a boy is saved from the train tracks of the subway. But that turns out to be just the inciting event and things quickly spiral out of control…

This one had a lot of subplots and backstory to unpack including ecoterrorists, corruption in the DA’s office, a friend who wasn’t really a friend?, the friend’s sister, their controlling military father, McKenna’s husband, assassins, a killing of a black man by a white police officer that caused uproar in the community and may have triggered someone to come after McKenna ten years later, and a prostitute… I found myself trying to keep characters straight in a place or two, but overall sucked into the story. Wonderful worldbuilding and another great tale.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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Not my favorite Alafair Burke book, but still quite enjoyable. A few unique twists and “a-ha!” moments. ( )

If You Were Here is another intriguing mystery by Alafair Burke. This standalone novel has many unexpected twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing not only whodunnit, but why, right up until the novel’s stunning conclusion. Please click HERE to read my review in its entirety. ( )