Intriguing story. There was a bit of foul language, but mostly fit the role of the characters and was infrequently used. Well written, and kept me on my toes trying to keep up with all the twists and turns. ( )

Crash & Burn
3.5 Stars

On a dark and deserted stretch of road in a raging storm, Nicole Frank not only survives a horrendous crash, but manages to climb a ravine in search of help for the young girl she insists was in the car with her. However, a subsequent search yields no sign of the missing child, and Detective Sergeant Wyatt Foster is even more baffled when Nicky's husband explains that she suffers from confusion as a result of a rare brain injury. So who is Nicky and why did her car go off the road? Are her recent accidents random or is someone trying to kill her?

An intriguing premise with likable characters. Unfortunately, the pacing is problematic; the twists and turns are predictable and there is little to no progression for Tessa's character.

To begin with, this is classified as book #3 in the Tessa Leoni series. However, Tessa's actual role in the story is minimal at best and most of the narrative is presented from Wyatt Foster's 3rd person POV with some chapters from Nicky Franks 1st person POV.

The mystery revolving around the search for a missing girl and the revelations stemming from the investigation into Nicky's past are very compelling. That said, most of the details that emerge are quite obvious, and the pacing is choppy with excessive internal musings and unnecessary repetition of plot points.

In terms of Tessa's personal storyline, she is now in a relationship with Wyatt and readers are given no information on how this came about following the events of the previous book. There is also a possible threat to her now peaceful life, but this is completely underdeveloped and as Gardner has not announced whether the series will be continuing, the reader is left up in the air.

On a final note, the dual male/female narration of the audiobook is alright although the male narrator sounds childish when narrating the female characters and often comes across as condescending.

All in all, an entertaining psychological thriller, but not one of Gardner's better works. ( )

Following a car accident on a dark, wet road in the Northern Woods of New Hampshire, we meet Nicky Frank, whose only thought is to find her little girl, Vero. But no trace can be found for a second person, including by an intrepid police dog. Sergeant Wyatt Foster is called in to discover that Nicky is on her third concussion over the past six months and suspects her husband, Thomas. Lots of twists, especially Frank and Nicky's mysterious past and constant movement. An okay read, but way too much "Vero wants to fly" and too long to get to the end, which was not as satisfying as other books Lisa Gardner has written. She is better than this one. ( )

Les inspecteurs Wyatt et Kevin essaient de résoudre le mystère d’un femme enlevée à l’âge de 6 ans et retrouvée 30 ans plus tard après un accident de voiture. Les empreintes du sang dans la voiture ne sont pas les siennes ( )

Trop long, trop babard. Décidément, même les bons auteurs ne peuvent s'empêcher de rallonger, rallonger inutilement leur histoire. Les dialogues imaginaires avec une fillette disparue sont redondants, et les réminiscences à voix haute de " Nike", seule ou avec un interlocuteur , deviennent invraisemblables... Ce roman noir, aux multiples rebondissements, aurait été beaucoup plus prenant s'il n'y avait pas eu tous ces "à-côtés" qui, au bout d'un moment, n'apprennent plus rien d'important. ( )