Book Review: Look For Me by Lisa Gardner

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!

  There is a song that children sing about rainbows and happiness. This song is heard in many families. But out there in the world there is a different song that some children sing, and it is about survival. 

  When I went into Look For Me I was excited to engross myself in another D.D. Warren suspense novel. And I was looking forward to seeing what Flora Dane has been up to since Find Her. I opened the book, sat down, and started what would be four hundred pages of not only suspense, but an underlining message of survival served up many ways.

 

   Look For Me is written by Lisa Gardner, and it is the ninth book in her exceptional thriller series, featuring Boston Detective D. D. Warren. It is published by Penguin Random House under their Dutton Books imprint. In it we are reunited with Flora Dane. One year after she was integral in saving college student Stacey Summers, Flora continues to seek out justice for those such as herself.  She has begun a chat group for survivors and has stuck by the side of a woman named Sarah, who survived the massacre of her three roommates. Flora seems determined to reserve happiness for others. She talks a good talk, but when it is time for her own happy life, she is hesitant. 

  Across town there is a crack of bullets early in the morning, leaving a family of four is gunned down in their Brighton home. The eldest daughter and the family's pet dogs are missing. This catches Sarah and Flora's attention when the they realize that the eldest daughter, Roxanna Baez, is a member of their chat room. The crime scene is chaos and hits home for Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren, who only wishes to be with her own family.  D.D. is reunited with Flora Dane, whom she helped rescue from the clutches of the deranged killer that kidnapped Flora and Stacey Summers. Flora offers to help the police find Roxanna, but D.D. is unsure if she can trust the vigilante. But against her better judgment D.D. accepts the woman's help. If she is going to find this family's murderer and their eldest daughter, she realizes that she may need help from an alternate source. 

  Together the duo set out to search for a killer, but find more than they bargained for. Who Killed Roxanna's family?  Is it the same person that now is walking around Boston shooting at people (including Flora)? And can Flora stay focused enough to not only help a missing girl, but to settle her own demons?

  Look For Me is a lighter read than Find Her, but captures all the suspense and twisty plot lines of its predecessor. In this novel we delve into the broken foster system that no only plagues their area, but nation-wide. It is often a heart-breaking story of a family's desperate grasp at a happy existence. Told through three narratives (D.D., Flora, and, Roxanna) and filled with introspection, Gardner takes her long-time characters and fleshes them out even further. The character development of D.D. and Flora had me pleasantly surprised. I felt a satisfying continuation was allowed to these characters. And true to Lisa Gardner's writing, she delivers a few "red herrings" to throw us off the scent of the killer's identity. It makes for a fun ride on her roller coaster of suspense.

  I read this book in part with the excellent narration of Kirsten Potter. Her arsenal of voices and accents and her unwavering reading style made this book just as enjoyable as Find Her. I appreciate it when publishers hire the same narrator for a book series. It offers a familiarity and a voice that is one that I trust to continue my journey with a long-standing character.

  I enjoyed this novel immensely and recommend it to lovers of suspense and stories of survival. I gave Look For Me four out of five stars.

 Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.

 

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