Book Review: Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!

  Debut authors are always welcome on my book shelf. The next generation of literary genius must always be given a chance to prove to readers what they can do. And Nina Laurin has proven one thing to me: she definitely knows how to craft an excellent thriller.

  Girl Last Seen is Nina Laurin's debut novel. It is published by Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of the Hatchett Book Group. In it we are introduced to thirteen year old Ella Santos. Abducted when she was ten years old, Ella witnessed a life no child should experience. One day she escapes her captor and is discovered by two police officers on a rainy road. Disoriented and suffering the effects of constant abuse, she is rushed to the hospital.

  Ten years later Ella is now Laine Moreno. Working two jobs to be able to afford her beat up car and apartment, she has had a rough decade. Still flashing back to her life with her abductor, she quells the memories with prescription drugs and alcohol. Daily she scans the internet for the latest missing persons cases, but none have the same modes operendi that her captor had. Until now. One day while putting up fliers at the supermarket where she works, she sees a missing persons flier: ten year old girl Olivia Shaw was taken from her school. Ella believes that this is no coincidence. And that the man who put her through three years of hell may be back.

  Soon she is reunited with one of the officers that saved her from the road that rainy morning past. Detective Sean Ortiz is ten years smarter, and he also sees the resemblance between the two cases. Together they set out to capture a psychotic kidnapper to save the young girl. But a part of Laine's past is about to be revealed as she regains more of her memories. If she has to face her nightmares for a second time, will it be enough to bring home Olivia Shaw? 

  Girl Last Seen was a fast-paced thriller that began with a bang and ended with a bang. Laurin's ability to capture what is going through Laine Moreno's mind is vivid and often heartbreaking. Moreno is a damaged woman who suffered years of sexual abuse at the hands of a man that seemed to remain faceless to her. She is fighting daily to tamp down the fragments of sadness and pain that she constantly recalls. While this book may hold triggers for many, such as child abuse, substance abuse, and domestic violence, it also shows a bright light at the end. Laine was a determined woman who refused to let another girl suffer what she had. I was appreciative of the care that the author took to convey the mind of an addict. She did not stereotype her heroine and make her one of the many faceless characters that appear in film and on the printed page. She layered Laine Moreno in a way that by the end I was fully invested in her recovery and rooted for her. The tension-filled finale was a surprise to me, since Laurin's clues seem to point to one individual. But the reveal was as chilling to me as it was to Laine. 

  I read this book in part with the skillful narration of Vanessa Johansson. Her first-person narration of Laine Moreno left me feeling that I was interviewing the character and she was relating her story to me. Many times her presentation of the narrative left me forgetting this was a work of fiction. Excellent job.

  Girl Last Seen was a riveting novel that worked its way under my skin. The subject matter may have been rough to read. But with non-stereotypical characters presented, Nina Laurin was able to give her readers a heroine to believe in. This four star read left me with the understanding that no matter how rough things get, there is a light somewhere. And if we look for  that light we will find it no matter what.

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

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  Because there is always time to read,
   Xepherus3 



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