Beach Reading: Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin

 

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,

   What kind of Beach Reader are you? I am a thriller reader when I am enjoying a day by the sea. Check out this thrilling novel for your next day out.

 

  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. 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.  One day at the supermarket where she works, she sees a missing person 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 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. Nina Laurin's ability to capture what is going through Laine Moreno's mind is vivid and often heartbreaking. She was a determined woman who refused to let another girl suffer what she had. 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. 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 thrilling four-star read that left me wondering where the time went. It was a good thing I applied my sunscreen before reading. 

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