After She’s Gone by Lisa Jackson – a Review

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Description:
Cassie Kramer and her younger sister, Allie, learned the hazards of fame long ago. Together, they’d survived the horror of a crazed fan who nearly killed their mother, former Hollywood actress Jenna Hughes. Still, Cassie moved to L.A., urging Allie to follow. As a team, they’d take the town by storm. But Allie, finally free of small-town Oregon, and just that little bit more beautiful, also proved to be more talented—and driven. Where Cassie got bit parts, Allie rose to stardom. But now her body double has been shot on the set of her latest movie—and Allie is missing.

Police discover that the last call to Allie’s phone came from Cassie, though she has no recollection of making it. Instead of looking like a concerned relative, Cassie is starting to look like a suspect—the jealous sister who finally grew sick of playing a supporting role. As the tabloids go into a frenzy, Cassie ends up on a Portland psych ward. Is she just imagining the sinister figure who comes to her bedside, whispering about Allie—a visitor of whom there is no record? Is someone trying to help—or drive her mad?

Convinced she’s the only one who can find Allie, Cassie checks herself out of the hospital. But a sudden slew of macabre murders— each victim masked with a likeness of a member of Cassie’s family—makes Cassie fear for her safety and her sanity. The only way to end the nightmare is to find out what really happened to Allie. And with each discovery, Cassie realizes that no one can be trusted to keep her safe—least of all herself…

Review:

After She’s Gone by Lisa Jackson is another one of her trade mark thrillers. Though this storyline was a good murder mystery thriller, I felt that it was bit slow and somewhat confusing in the early part of the book.

Cassie Kramer is our heroine, who is the daughter of former well known Hollywood actress. Cassie and her sister, Allie tried to follow in their mother’s footsteps, with Allie becoming a star. The story picks up with Allie missing, the stunt double is shot during a shoot, and Cassie is in a mental hospital having hallucinations. Cassie, after having a vision of an old nurse telling her that her sister is alive, decides to check out of the hospital to investigate her sister’s disappearance. Was the Nurse real or a hallucination? Since Cassie was on the set at the time Allie disappeared, she is one of the suspects.

As she meets various people that were on the set, or know Allie, Cassie begins to realize that she cannot trust anyone. There were some flashbacks to a previous time in their lives, when their mother and Cassie were kidnapped, bringing back bad memories. Early on, there was a lot of confusion and repetitious between Cassie’s thoughts, the police investigations, and many other characters being introduced. For a large part of the book, I found Cassie a bit sympathetic but not really liking her enough to be rooting for her. The last half of the book, when Cassie and Trent (separated husband) teamed up to investigate, the story become more exciting, fast paced, and Cassie seemed be much better.

Overall, this was a decent mystery, with a good premise, but not the usual action packed thriller that Lisa Jackson is known for. If you enjoy mystery thrillers, you will enjoy After She’s Gone.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher