Tag Archives: Frankie Elkin

Kiss Her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner – a Review

Posted on by
15

Kiss Her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner – a Review

 

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Google Play / Apple / BAM / Bookbub

 

Description:
A young mother haunted by war, determined to make a fresh start. But sometimes, the sins of the past aren’t so easy to escape.

Recent Afghan refugee Sabera Ahmadi was last seen exiting her place of work three weeks ago. The local police have yet to open a case, while her older, domineering husband seems unconcerned. Sabera’s closest friend, however, is convinced Sabera would never willingly leave her three‑year old daughter. At her insistence, missing persons expert Frankie Elkin agrees to take up the search through the broiling streets of Tucson. Just in time for a video of the young mother to surface—showing her walking away from the scene of a brutal double murder.

Frankie quickly realizes there’s much more to the Ahmadi family than meets the eye. The father Isaad is a brilliant mathematician, Sabera a gifted linguist, and their little girl Zahra—she has an uncanny ability to remember anything she sees. Which given everything that has happened during the girl’s short life, may be a terrible curse. When Isaad also disappears under mysterious circumstances and an attempt is made on Zahra’s life, Frankie realizes she must quickly crack the code of this family’s horrific past.

Someone is coming for the Ahmadis. And violence is clearly an option. When everything is on the line, how far would you go to protect the ones you love?

Frankie is about to find out.

 

 

Review:

Kiss Her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner is the 4th book in her Frankie Elkin series. The story begins when an Afghan refugee Sabera Ahmadi was last seen exiting her place of work three weeks ago. Sabera’s closest friend, Allah is convinced that Sabera would never leave her three‑year old daughter, Zahra. She calls Frankie Elkin, to help find Sabera. Frankie Elkin works for the missing, seeking those that others can’t find often when the authorities have given up. She finds them. Frankie travels to Tucson to dig into the investigation of the missing Sabera.  Frankie is low on money, and she manages to get a job pet sitting for a video guru who will be out of the country. Frankie is needed to take care of his pets; enormous python, mini pythons, and Petunia the iguana.  

While Frankie investigates, she discovers a video showing Sabera at the scene of a brutal double murder. The more she digs, the dangerous things get. The Ahmadi family, having moved from Kabul, begin a good life, as the father is genius mathematician; Sabera is brilliant linguist and their daughter Zahra, even at a young age, has a photographic memory.  

Frankie does all she can to Sabera, as she has help from her best friend Allah, Daryl, and Rosemary.  They know that someone is trying to find Sabera or even Zahra; so they move into the mansion that Frankie is staying in. Danger is on the horizon.

Frankie is a fantastic, gusty, brave, resilient person, who always finds a way to save those missing.  You definitely want her on your side. As we get closer to the end, Sabera will show up, questioning Frankie. There were so many twists along the way.

Kiss Her Goodbye was a filled with tension, heartbreak, mystery, emotional and shocking reveals.  This was a rollercoaster story that was extremely tense. Kiss Her Goodbye was so very well written by Lisa Gardner. Frankie Elkin always finds the missing, and she is a fantastic heroine. I suggest you read Kiss Her Goodbye.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

 

 

Share

Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner – a Review

Posted on by
2

Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner – a Review

 

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Google Play / Apple / BAM / Bookbub

 

Description:
Frankie Elkin is an expert at finding the missing persons that the rest of the world has forgotten, but even she couldn’t have anticipated this latest request—to locate the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks’ time.

She has called herself “death,” but people called her the devil.

The case was sensational. Kaylee Pierson had confessed from the very beginning, waived all appeals. Despite the media’s chronicling of her tragic circumstances—the childhood spent with a violent father—no one could find sympathy for “the Beautiful Butcher” who had led eighteen men home from bars before viciously slitting their throats. Now, with only twenty-one days left to live, Pierson has finally received a lead on the whereabouts of the sister who was kidnapped over a decade ago, and she needs Frankie’s help to find her. The Beautiful Butcher’s offer:

When was the last time your search ended with finding the living?

Unable to resist the chance for a rescue, Frankie takes on Pierson’s request. Twelve years ago, five-year-old Leilani went missing in Hawaii. The main suspect? Pierson’s tech mogul ex-boyfriend, Sanders MacManus. Now, on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific—the site of MacManus’s latest vanity project—fresh evidence has appeared. In order to learn the truth and possibly save a young woman’s life, Frankie must go undercover at the isolated base camp. Her challenge: A dozen strangers. Countless dangerous secrets. Zero means of calling for help. And then the storm rolls in…

 

 

Review:

Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner is the 3rd book in her Frankie Elkin series. I have read a number of books by Gardner, and I think she is one of the best authors who write suspense thrillers, as I have loved all her books. Frankie Elkin, our heroine, is the star of this series; she is a recovering alcoholic, who is an expert in find missing people that are cold cases. Over the years she has found 15 people, with the majority not found alive.

The prologue has Frankie visiting a prison, where a serial killer (The Beautiful Butcher) is on death row, having viciously killed eighteen men; with her execution scheduled in three weeks. Kaylee receives a letter from her long-lost sister, who disappeared many years ago.  She believes her sister (Lea) was kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, and she wants Frankie to find her and help her escape.  She convinces Frankie to take the job, which is in a remote lodge on a Hawaiian Island owned by the ex-boyfriend. 

Frankie flies to the private island, and poses as a staff member, helping with cooking and cleaning rooms; she gets to know many of the staff, as she learns more about MacManus and his protégé, Lea. I really liked many of the staff members, especially the cooks Ann and Trudy; and slowly becomes closer to all of them (Vaughn, Ronin, Charlie, etc.). Frankie needs to know who she can trust, especially with MacManus arriving with his security team, and Lea.  She begins to suspect there is someone who is possibly sabotaging the resort.  

When Frankie meets Lea, she tries to question her, but finds her not fully cooperative, claiming she knows nothing about a letter to her sister, whom she has not seen in 12 years. Frankie then discovers that Kaylee has escaped from death row, which is why MacManus has added extra security.  They all suspect that Kaylee will be coming for them; and Frankie begins to suspect that Lea is also very much involved.

What follows is an amazing, action-packed and exciting thriller, where Frankie finds herself in a number of dangerous situations. The last half of the book was an extremely tense thriller that kept me glued to my kindle.  Especially in the last quarter of the book, with the tension escalating as everyone was fighting for survival. Still See You Everywhere is a gripping fast pace story that is filled with danger, drama, fear, and everyone’s lives on the line. As we get closer to the end, there are a number of surprises and twists.

Once again, Lisa Gardner gives us a fabulous intense exciting story, that was very well written. As noted previously, you can never go wrong reading Lisa Gardner, who always writes fantastic suspense psychological thrillers.  I suggest you read Still See You Everywhere, which was a fantastic story.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share

One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner – a Review

Posted on by
11

One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner – a Review

 

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / Google Play / Apple / BAM / Book Depository

 

Description:
Frankie Elkin, who readers first met in Before She Disappeared, learns of a young man who has gone missing in a national forest. Law enforcement has abandoned the search, but a crew of people led by the young man’s father are still looking. Sensing a father’s desperation, Frankie agrees to help–but soon sees that a missing person isn’t all that’s wrong here. And when more people start to vanish, Frankie realizes she’s up against something very dark–and she’s running out of time.

 

 

Review:

One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner is the 2nd book in her Frankie Elkin series.  I have read a few series by Gardner, and I think she is one of the best authors who write suspense thrillers, as I have loved all her books. 

Frankie Elkin, our heroine, is the star of this series; she is a recovering alcoholic, who devotes all of her time to find missing people that are cold cases. Over the years she has found 15 people, with the majority not found alive.  When she reads about a woman who is dying, and wants to be buried next to her presumed dead son, Tim, who disappeared 5 years ago; she learns that a group is planning to do another search, and Frankie decides to join them.  The experienced group consists of the missing boy’s father, the four boys who went camping together 5 years ago, a woman and her cadaver dog, the local wilderness expert, and a bigfoot expert.   When Frankie approaches them, at first, they do not want her, even if one tells them she does find missing people; but one of the boys gets sick, they allow Frankie to become part of the search.

The difficult trek into the woods has them all exhausted, but Martin, the father, pushes them to keep going.  In a short time, things change, as overnight they are being sabotaged (food stolen, camp in disarray, etc.); and they realized that someone is out to stop them from continuing the journey. The story was set in the Shoshone National Forest, which became creepy each passing day, especially after they learn many more people were missing over the years. 

I loved Daisy, who was the perfect search and rescue dog, and her handler, Luciana; with Frankie becoming closer to them.  Frankie is a great heroine, as she is tough, street savvy, smart and tenacious. She makes sure to talk and question all the other members of the group, to get her feel of what really happened, as well as being concerned by who is now hunting them.   

The last half of the book was a tense, scary, exciting thriller that kept me glued to my kindle, especially with everyone fighting for survival, and the danger escalates as slowly one by one they fall.  Who will survive?  Who is the villain?

What follows is an amazing, action-packed, exciting & intense thriller, where Frankie finds herself in some dangerous situations, as she desperately tries to survive in the wilderness. As we get closer to the end, there are a number of surprises and twists, which had me on the edge of my seat.  

Once again, Lisa Gardner gives us a fabulous intense exciting story, that was very well written. As noted previously, you can never go wrong reading Lisa Gardner, who always writes fantastic suspense psychological thrillers.  I suggest you read One Step Too Far, which was a fantastic story.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

Share