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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
Excellent thriller. I would like to go back and read others in the Quincy/Rainie series.
4.5* sooo now I want to read every other book Lisa Gardner has written and thats the tea for today
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is my first Lisa Gardner. I am always on the lookout for another reliable mystery-thriller or mystery-cozy writer with a backlist to which I can turn when I need the predictability of a genre read. Another of my go-to authors mentioned enjoying Lisa Gardner's work and so I thought I'd give her a whirl.
Right Behind You is the seventh in a series. Obviously I've not read the first six. But, this book was fine as a standalone. I felt I understood Quincy and Rainie well enough without being fed a huge amount of expositional backstory; rather, there were details about their pasts woven into the narrative in an unobtrusive way.
In this, Quincy and Rainie are about to adopt their 13-year-old foster child, Sharlah, who at age 5 witnessed her 9-year-old brother, Telly, beat to death with a baseball bat their drunken father who had just stabbed their mother with a butcher knife and meant to kill his children as well. Now, eight years later, it seems Telly --- who Sharlah has not had contact with since the night he saved her life by bludgeoning their father --- has murdered his foster parents and started on a killing spree in which he means to make Sharlah his final victim.
The story is told in a combination of omniscient close third narration and the voices of both Sharlah and Telly, the switching back and forth between which might have been jarring in less able hands, but Lisa Gardner is quite the master here, building suspense, inserting twists and turns and surprises --- sort of; if you read a lot of mystery-thrillers you'll see one or two of the curves and wrenches coming, but, so what? Isn't that why we love genre? So we can predict the outcome and work out the puzzles on our own along with the detectives?
This is a well constructed piece of fiction without the over-the-top child-in-peril graphic fear mongering of some recent reads. I appreciate that. I want to be lost in a compelling story without being disgusted by the vile amorality of the villains. Real life has enough of that, I appreciate it being a bit subdued in my novels.
Right Behind You is the seventh in a series. Obviously I've not read the first six. But, this book was fine as a standalone. I felt I understood Quincy and Rainie well enough without being fed a huge amount of expositional backstory; rather, there were details about their pasts woven into the narrative in an unobtrusive way.
In this, Quincy and Rainie are about to adopt their 13-year-old foster child, Sharlah, who at age 5 witnessed her 9-year-old brother, Telly, beat to death with a baseball bat their drunken father who had just stabbed their mother with a butcher knife and meant to kill his children as well. Now, eight years later, it seems Telly --- who Sharlah has not had contact with since the night he saved her life by bludgeoning their father --- has murdered his foster parents and started on a killing spree in which he means to make Sharlah his final victim.
The story is told in a combination of omniscient close third narration and the voices of both Sharlah and Telly, the switching back and forth between which might have been jarring in less able hands, but Lisa Gardner is quite the master here, building suspense, inserting twists and turns and surprises --- sort of; if you read a lot of mystery-thrillers you'll see one or two of the curves and wrenches coming, but, so what? Isn't that why we love genre? So we can predict the outcome and work out the puzzles on our own along with the detectives?
This is a well constructed piece of fiction without the over-the-top child-in-peril graphic fear mongering of some recent reads. I appreciate that. I want to be lost in a compelling story without being disgusted by the vile amorality of the villains. Real life has enough of that, I appreciate it being a bit subdued in my novels.
Quincy and Rainie have always been the couple you would love to have for friends, so seeing them cast in their role as foster/soon to be adoptive parents was very sweet. Lisa Gardner does a good job of describing the foster system and the effect on children and families. Following the story of Telly, who suffered from a horrific trauma at an early age, any outcome could have resulted, but the path to the fast paced ending was suspenseful. I gave it 4 stars because (spoiler alert), it is always too convenient (and a tad lazy and implausible) when the killer ties up all the answers in a neat little speech while holding a gun on his prey.
I am grateful to Goodreads for their giveaway of this book.
I am grateful to Goodreads for their giveaway of this book.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
For the most part, it played out in a way that was easily predictable. Frustrating, yes, however the way Lisa Gardner writes made me still want to keep going to know find out if I was right and how everything would play out. This was my first experience with Gardner, and I don't think it will be my last.
Lisa Gardner is ook met dit boek wel weer mijn top thrillerschrijfster. Fijne boeken.
Surviving in an abusive home, Telly cares for and protects his younger sister Sharlah. One night, the unimaginable happens and Telly is forced to kill his father in self-defense, and Telly and Sharlah end-up apart in separate foster homes. Sharlah has found her forever home with profilers Quincy and Rainie who are called in to consult when a killing spree happens in their small town. Telly Ray Nash kills again or does her?