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annmarie_reads's review
5.0
This is one of my favorite galleys I received from NetGalley. The story kept me guessing the entire time. One girl was found kidnapped, bound yet alive while another girl was kidnapped a few years later and was never found again. Alex is the survivor & returns to her hometown to find out what happened to the second girl. The problem is everyone in this town has a secret.
3no7's review
4.0
“The One that Got Away” by Joe Clifford starts with a terrifying prologue, a girl locked underground, and then moves to “now” centered around Alex Salerno, the girl who got away from a killer. Alex tells herself that she has moved on from her traumatic experience, but she really has not. Holes in her memory form Swiss-cheese excerpts of the past, and the terror always comes back. She has returned to Reine, her hometown into in Upstate New York town because a reporter wants to tell her story again. The reporter, Noah Lee, promises that the focus will be on her, her struggle, her victory, the one good thing she has done with her life: she has survived. The narrative centers on Alex as she struggles to finally overcome her own trauma. She is also troubled by unanswered questions in the murder of another girl from Reine, and the possibility that Benny Brudzienski, the person who was accused of her murder, is innocent. Is there a conspiracy? Benny Brudzienski is institutionalized, incapacitated, and yet has secrets to share.
Clifford skillfully creates characters that are flawed, human, and compelling. Alex is at the same time helpless and forceful, haunted and liberated, and always truth seeking. Readers fear for her safety and applaud her determination. Is there a killer roaming free, or is Alex only hearing what she wants to hear? The town, Reine, barren and empty, is as much of a character as is Alex. Readers sense the malevolent curse that hangs over the town, harming everything and everyone.
The haunting trail of clues leads to a startling truth in the end. This book will keep readers turning the pages and yet fearing what might come next. I was given a copy of “The One that Got Away” by Joe Clifford, Down & Out Books, and NetGalley. Readers will not soon forget this book.
Clifford skillfully creates characters that are flawed, human, and compelling. Alex is at the same time helpless and forceful, haunted and liberated, and always truth seeking. Readers fear for her safety and applaud her determination. Is there a killer roaming free, or is Alex only hearing what she wants to hear? The town, Reine, barren and empty, is as much of a character as is Alex. Readers sense the malevolent curse that hangs over the town, harming everything and everyone.
The haunting trail of clues leads to a startling truth in the end. This book will keep readers turning the pages and yet fearing what might come next. I was given a copy of “The One that Got Away” by Joe Clifford, Down & Out Books, and NetGalley. Readers will not soon forget this book.
nickikendall's review against another edition
4.0
Thanks to #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was my first time reading Joe Clifford and it was a great introduction to his writing. The book centres on Alex who was rescued by Police from a serial killer when she was 17. Years later she returns to her hometown where people are talking about the disappearance of Kira Shanks another girl from her hometown several years after her own abduction. The town think the killer of Kira is safely being held in a mental institution. Benny the alledged murderer is in a catatonic state. The book gives insight into Benny's world by containing several chapters written from his perspective which will tug at your heartstrings and make you want justice for Benny and Kira. Alex is determined to get to the bottom of what has happened. This book kept me wanting to read more to find out what did happen to Kira. Suspensefully written with an ending you will not anticipate. #netgalley #joeclifford #theonethatgotaway #litsy #tea_sipping_bookworm
lynnieharper's review
2.0
It was ok. I felt the plot was very repetitive with little resolution given to all of the characters. The world was built pretty adequately, and it felt like as a reader you were definitely an outsider into this tightly woven community. But I just felt like so many characters who were introduced were not explored to their full extent and there were a lot of moments where I just didn't care about them. It was an ok read, the writer has talent, but I wasn't crazy about it to be honest.
pestocks's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great read. I looked forward every night immersing myself back into the world of this book and its story. Nice to be wondering what would happen next and then have a bit of surprise at the end. Definitely recommend.
bract4813mypacksnet's review against another edition
5.0
The One That Got Away
Joe Clifford
Down & Out Books (July 1, 2018)
https://downandoutbooks.com
13-digit ISBN number 978-1948235426
$17.95
Suanne Schafer
[email protected]
SuanneSchaferAuthor.com
I chose to read this book because I have read everything else Joe Clifford has written. Best known for his Jay Porter series, Clifford writes what can only be called elegant noir. I always highlight multiple lines that are “zingers” for their fresh turns-of-phrase.
The One That Got Away is set in Upstate New York, and having spent many years visiting my in-laws in Little Falls, I know the area well and can guarantee that Clifford fully captures the bleak ambiance of the little towns in the area, dying on the vine because factories closed years ago. This line proves it: “…there’s nowhere like Upstate New York. It’s a dirty, ugly place that’s never possessed the hope to lose.”
Better yet are his characters. Told from the points of view of Alex Salerno (a thirty-ish young woman, who’s an anti-hero, a complex character, strong, intelligent, yet ultimately self-destructive) and Benny Brudzinski (a man with degenerative neurological deficits that cause him to be intellectually challenged). Alex returns to Reine, NY, to look into the death of Kira Shanks, a young woman who disappears twelve years after Alex’s own kidnapping at the age of seventeen.
Clifford uses Benny’s chapters to reveal the pathos of a man “locked” into himself, incapable of verbal communication beyond a few grunts, but whose brain clearly continues to function. Though I found the thought patterns and vocabulary to be inconsistent with the supposed degree of Benny’s retardation, these chapters are poignant and elegant. Though he is featured in fewer chapters than Alex, Benny is the axis around which this mystery revolves. It is particularly appealing that the twist is revealed in Benny’s POV.
If you like mysteries with a clear-cut ending, you will be disappointed, but I loved the ambiguity of Clifford’s ending.
Joe Clifford
Down & Out Books (July 1, 2018)
https://downandoutbooks.com
13-digit ISBN number 978-1948235426
$17.95
Suanne Schafer
[email protected]
SuanneSchaferAuthor.com
I chose to read this book because I have read everything else Joe Clifford has written. Best known for his Jay Porter series, Clifford writes what can only be called elegant noir. I always highlight multiple lines that are “zingers” for their fresh turns-of-phrase.
The One That Got Away is set in Upstate New York, and having spent many years visiting my in-laws in Little Falls, I know the area well and can guarantee that Clifford fully captures the bleak ambiance of the little towns in the area, dying on the vine because factories closed years ago. This line proves it: “…there’s nowhere like Upstate New York. It’s a dirty, ugly place that’s never possessed the hope to lose.”
Better yet are his characters. Told from the points of view of Alex Salerno (a thirty-ish young woman, who’s an anti-hero, a complex character, strong, intelligent, yet ultimately self-destructive) and Benny Brudzinski (a man with degenerative neurological deficits that cause him to be intellectually challenged). Alex returns to Reine, NY, to look into the death of Kira Shanks, a young woman who disappears twelve years after Alex’s own kidnapping at the age of seventeen.
Clifford uses Benny’s chapters to reveal the pathos of a man “locked” into himself, incapable of verbal communication beyond a few grunts, but whose brain clearly continues to function. Though I found the thought patterns and vocabulary to be inconsistent with the supposed degree of Benny’s retardation, these chapters are poignant and elegant. Though he is featured in fewer chapters than Alex, Benny is the axis around which this mystery revolves. It is particularly appealing that the twist is revealed in Benny’s POV.
If you like mysteries with a clear-cut ending, you will be disappointed, but I loved the ambiguity of Clifford’s ending.
britthebookguru's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for sending me a free advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
I actually really liked this book. It gave me slight [b:Dark Places|5886881|Dark Places|Gillian Flynn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1354988288s/5886881.jpg|6873353] vibes, but didn't actually mirror Dark Places at all. There was just a really eerie air about the book that reminded me a lot of Gillian Flynn writing, which is an amazing feat, if you ask me.
This would be a pretty run of the mill story about the escapee who just barely missed death when kidnapped as a child/teenager but is now a drug induced mess of a person who is unsure of where he/she belongs in life, had it not been for Kira Shanks's story. I liked the way that Clifford intertwined these two crimes without actually making it about the same criminal. I also thought that adding Benny's point of view was inspired, because he really did add a lot to the story. Beyond Benny and Alex, though, all of the characters felt very two dimensional and there on need basis, if that makes sense. Everyone felt very disposable, which I suppose could have been intentional since Alex is hard to trust and easy to cut off, but it made it annoying to read about anything that didn't directly deal with Kira Shanks's disappearance.
Overall, the story itself was wonderful and though it wasn't super mysterious, it was very thrilling. You never know what exactly is going to happen next, or what is going to be uncovered. It makes for a really good, keep you on the edge of your seat type of story.
I actually really liked this book. It gave me slight [b:Dark Places|5886881|Dark Places|Gillian Flynn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1354988288s/5886881.jpg|6873353] vibes, but didn't actually mirror Dark Places at all. There was just a really eerie air about the book that reminded me a lot of Gillian Flynn writing, which is an amazing feat, if you ask me.
This would be a pretty run of the mill story about the escapee who just barely missed death when kidnapped as a child/teenager but is now a drug induced mess of a person who is unsure of where he/she belongs in life, had it not been for Kira Shanks's story. I liked the way that Clifford intertwined these two crimes without actually making it about the same criminal. I also thought that adding Benny's point of view was inspired, because he really did add a lot to the story. Beyond Benny and Alex, though, all of the characters felt very two dimensional and there on need basis, if that makes sense. Everyone felt very disposable, which I suppose could have been intentional since Alex is hard to trust and easy to cut off, but it made it annoying to read about anything that didn't directly deal with Kira Shanks's disappearance.
Overall, the story itself was wonderful and though it wasn't super mysterious, it was very thrilling. You never know what exactly is going to happen next, or what is going to be uncovered. It makes for a really good, keep you on the edge of your seat type of story.
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