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arstirn_2000's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
brottany's review
5.0
Frankie Elkin moves from town to town with the sole purpose of working missing persons’ cases. While fighting her inner demons, Frankie fights for the lives of others. 14 cases, and each one she brought the family news that their loved one has died. But, maybe things can be different this time. Angelique deserves to be found. Found alive. Frankie inserts herself into the community to uncover every tidbit she can to lead her to Angelique. Because, well, her duty is to Angelique. Although Frankie has never met the girl, this is who she works for. Everything she does is for Angelique.
I found myself at the edge of my seat throughout this book. I wanted to know the truth just as much as Frankie. I can’t wait to follow more of Frankie’s cases in the books that follow!
I found myself at the edge of my seat throughout this book. I wanted to know the truth just as much as Frankie. I can’t wait to follow more of Frankie’s cases in the books that follow!
me_alley's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Being 13 years sober, I appreciate that Frankie is a recovering alcoholic, the things that she says about alcoholism and the AA program are very true to life and accurate.
Frankie is a bartender who devotes her life to looking for missing people, even though she is not a detective, not a private investigator, and not in law-enforcement whatsoever. That seems a little strange, at the very least. Once I got over that I really enjoyed the story. It is , great genre of mystery to look for missing people, because you aren’t sure if they will be discovered alive or dead. In this case she is looking for a teenage girl who went missing after school one day. It has the vibe of a police point of view, And overall a good mystery and story. I will read the rest of the series.
Frankie is a bartender who devotes her life to looking for missing people, even though she is not a detective, not a private investigator, and not in law-enforcement whatsoever. That seems a little strange, at the very least. Once I got over that I really enjoyed the story. It is , great genre of mystery to look for missing people, because you aren’t sure if they will be discovered alive or dead. In this case she is looking for a teenage girl who went missing after school one day. It has the vibe of a police point of view, And overall a good mystery and story. I will read the rest of the series.
krssy31m's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.0
readwkatie's review
5.0
Words can’t express how immediately I was drawn into this story. My kindle reported this book being 560 pages and I read it in less than 24 hours. I fell asleep with it in my hands and woke up early to continue the journey. I couldn’t get enough and I am eagerly waiting for the next one to become available. Without a doubt one of my top reads for the year!
bella613's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
paulabrandon's review
2.0
Obviously miffed that a studio hadn't optioned Flora Dane for a TV show pilot, Lisa Gardner has (rejoicefully) ditched that character, and her entire world-building of the last 20-odd books, and created an entirely new character in Frankie Elkin. Frankie's background is a lot less convoluted and overdone than Flora Dane's, in that she's simply an ex-alcoholic who takes on the missing person cases that nobody else does. Of course, there is an incident in Frankie's past that is laboriously ladled out to us over the course of the book, but that's par for the course these days.
That's one big problem with this book. It feels as if it was written exclusively to capture the interests of a studio looking for a new TV series project. Frankie Elkin, on the wagon for nine years, atoning for past sins by solving the missing persons cases that the local police can't. You can just picture it: each week, Frankie in a new location helping to find another missing person, all while battling her demons. It's a perfectly reliable template. In this book, Frankie is looking for missing Haitian teenager Angelique Badeau. Her investigation eventually leads her to another missing teen and possible gang connections and counterfeiting. (Yes, gangs. Yawn.)
Except studios these days are more interested in rebooting existing properties. I highly doubt they're going to be interested in a formulaic, stunningly tone deaf offering such as this, featuring a white woman with a white saviour complex. Honestly, in today's climate, what on EARTH was Lisa Gardner thinking? White Frankie Elkin, openly admitting she looks at the cases involving minorities because they're the ones the authorities overlook. Yes, crimes against minorities are criminally overlooked, but it's highly, highly, highly problematic that Gardner addresses this by having a white woman coming in to save the day. Even worse, Gardner has based Frankie on a real life person who wasn't white!
It boggles the mind.
The best thing that I can say about Before She Disappeared is that it's Gardner's most streamlined, less convoluted, less ridiculous book in quite some time. I suspect mostly because Flora Dane is nowhere to be found. However, the plot we get is pretty mundane, featuring the sort of bland mystery-of-the-week template you would get in any TV show procedural. Not what I've come to expect from Gardner, who in the past has delivered some wonderfully exciting, twisty thrillers. The plot here felt like something I might have seen more than ten years ago on Without A Trace, which is why I suspect Gardner developed Frankie Elkin for the purpose of being optioned by a production company for her own mystery-of-the-week TV show.
My teeth grated at the cutesy relationship with the cat. Although Frankie is an adult woman, this book felt very, very, very YA. There's the developing romance with Detective Dan Lotham that feels straight of any YA romance. There are several dream sequences. Frankie actually describes herself while looking in the mirror! The teenage characters are preternaturally savvy, laying down clues for others to find. (Which is found in a lot of Gardner's work.)
Believe me, two stars is being very generous. The writing style was very YA, and the plot was the sort of bland fill-in episode found in any TV show police procedural. The white saviour trope on display is completely tone deaf and inappropriate. But it's less ridiculous than a lot of Gardner's more recent output, and at least there's no trace of f***ing Flora Dane to be found.
UPDATE: Before She Disappeared is to be adapted into a TV series starring Hilary Swank.
Lisa Gardner got her wish.
Ugh.
That's one big problem with this book. It feels as if it was written exclusively to capture the interests of a studio looking for a new TV series project. Frankie Elkin, on the wagon for nine years, atoning for past sins by solving the missing persons cases that the local police can't. You can just picture it: each week, Frankie in a new location helping to find another missing person, all while battling her demons. It's a perfectly reliable template. In this book, Frankie is looking for missing Haitian teenager Angelique Badeau. Her investigation eventually leads her to another missing teen and possible gang connections and counterfeiting. (Yes, gangs. Yawn.)
Except studios these days are more interested in rebooting existing properties. I highly doubt they're going to be interested in a formulaic, stunningly tone deaf offering such as this, featuring a white woman with a white saviour complex. Honestly, in today's climate, what on EARTH was Lisa Gardner thinking? White Frankie Elkin, openly admitting she looks at the cases involving minorities because they're the ones the authorities overlook. Yes, crimes against minorities are criminally overlooked, but it's highly, highly, highly problematic that Gardner addresses this by having a white woman coming in to save the day. Even worse, Gardner has based Frankie on a real life person who wasn't white!
It boggles the mind.
The best thing that I can say about Before She Disappeared is that it's Gardner's most streamlined, less convoluted, less ridiculous book in quite some time. I suspect mostly because Flora Dane is nowhere to be found. However, the plot we get is pretty mundane, featuring the sort of bland mystery-of-the-week template you would get in any TV show procedural. Not what I've come to expect from Gardner, who in the past has delivered some wonderfully exciting, twisty thrillers. The plot here felt like something I might have seen more than ten years ago on Without A Trace, which is why I suspect Gardner developed Frankie Elkin for the purpose of being optioned by a production company for her own mystery-of-the-week TV show.
My teeth grated at the cutesy relationship with the cat. Although Frankie is an adult woman, this book felt very, very, very YA. There's the developing romance with Detective Dan Lotham that feels straight of any YA romance. There are several dream sequences. Frankie actually describes herself while looking in the mirror! The teenage characters are preternaturally savvy, laying down clues for others to find. (Which is found in a lot of Gardner's work.)
Spoiler
For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why Angelique couldn't get a more direct message out considering what her captors had already let her get away with. It didn't make much sense.Believe me, two stars is being very generous. The writing style was very YA, and the plot was the sort of bland fill-in episode found in any TV show police procedural. The white saviour trope on display is completely tone deaf and inappropriate. But it's less ridiculous than a lot of Gardner's more recent output, and at least there's no trace of f***ing Flora Dane to be found.
UPDATE: Before She Disappeared is to be adapted into a TV series starring Hilary Swank.
Lisa Gardner got her wish.
Ugh.