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paulabrandon's review
3.0
This feels a lot like Lisa Gardner wanted to do a trendy unreliable narrator book, since so many first-time or new authors were hitting it big with similar ideas (Before I Go To Sleep, Gone Girl etc). While it's a typically twisty entry from her, it falls at the bottom end of the scale of her output. First of all, it's just TOO SLOW to get going. For the first 40%, we keep going back again and again to that ravine for what feels like a how-to guide on investigating motor vehicle accidents! Wyatt even says "I'm sick of this damn ravine" three times in one page, and I was in complete agreement!
If there's a car accident and nobody is injured and no drink-driving was involved (like here), I don't know any police department that would spend so much time investigating! They've got other things to do!
After about 45%, it got back on track, but it was a bit too-little, too-late for me! Lots of repetition ("Vero wants to fly!"), too few characters in the narrative to really have a good whodunit, and a climax that was virtually Grand Guignol! (I half expected the villain to declare: "You must die for what you know! Mwah mwah mwah!")
Lisa Gardner is capable of much better than this!
If there's a car accident and nobody is injured and no drink-driving was involved (like here), I don't know any police department that would spend so much time investigating! They've got other things to do!
After about 45%, it got back on track, but it was a bit too-little, too-late for me! Lots of repetition ("Vero wants to fly!"), too few characters in the narrative to really have a good whodunit, and a climax that was virtually Grand Guignol! (I half expected the villain to declare: "You must die for what you know! Mwah mwah mwah!")
Lisa Gardner is capable of much better than this!
lauraklassen's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
nic_fish's review
4.0
More twists and turns than the average country road! Really have to pay attention during the middle of the book! Really enjoy this author!
mo_ber's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Child abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
ssomers14's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was an interesting mystery and unique story. It felt a little drawn out though. Also it was fun to read a story set in New Hampshire, though the narrator seems to think we all sound like we’re from Boston. 😅
kristyhill's review
2.0
This book wasn't the same caliber as other Lisa Gardner stories, but I liked that it wasn't psychotically frightening. It didn't keep me up all night, but it also didn't keep me up all night. Know what I mean?
mandikaye's review
5.0
It was really refreshing to read a crime thriller that wasn't all about murder! And the twists and turns in this one really kept me on my toes.
juliette_21's review against another edition
4.0
At first I really struggled to get into this book. I just couldn't get to grips with it and kept putting it down.
Eventually, more than half way through I just realized how brilliant it was and couldn't put it down.
The whole story is completely breathless and I wonder where on hearth Lisa Gardner found such inspiration to write such a dramatic and twisted book.
The ending is fabulous and I was never expecting what happens to happen.
I took a star off because it was a bit slow and confusing to start with. But I would definitely recommend this book as it's a true masterpiece!
Eventually, more than half way through I just realized how brilliant it was and couldn't put it down.
The whole story is completely breathless and I wonder where on hearth Lisa Gardner found such inspiration to write such a dramatic and twisted book.
The ending is fabulous and I was never expecting what happens to happen.
I took a star off because it was a bit slow and confusing to start with. But I would definitely recommend this book as it's a true masterpiece!
judithdcollins's review
4.0
A special thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars
Bestselling crime and mystery author, Lisa Gardner, delivers CRASH AND BURN, a complex psychological cop detective thriller which will leave your head spinning with twists and turns. questioning illusions versus reality.
Mixing up characters from previous best sellers, we visit with some of the best. Nichole Drank, Sgt. Wyatt Foster, and PI Tessa Leoni— with a glimpse of favorite Boston detective… D.D. Warren. fans will devour this one! Where nothing is as it appears.
A car accident in rural New Hampshire. A confused injured driver. Turning into a series of crimes for a roller coaster ride. When Nicky Frank regains consciousness and realizes that she has run off the road and is trapped in her car, she has only one concern: her daughter. Where is Vero? She’s not in the car.
Nichole’s husband, Thomas Frank tells Foster and Leoni, his wife suffers from post-concussive syndrome, from a previous fall. (TBI) A recovering Nicole speaks of a young girl, Vero. Is she her daughter? Could she be dreaming?
Her husband mentions she has trouble distinguishing between reality and illusions or dreams. Is Frank, really her husband and was he trying to kill his wife? According to him, there is no little girl and she does not exist. Are there hidden secrets? A past?
Why can't Nicky get the girl out of her head? Without help from someone she can trust, Nicky may never find the answers to any of the questions being thrown at her by Wyatt Foster and the New Hampshire North Country Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division.
Wyatt, still not sure if he is dealing with a criminal or a victim, is determined to get to the truth. He may just turn out to be one of the few friends Nicky has.
A complex mystery crime thriller, with an intriguing look at TBI, (Tami Hoag highlights this at the end of her latest, Cold Cold Heart). Garner pulls out all the stops, keeping you turning the pages as readers learn about Nichole’s past for an edgy, vivid, dark psychological suspense thriller of secrets and lies!
Judith D. Collins Must Read Books
Bestselling crime and mystery author, Lisa Gardner, delivers CRASH AND BURN, a complex psychological cop detective thriller which will leave your head spinning with twists and turns. questioning illusions versus reality.
Mixing up characters from previous best sellers, we visit with some of the best. Nichole Drank, Sgt. Wyatt Foster, and PI Tessa Leoni— with a glimpse of favorite Boston detective… D.D. Warren. fans will devour this one! Where nothing is as it appears.
A car accident in rural New Hampshire. A confused injured driver. Turning into a series of crimes for a roller coaster ride. When Nicky Frank regains consciousness and realizes that she has run off the road and is trapped in her car, she has only one concern: her daughter. Where is Vero? She’s not in the car.
Nichole’s husband, Thomas Frank tells Foster and Leoni, his wife suffers from post-concussive syndrome, from a previous fall. (TBI) A recovering Nicole speaks of a young girl, Vero. Is she her daughter? Could she be dreaming?
Her husband mentions she has trouble distinguishing between reality and illusions or dreams. Is Frank, really her husband and was he trying to kill his wife? According to him, there is no little girl and she does not exist. Are there hidden secrets? A past?
Why can't Nicky get the girl out of her head? Without help from someone she can trust, Nicky may never find the answers to any of the questions being thrown at her by Wyatt Foster and the New Hampshire North Country Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division.
Wyatt, still not sure if he is dealing with a criminal or a victim, is determined to get to the truth. He may just turn out to be one of the few friends Nicky has.
A complex mystery crime thriller, with an intriguing look at TBI, (Tami Hoag highlights this at the end of her latest, Cold Cold Heart). Garner pulls out all the stops, keeping you turning the pages as readers learn about Nichole’s past for an edgy, vivid, dark psychological suspense thriller of secrets and lies!
Judith D. Collins Must Read Books