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A review by cait_s
Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner
3.0
I received a free copy of this book from Penguin First to Read in exchange for an honest review.
This is a story about lies and secrets, with lots of twists and turns. It's very dark, as well. Nicole "Nicky" Frank doesn't remember much. She was in a terrible car accident, and all she remembers is her daughter Vero is missing. Maybe hurt. But the man who claims to be her husband, who she feels a mix of hate and love toward even if she can't remember his name, says she has no children.
But Vero seems like the only thing that's real.
Nicky has suffered multiple head injuries--her brain hasn't recovered, so her memories are unreliable. But the more the police investigate her story, the more mysteries emerge. Vero, it turns out, isn't only a figment of her imagination. And the story of that little girl is woven around Nicky's hidden past, a story that is complex and a bit horrifying.
Not a light read, but an interesting one, so long as you're willing to allow for some stretches of coincidence. The world can be a terrible place, and people do terrible things to each other--often with tangled emotions and motives. Someone can mean well, yet do so much damage. Nicky is a wounded narrator, unreliable, circling back to what she doesn't remember, and her relationship with her husband is disturbingly dysfunctional. But the puzzle of the plot is well constructed, sweeping the story along as it's slowly unraveled.
Though part of a series, the book can be read by itself. However, character development in the investigators is better understood by reading them in order. A good read for fans of thrillers and complex detective investigations.
This is a story about lies and secrets, with lots of twists and turns. It's very dark, as well. Nicole "Nicky" Frank doesn't remember much. She was in a terrible car accident, and all she remembers is her daughter Vero is missing. Maybe hurt. But the man who claims to be her husband, who she feels a mix of hate and love toward even if she can't remember his name, says she has no children.
But Vero seems like the only thing that's real.
Nicky has suffered multiple head injuries--her brain hasn't recovered, so her memories are unreliable. But the more the police investigate her story, the more mysteries emerge. Vero, it turns out, isn't only a figment of her imagination. And the story of that little girl is woven around Nicky's hidden past, a story that is complex and a bit horrifying.
Not a light read, but an interesting one, so long as you're willing to allow for some stretches of coincidence. The world can be a terrible place, and people do terrible things to each other--often with tangled emotions and motives. Someone can mean well, yet do so much damage. Nicky is a wounded narrator, unreliable, circling back to what she doesn't remember, and her relationship with her husband is disturbingly dysfunctional. But the puzzle of the plot is well constructed, sweeping the story along as it's slowly unraveled.
Though part of a series, the book can be read by itself. However, character development in the investigators is better understood by reading them in order. A good read for fans of thrillers and complex detective investigations.