A review by kaylielongley
Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner

4.0

I’m surprised how much I liked Crash and Burn. In my experience, thrillers abandon character development in favor or plot and pace, but author Lisa Gardner impeccably integrates both. Told from multiple points of view, Crash and Burn focuses on couple Thomas and Nicole Frank. A mysterious duo, Nicky descends from a cliff in an accident. Nicky becomes “a girl twice back from the grave” and is in desperate search of Vero, a girl she claims is her daughter. But… Vero cannot be found. She may not even exist. Is Nicky Vero? The physical search for Vero and the psychological examination of Nicky are themes of the entire story. I especially liked this careful inspection of Nicky’s psyche, told through interweaving chapters in first person and third person, from detectives Wyatt and Tessa. Gardner’s writing does not undermine her protagonist and instead encourages readers to consider every possibility, such as the consequences of committing crimes during childhood, the balance between love and hate in professional and personal relationships, and the role of mental illness in shaping one’s perception of reality. This made for intriguing, stay-up-for-just-one-more-chapter reading. Not too shabby for my first Lisa Gardner. I’ll happily read more from her in the future.