Lisa GARDNER : Before she disappeared

Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will--searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.
A new case brings her to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier. Resistance from the Boston PD and the victim's wary family tells Frankie she's on her own--and she soon learns she's asking questions someone doesn't want answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to discover the truth, even if it means the next person to go missing could be her.

 

 

I've been claiming it for years : Lisa Gardner is my favourite thriller author. I have read all her novels, so book buying ban or no book buying ban, when she published a new novel, my life takes a step back while I read it. 

 

This is a standalone, she hasn't released one in years. What I absolutely adore with this author is that her female characters are strong, maybe not always well-balanced, usually with a troubled past that they can't get away from even if some try their best to. In a world filled with conformism, her women are always misfits, flawed, unperfect. Frankie Elkin is one of them, I loved how her own story was revealed bit by bit. I said it's a standalone but who knows, the possibility of a series is open ?... I'd love to.

Another thing I loved here in this novel and that the people in there are diverse, human, less human, a whole set of characters brought to life, the Haïtian community, a whole neighborhood. This book deals with social, racial subjects that we hear about in the news without any preaching : she simply shows people and it's more effective than any long talk. There are different layers, different possibilities, the chemistry between Frankie and Lotham is irresistible - they love to agree to disagree. This book is gritty, filled with energy and suspense, that too is irresistible. Highly, highly recommended !