Community Reviews
Author Danielle Girard follows up 2020's White Out with another harrowing mystery in which she brings back beloved characters Detective Kylie Milliard and Lily Baker. Kylie remains the only detective in the tiny fictional town of Hagen, North Dakota, population 864. Although in White Out, she was new to the police force and dreamed of being a detective with the police department in Fargo, the nearest thing to a big city, she has settled into Hagen.
Girard wastes no time creating suspense. The story opens with fourteen-year-old Hannah Visser arriving at the home of Ben and Nadine Garza to babysit their infant daughter, Tiffany. Hannah is the daughter of Charles Visser, an emergency medicine physician at the local hospital. Her much-older brother, Chase, operates Visser Interiors, a high-end building supplies business, where Nadine is employed as an accountant. The Garzas have no idea that Hannah is impaired, having taken pills she obtained from a local drug dealer. Just as the Garzas are putting on their coats, getting ready to depart, the front door bursts open, and instinct drives Hannah to hide in the coat closet. From that vantage point, she watches in horror as both Ben and Nadine are shot. When she determines it is finally safe to emerge, she fears that if she calls the police or her father, she will be unable to explain what she witnessed and the fact that she is high will be revealed. She worries that no one will believe her, and she might be accused of going on a drug-crazed murder spree. And what if the killer, whose voice is eerily familiar, is a police officer? Panicking, she grabs Nadine's purse, locates the car key fob, and, although she doesn't really know how to drive and should not be attempting to operate a vehicle in her compromised state, takes off with Tiffany.
Meanwhile, twenty-nine-year-old Lily Baker, who survived being kidnapped and held hostage by Derek Hudson, is on duty at the hospital, along with Charles Visser. Her memories from that time began returning to her as odd images and snippets of events. First, she recalled living with her aunt in Arizona and studying nursing. And then "over time the memories were just there." Three and a half years after being freed, the only thing she can't recall is the time she spent being held captive. The memories that return to her of that experience do so as nightmares that evolve into daytime terrors. Her mind has "walled off" those memories, Iver, her boyfriend, who was also featured prominently in White Out, theorizes, protecting her from the trauma she experienced. Iver is away, caring for his mother who has suffered a stroke, so Lily is alone at home when not working and feeling particularly defenseless.
And Kylie is spending time with her best friend, Amber, and her young son, William. Kylie loves to babysit William, for which Amber rewards her with banana cream pie from the Hagen Diner. Kylie has now settled into her own place, after staying with Amber and William when she first arrived in Hagen. Even though it's Sunday night, Kylie heads back to the station because, at thirty-four, she has no social or romantic life. After all, the only nightclub in Hagen consists of hanging out in the bar or at the movie theater.
When Marjorie, the dispatcher, steps away from her desk for a moment, Kylie takes the 911 call from someone who sounds like a small child and reports, "He just walked in the front door. I hid in the closet . . ." Kylie returns the receiver to Marjorie, gets in her cruiser and races to the Garza home. Far Gone proceeds at an unrelenting pace as Kylie and her fellow officers search for the killer and his motive.
Kylie leads the investigation, piecing together clues and navigating Lily's fragile emotional state when critical evidence leads back to her and the time she was held hostage. The first order of business is finding out what happened to Tiffany, whose bassinet is empty when Kylie and her fellow officers reach the Garza home. Soon Hannah's mother, Priscilla, arrives at the police station with Chase to report that her daughter, Hannah, is missing.
Girard tells the story from the alternating perspectives of Kylie, Lily, and Hannah. Kylie is single-mindedly determined to locate Tiffany and ensure her safety, and learn who killed the baby's parents. Lily has to process the stunning news that Kylie finds herself having to deliver, knowing how shocking it will be for vulnerable Lily to hear what irrefutable evidence has revealed about her past.
But the most compelling aspect of the story is Hannah's desperate journey to safety and determination to survive. She is convinced that if she can get to the family-owned cabin where she spent time with her father, she will be able to use the landline phone there to notify her father and enlist his help. Hannah strikes out in Nadine's vehicle. She has no idea how to navigate the world alone, but is savvy enough to stay off the main highways and keep her cell phone turned off. Still, she knows that a cold-blooded killer is looking for her in order to eliminate the only person who can testify to his heinous acts. Hannah has little money or food, only a small number of pills remaining, and eventually has to ditch Nadine's car. But she is clever and resilient, and Girard deftly ramps up the dramatic tension as Hannah nears the cabin . . . and the killer hones in on her location. Hannah is an endearing, believable character and Girard conveys her story with compassion and tenderness, endearing her to readers who will find themselves unable to tear themselves away from Far Gone unless and until she is out of harm's way.
Far Gone is replete with surprising plot developments that reveal family secrets, betrayals, and the nefarious motivation for the Garza killings. As noted, the action kicks into high gear at the outset and Girard never backs off, instead accelerating the story's pace as shocking discoveries and a race to save the lives of some key characters ensue. Unlike White Out, which focused largely on Kylie and her struggle to prove herself to her new colleagues, the story is revolves around Hannah and Lily, and the murders. One particularly moving subplot involves officer Carl Gilbert, who explains to Kylie that he dated Nadine for about a year. "She broke up with me for Ben." Through Gilbert, with whom Kylie has a contentious history, Girard compellingly explores the challenges of remaining professional and appropriately detached while serving in a small town where everyone is acquainted and the residents have significant histories with each other.
Far Gone is an intense and engrossing page-turner, an intriguing mystery that will keep readers guessing until the very end, full of emotional complications and, at the center of it all, a strong, but naive and very frightened young girl who has no idea when she shows up to babysit little Tiffany that her whole life is about to change in ways she could never imagine. It is a worthy follow-up to White Out, the smashing first volume in the series, and will leave readers clamoring for the next heart-pounding installment.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Girard wastes no time creating suspense. The story opens with fourteen-year-old Hannah Visser arriving at the home of Ben and Nadine Garza to babysit their infant daughter, Tiffany. Hannah is the daughter of Charles Visser, an emergency medicine physician at the local hospital. Her much-older brother, Chase, operates Visser Interiors, a high-end building supplies business, where Nadine is employed as an accountant. The Garzas have no idea that Hannah is impaired, having taken pills she obtained from a local drug dealer. Just as the Garzas are putting on their coats, getting ready to depart, the front door bursts open, and instinct drives Hannah to hide in the coat closet. From that vantage point, she watches in horror as both Ben and Nadine are shot. When she determines it is finally safe to emerge, she fears that if she calls the police or her father, she will be unable to explain what she witnessed and the fact that she is high will be revealed. She worries that no one will believe her, and she might be accused of going on a drug-crazed murder spree. And what if the killer, whose voice is eerily familiar, is a police officer? Panicking, she grabs Nadine's purse, locates the car key fob, and, although she doesn't really know how to drive and should not be attempting to operate a vehicle in her compromised state, takes off with Tiffany.
Meanwhile, twenty-nine-year-old Lily Baker, who survived being kidnapped and held hostage by Derek Hudson, is on duty at the hospital, along with Charles Visser. Her memories from that time began returning to her as odd images and snippets of events. First, she recalled living with her aunt in Arizona and studying nursing. And then "over time the memories were just there." Three and a half years after being freed, the only thing she can't recall is the time she spent being held captive. The memories that return to her of that experience do so as nightmares that evolve into daytime terrors. Her mind has "walled off" those memories, Iver, her boyfriend, who was also featured prominently in White Out, theorizes, protecting her from the trauma she experienced. Iver is away, caring for his mother who has suffered a stroke, so Lily is alone at home when not working and feeling particularly defenseless.
And Kylie is spending time with her best friend, Amber, and her young son, William. Kylie loves to babysit William, for which Amber rewards her with banana cream pie from the Hagen Diner. Kylie has now settled into her own place, after staying with Amber and William when she first arrived in Hagen. Even though it's Sunday night, Kylie heads back to the station because, at thirty-four, she has no social or romantic life. After all, the only nightclub in Hagen consists of hanging out in the bar or at the movie theater.
When Marjorie, the dispatcher, steps away from her desk for a moment, Kylie takes the 911 call from someone who sounds like a small child and reports, "He just walked in the front door. I hid in the closet . . ." Kylie returns the receiver to Marjorie, gets in her cruiser and races to the Garza home. Far Gone proceeds at an unrelenting pace as Kylie and her fellow officers search for the killer and his motive.
Kylie leads the investigation, piecing together clues and navigating Lily's fragile emotional state when critical evidence leads back to her and the time she was held hostage. The first order of business is finding out what happened to Tiffany, whose bassinet is empty when Kylie and her fellow officers reach the Garza home. Soon Hannah's mother, Priscilla, arrives at the police station with Chase to report that her daughter, Hannah, is missing.
Girard tells the story from the alternating perspectives of Kylie, Lily, and Hannah. Kylie is single-mindedly determined to locate Tiffany and ensure her safety, and learn who killed the baby's parents. Lily has to process the stunning news that Kylie finds herself having to deliver, knowing how shocking it will be for vulnerable Lily to hear what irrefutable evidence has revealed about her past.
But the most compelling aspect of the story is Hannah's desperate journey to safety and determination to survive. She is convinced that if she can get to the family-owned cabin where she spent time with her father, she will be able to use the landline phone there to notify her father and enlist his help. Hannah strikes out in Nadine's vehicle. She has no idea how to navigate the world alone, but is savvy enough to stay off the main highways and keep her cell phone turned off. Still, she knows that a cold-blooded killer is looking for her in order to eliminate the only person who can testify to his heinous acts. Hannah has little money or food, only a small number of pills remaining, and eventually has to ditch Nadine's car. But she is clever and resilient, and Girard deftly ramps up the dramatic tension as Hannah nears the cabin . . . and the killer hones in on her location. Hannah is an endearing, believable character and Girard conveys her story with compassion and tenderness, endearing her to readers who will find themselves unable to tear themselves away from Far Gone unless and until she is out of harm's way.
Far Gone is replete with surprising plot developments that reveal family secrets, betrayals, and the nefarious motivation for the Garza killings. As noted, the action kicks into high gear at the outset and Girard never backs off, instead accelerating the story's pace as shocking discoveries and a race to save the lives of some key characters ensue. Unlike White Out, which focused largely on Kylie and her struggle to prove herself to her new colleagues, the story is revolves around Hannah and Lily, and the murders. One particularly moving subplot involves officer Carl Gilbert, who explains to Kylie that he dated Nadine for about a year. "She broke up with me for Ben." Through Gilbert, with whom Kylie has a contentious history, Girard compellingly explores the challenges of remaining professional and appropriately detached while serving in a small town where everyone is acquainted and the residents have significant histories with each other.
Far Gone is an intense and engrossing page-turner, an intriguing mystery that will keep readers guessing until the very end, full of emotional complications and, at the center of it all, a strong, but naive and very frightened young girl who has no idea when she shows up to babysit little Tiffany that her whole life is about to change in ways she could never imagine. It is a worthy follow-up to White Out, the smashing first volume in the series, and will leave readers clamoring for the next heart-pounding installment.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.