When You See Me: A Novel (Detective D. D. Warren)
#1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner unites three of her most beloved characters--Detective D D Warren, Flora Dane, and Kimberly Quincy--in a twisty new thriller, as they investigate a mysterious murder from the past . . . which points to a dangerous and chilling present-day crime. FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy and Sergeant Detective D D Warren have built a task force to follow the digital bread crumbs left behind by deceased serial kidnapper Jacob Ness. When a disturbing piece of evidence is discovered in the hills of Georgia, they bring Flora Dane and true-crime savant Keith Edgar to a small town where something seems to be deeply wrong. What at first looks like a Gothic eeriness soon hardens into something much more sinister . . . and they discover that for all the evil Jacob committed while alive, his worst secret is still to be revealed. Quincy and DD must summon their considerable skills and experience to crack the most disturbing case of their careers--and Flora must face her own past directly in the hope of saving others.
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Community Reviews
(Again, just for me and my remembrance), I enjoyed this book and its intrigue. However, when everything comes to light it was just a bit too much. An entire town involved? I’m fine with the implausible in general, but this one just seemed too far for me. Way too many people doing evil.
Lisa Gardner, "the master of the psychological thriller," delivers the eleventh installment in her D.D. Warren series, When You See Me, a compelling and haunting mystery that succeeds on every level.
When You See Me opens with a disturbing first-person narrative from girl who, at just five years of age, witnesses the abuse and murder of her mother, and is wounded herself. Her identity is unknown. She relates her story in chapters alternating Flora's narrative, as well as chapters focusing on Kimberly and D.D. When a couple of hikers happen upon skeletal remains in the tranquil Georgia mountains, just outside the picturesque little town of Niche, D.D. and Kimberly lead a team of investigators tasked with examining the makeshift gravesite, along with the hiking trails surrounding it and the quaint little community.
The mysterious narrator reveals that she can draw, but is unable to speak, read or write. Her art is the only way she can convey the atrocities she has witnessed. But where have those hellacious events taken place? And who were the victims she mentions?
As the investigation proceeds, more bodies are found, and it seems increasingly apparently that the remains may be linked with none other than Jacob Ness, who kidnapped Flora and held her in a coffin-shaped box. Flora was a vivacious young woman when he snatched her, and subjected her to unspeakable terror and abuse from which she has never recovered. Flora is forever changed and has become a vigilante determined to ensure that no one other young women suffer as she has.
Once again D.D. leaves her crime analyst husband and precocious six-year-old son, Jack, behind in Boston in order to devote herself to solving a decades-old crime. She is singularly devoted to the task and her career, secure that her husband understands her drive and can competently care for their child while she is away. That does not extinguish the pain and guilt she experiences when she is away from them, a fact that continues to confound and amaze her.
It was Kimberly who discovered that Jacob was a serial predator and led the raid on the Florida hotel room where he was holding Flora captive. She is equally devoted to her career, and determined to identify the skeletal remains found in Georgia and bring the victims' killer(s) to justice.
The first victim identified is Lilah Abenito who was declared missing fifteen years ago . . . and one of Jacob's first victims. Because of that connection, Flora's assistance is vital to the investigation. Having survived a harrowing ordeal, she has intimate knowledge about Jacob, his proclivities and thought processes, and where his quest for victim may have led him. But reliving those details may prove too much for Flora as they narrow in on the actual site where Jacob held her captive.
Tautly constructed in Gardner's familiar style, When You See Me is a fast-paced, searing adventure toward the truth about Jacob Hess, as well as local residents who may have been involved in a horrifying scheme that has left many young women dead. Joined by the local sheriff, who is mortified when he realizes what may have been going on undetected in the sleepy little town where he is supposed to be keeping folks safe, the team of investigators divide up responsibility and confront the powerful local citizens who will stop at nothing to keep their crimes from being revealed.
Flora's willingness to journey back to the worst days of her life and confront the lingering emotional toll that Jacob visited upon her is absorbing and deeply emotional. Through her narration, she shares her innermost feelings, as well as the ways in which her life changed forever on that fateful day when Jacob kidnapped her. Equally disturbing yet fascinating is the story related by the young woman who saw her mother brutally killed and was rendered mute, and has lived in terror every day since. When her identity is revealed, the pace of the story accelerates as shocking truths are revealed and the urgent need to solve the case becomes apparent. Gardner again delivers an entertaining mystery that is unsparingly heartbreaking and visceral, and leaves readers clamoring for the next installment in the series.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
When You See Me opens with a disturbing first-person narrative from girl who, at just five years of age, witnesses the abuse and murder of her mother, and is wounded herself. Her identity is unknown. She relates her story in chapters alternating Flora's narrative, as well as chapters focusing on Kimberly and D.D. When a couple of hikers happen upon skeletal remains in the tranquil Georgia mountains, just outside the picturesque little town of Niche, D.D. and Kimberly lead a team of investigators tasked with examining the makeshift gravesite, along with the hiking trails surrounding it and the quaint little community.
The mysterious narrator reveals that she can draw, but is unable to speak, read or write. Her art is the only way she can convey the atrocities she has witnessed. But where have those hellacious events taken place? And who were the victims she mentions?
As the investigation proceeds, more bodies are found, and it seems increasingly apparently that the remains may be linked with none other than Jacob Ness, who kidnapped Flora and held her in a coffin-shaped box. Flora was a vivacious young woman when he snatched her, and subjected her to unspeakable terror and abuse from which she has never recovered. Flora is forever changed and has become a vigilante determined to ensure that no one other young women suffer as she has.
Once again D.D. leaves her crime analyst husband and precocious six-year-old son, Jack, behind in Boston in order to devote herself to solving a decades-old crime. She is singularly devoted to the task and her career, secure that her husband understands her drive and can competently care for their child while she is away. That does not extinguish the pain and guilt she experiences when she is away from them, a fact that continues to confound and amaze her.
It was Kimberly who discovered that Jacob was a serial predator and led the raid on the Florida hotel room where he was holding Flora captive. She is equally devoted to her career, and determined to identify the skeletal remains found in Georgia and bring the victims' killer(s) to justice.
The first victim identified is Lilah Abenito who was declared missing fifteen years ago . . . and one of Jacob's first victims. Because of that connection, Flora's assistance is vital to the investigation. Having survived a harrowing ordeal, she has intimate knowledge about Jacob, his proclivities and thought processes, and where his quest for victim may have led him. But reliving those details may prove too much for Flora as they narrow in on the actual site where Jacob held her captive.
Tautly constructed in Gardner's familiar style, When You See Me is a fast-paced, searing adventure toward the truth about Jacob Hess, as well as local residents who may have been involved in a horrifying scheme that has left many young women dead. Joined by the local sheriff, who is mortified when he realizes what may have been going on undetected in the sleepy little town where he is supposed to be keeping folks safe, the team of investigators divide up responsibility and confront the powerful local citizens who will stop at nothing to keep their crimes from being revealed.
Flora's willingness to journey back to the worst days of her life and confront the lingering emotional toll that Jacob visited upon her is absorbing and deeply emotional. Through her narration, she shares her innermost feelings, as well as the ways in which her life changed forever on that fateful day when Jacob kidnapped her. Equally disturbing yet fascinating is the story related by the young woman who saw her mother brutally killed and was rendered mute, and has lived in terror every day since. When her identity is revealed, the pace of the story accelerates as shocking truths are revealed and the urgent need to solve the case becomes apparent. Gardner again delivers an entertaining mystery that is unsparingly heartbreaking and visceral, and leaves readers clamoring for the next installment in the series.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
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