Before She Disappeared: A Novel

Lisa Gardner

Jan 2021 · A Frankie Elkin Novel Book 1 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a propulsive thriller featuring an ordinary woman who will stop at nothing to find the missing people that the rest of the world has forgotten

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.

Ratings and reviews

Frankie Elkin is a not-so-average middle-aged woman. She's a recovering alcoholic .. and she spends her life looking for missing people that have been forgotten by all except their family and loved ones. So far, she's found 14 missing people .... none of them were alive when found. She's now on the search for Angelique Badeau, a teenager who vanished from high school several months previously and hasn't been heard from since. She's receiving no help from the family and the detective from Boston Police has warned her off the case. Frankie, being who Frankie is, ignores the warnings and continues with her search, picking up small nuggets of information here and there. She does share with the detective ..but she's not sure if it's made him madder or is a bit more appreciative of her work. Frankie is not going to stop until she finds what happened to Angelique, and when she discovers that another girl from the same school disappeared at almost the same time, it changes everything. There's someone watching Frankie ...someone who knows something ... and wants Frankie to go away. There's lots of action ... wrapped around a character that has some issues. Even being an alcoholic, she works as a bartender when she's looking for work. She takes no money from finding missing people. Local police either love her or hate her. But even with all her issues, she's got a sense of humor. The other characters kept me riveted to the pages. Suspense took hold from the very first and held tight until the unexpected conclusion. Many thanks to the author / Penguin Group / Dutton Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

The book was well written and interesting; it kept my attention until the very end. I would've rated it higher if not for the woke agenda that was included and completely unnecessary to the story line.

Enjoyed this book, it kept me hooked all the way to the end, trying to figure out the mystery, as always by a Karin Slaughter book. I don't think this one was her best, but it's still pretty good - "pretty good" from her is better than almost every other author I've ever read. I'd buy it again & 10/10 recommend! Pay attention to the details & I believe you'll thoroughly enjoy this book.

About the author

Lisa Gardner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty suspense novels, including The Neighbor, which won Thriller of the Year from the International Thriller Writers. An avid hiker, traveler, and cribbage player, she lives in the mountains of New Hampshire with her family.