BEA'S BOOK NOOK "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." C. S. Lewis “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Review of The Girl Who Disappeared Twice by Andrea Kane


Publisher: Mira Books

Release Date: May 31, 2011

More Info: Amazon Book Depository

Book Blurb:

SHE COULDN'T STOP IT. NOT THEN. NOT NOW.

If she'd only turned her head, she would have seen the car containing her daughter, struggling to get out.

Struggling to escape her kidnapper.

Despite all her years determining the fates of families, veteran family court judge Hope Willis couldn't save her own. Now she's frantically grasping at any hope for Krissy's rescue. Her husband dead-set against it, she calls Casey Woods and her team of renegade investigators, Forensic Instincts.

A behaviorist. A techno-wizard. An intuitive. A former Navy SEAL. Unconventional operatives. All with unique talents and personal reasons for being part of Casey's group, they'll do whatever it takes.
Able to accurately read people after the briefest of encounters, Casey leads her crew to Krissy's home. There, she picks up the signs of a nervous spouse, a guilty conscience, a nanny that hides on her cell. She watches as secrets beg to creep into the open.

Forensic Instincts will dig through each tiny clue and eliminate the clutter. But time is running out, and even working around the clock, the authorities are bound by the legal system. Not so Casey's team. For they know that the difference between Krissy coming back alive and disappearing forever could be as small as a suspect's rapid breathing, or as deep as Hope's dark family history.

My Thoughts:


As I was reading this book I kept thinking it read like the first book in a new series - several info dumps concerning Forensic Instincts, an investigation and security company, and it's employees; lots of explanations for characters behaviors and actions; and in general, lts of time and attention laying out background and parameters. I couldn't find any information about this being the start of a series, perhaps that depends on how well this book does. However, at other times, it felt as if there I started in the middle of a series, particularly with the interactions of the various agencies and investigators.


Despite the attention paid to the employees of Forensic Instincts, it was the family who hired them who actually were detailed and brought to life. This isn't a quick, simple investigation or novel. The investigation into the missing girl is complex and layered; it quickly becomes apparent that the present day investigation is tied into an event from Hope's past. I figured out about 2/3 of the way through who took Krissy but was only partially right on the why.

There's a lot going on this book, and at times it got bogged down with details, particularly all of the abbreviations of various local, state, and federal agencies and their various procedures. Still, it was fascinating and was not easy to put down. If this become a series, I look forward to learning more about all of the various members of Forensic Instincts.

An ARC of this book was received  from the publisher for review.