Published by Grand Central Publishing Genres: Fiction, Mystery, suspense, thriller
Format: ARC, eBook
Frankie Elkin is back in the third book in this gripping series! Frankie Elkin is such an interesting character. She will tell you that she is from nowhere. She moves around a lot finding jobs as a bartender when she can. She has an interesting and dangerous hobby – she finds those that the police cannot. This puts her in danger quite a bit, but she enjoys seeking, listening, asking questions, and searching. It gives her purpose. She has a sad backstory and is a survivor. I love that she is both vulnerable and strong at the same time.
Frankie is asked to meet with Kaylee Pierson, a female serial killer dubbed “the Beautiful Butcher”, whose last wish is to find her long-lost younger sister, Lea. She and her lawyer inform Frankie that Kaylee last saw her sister the night she and Sanders MacManus, her billionaire boyfriend, had a brutal physical altercation and she told her younger sister to run.
Frankie can’t resist the lure of finding a living person and agrees to travel to a remote island and work as a staff member to locate Lea. Easier said than done, the remote island is hard to get to by plane, has spotty internet at best, and is as dangerous as it is beautiful.
This was another tension, danger and twist filled book by Gardner. Not only did Frankie have to battle the humidity, but she also had to battle the elements, watch out for crabs, spiders, and keep her wits about her. Who can be trusted? Who is telling the truth? These questions nagged at me while reading this book.
This book had many twists and turns and some shocking reveals. There were several I-did-not-see-that-coming moments in the book. I love being taken by surprise while reading. I loved the island setting and the descriptions of the island and its inhabitants. The remote island also provided that trapped and isolated feeling that I love in books.
While this was not my favorite book in the series, One Step Too Far being my favorite, I still found this book to be gripping, tense, and hard to put down. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
*The author’s note at the end of the book is interesting and readers will learn what inspired this book.
Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.