2011 March 23

Book Review: Love You More by Lisa Gardner

Title: Love You More
Author: Lisa Gardner
Publisher: Bantam
Publication Date: March 8, 2011
Hardcover: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0553807257
Genre: Fiction, Suspense

From the Publisher:

WHO DO YOU LOVE?

One question, a split-second decision, and Brian Darby lies dead on the kitchen floor. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defense, and bears the bruises to back up her tale. For veteran detective D. D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case. But where is their six-year-old daughter?

AND HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO . . .

As the homicide investigation ratchets into a frantic statewide search for a missing child, D. D. Warren must partner with former lover Bobby Dodge to break through the blue wall of police brotherhood, seeking to understand the inner workings of a trooper’s mind while also unearthing family secrets. Would a trained police officer truly shoot her own husband? And would a mother harm her own child?

. . . TO SAVE HER?

For Tessa Leoni, the worst has not yet happened. She is walking a tightrope, with nowhere to turn, no one to trust, as the clock ticks down to a terrifying deadline. She has one goal in sight, and she will use every ounce of her training, every trick at her disposal, to do what must be done. No sacrifice is too great, no action unthinkable. A mother knows who she loves. And all others will be made to pay.

Love you more . . .

My Review:

Love You More by Lisa Gardner is the fifth book in the D.D. Warren series yet can be read as a stand-alone novel, however once one reads Love You More one will want to read Gardner’s other books. Once again Gardner creates a masterfully woven and emotionally charged atmosphere in Love You More, which alternates between Tessa Leoni’s narrative and that of the investigation into Trooper Leoni’s life. Sergeant Detective D.D. Warren is paired up with Massachusetts State Police Detective Bobby Dodge in what appears to be a cut and dry case, Massachusetts State Trooper Tessa Leoni murdered her husband, 42-year-old merchant marine Brian Darby in self-defense and her 6-year-old daughter Sophie is missing. As Warren and Dodge probe deeper they unearth more secrets and puzzles. The use of alternating the story from the current investigation to Leoni’s point of view draws the reader even deeper into the web of half-truths, lies, and the proverbial “blue wall”. Gardner has masterfully crafted an intelligent, multi-layered game of cat and mouse which holds the reader’s attention through a twisting plot that only yields Gardner’s secrets at her novel’s stunning conclusion, once again leaving me waiting in anticipation for her next book. I highly recommend Love You More to anyone who enjoys an exceedingly well-written suspense-thriller.

About the Author:

Lisa Gardner is the New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels. Her Detective D. D. Warren novels include The Neighbor, Hide, and Alone. Her FBI Profiler novels include Say Goodbye, Gone, The Killing Hour, The Next Accident, and The Third Victim. She lives with her family in New England, where she is at work on her next D. D. Warren novel, Love You More, which Bantam will publish in 2011. She was recently awarded The International Thriller Writers award for Best Hardcover of the Year for her novel The Neighbor.

For more information about author Lisa Gardner or her books, please visit her website.

Lisa Gardner’s LOVE YOU MORE VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR MARCH ’11 will officially begin on March 1 and end on March 23, 2011. Visit here during the month of March to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of Love You More by Lisa Gardner from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

Book Review: Afraid of the Dark by James Grippando

Title: Afraid of the Dark
Author: James Grippando
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: March 22, 2011
Hardcover: 416 pages
ISBN: 978-0061840289
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

From the Publisher:

The New York Times bestselling author’s ever-popular hero, Jack Swyteck, is on his most dangerous case yet, uncovering a sinister underground world that has him racing across the globe.

Then: Sergeant Vince Paulo held his best friend’s daughter, McKenna, bleeding in his arms as she uttered the name of her murderer and ex-boyfriend, Jamal. That was minutes before a blast made everything go black for Vince—forever.

Now: Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck has been called in to save Jamal from the death penalty for terrorist activity. Despite urgent warnings from his fiancée, undercover FBI agent Andie Henning, to stay away from the case, Jack finds himself inextricably drawn to Jamal’s past—even believing his alibi that he was abducted and held in a black site in Prague at the time of McKenna’s death. But if Jamal is innocent, then the man who murdered McKenna and took Vince’s sight is still out there . . . free.

Soon bodies begin to pile up and ghosts from the past reappear very much alive, confirmed by ominous threats from a faceless man known only as “the Dark.” Vince and Jack must confront a mortal danger that goes beyond McKenna’s death, across international waters—a journey to piece together the past that leads through the back alleys of London, onto illegal Internet sites, and straight into the mind of pure evil.

My Review:

Afraid of the Dark by James Grippando is his ninth Jack Swyteck book and the first I have read. I cannot say if this version of legal thriller is typical of Grippando’s previous works or unique to this novel. Afraid of the Dark offers up many of the themes that, when taken separately, would for the basis for a intriguing fictional tale. A 16-year-old girl is murdered and her boyfriend is the prime suspect. Enter Jack Swyteck who is representing the accused. While Jack’s role as lawyer was very appropriately written, I found some of his exceptional abilities as an agent to be less believable. The antagonist, know as “The Dark” created just the right amount of an evil theme without going overboard. Mixed with themes including human trafficking, pornography, information technology/spying and torture, Afraid of the Dark, has it all, but from a writing standpoint, these were very tough to pull off. Grippando’s writing is well done in this novel albeit he does struggle to make the tale coherent. To the author’s credit, he did keep my attention through to the end as the storyline was very suspenseful. I would recommend Afraid of the Dark to readers looking for a complex suspense novel. As for myself, I will be reading the previous eight Swyteck books.

To learn more about author James Grippando and his books may be viewed at his website.

I received a complimentary ARC of Afraid of the Dark by James Grippando from Harper Collins to offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.