Frankie Elkin #2

One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

Publication Date: January 18, 2022

Summary from GoodReads:

Five men head into the woods for a bachelor party weekend. Only four return. The brand new thriller by New York Times no 1 bestselling author, Lisa Gardner.

Hours stretch into days which stretch into weeks. Volunteers go home, police are assigned new missions and the missing hiker,Timothy O’Day becomes one more missing person, vanished without a trace.

Until Frankie Elkin – missing persons specialist – comes to town. Fresh off her case in Boston, Frankie heads to Wyoming, determined to find Timothy and bring him home – whatever the cost.

Frankie joins a seven day woodland search team, lead by Tim’s father Martin, as they venture deep into the dark forest to uncover the truth. Broken tree limbs and traces of blood suggest a wild animal may be lurking nearby. Frankie knows better.

But with secrets swirling and tensions raised in the group, it becomes clear that Frankie Elkin’s newest case could be her last

ARC provided by Penguin Group via NetGalley for an honest review.

Confession:

I almost liked this second book in the series more than the first! It is hard to compare the two as they are so different in many ways, but Frankie is still the same and she is able to find the lost when no one else could.

Frankie is still fighting the good fight, looking for those that have been forgotten by everyone except family and friends. She is still fighting her own demons as well as the prejudices of those around her. She does make friends along the way even when she is being acerbic and a bit of a bitch. Those who start off doubting her soon come around to realize that she can really get the job done. This search was a challenge for her, mostly physically, but also mentally. Going out in the wilderness is something she hasn’t really done before, and seeing the beauty of it through her eyes was a really nice way to experience it.

Of course there is a new cast of characters in this one, many of whom I enjoyed. Three of the young men who were on the original trip when Tim disappeared, are available for Frankie to talk to and question. They were a troubled lot, lots of survivors guilt and the need for closure, but she soon gets out of them what really happened that night and it was quite the eye opener.

There are two other characters worthy of notice. Bob, the sasquatch hunter, was a bear of a man, but quite gentle and a good person to have around when things got tough. Also Luciana and her search and rescue dog Daisy, were a great help to Frankie and to her survival as well. I loved learning a bit more about these types of dogs and how they work.

The plot and the setting of this book were so different and quite a lot of fun. I wasn’t really sure what the truth of Tim’s disappearance was going to be, but I had many working theories and was glad one of them turned out to be the correct one. There was a doozy of a twist at the end that I did not see coming though. There was a small part of that twist that was a little bit flimsy, but overall it made the satisfactory ending that much better. The plot was pretty seamless and really kept you turning those pages to find out what was going to happen next. There is lots of nonstop action in this one, and through some of it you are not sure of the survival of any of the characters.

If you are into suspense thrillers, especially those in a wilderness setting, this is one you should consider reading. Lots of detail to the setting, plus an action filled plot will keep you turning those pages.