One Step Too Far

November 22, 2021
Bestseller Gardner’s gripping sequel to 2021’s Before She Disappeared takes missing person cold case investigator Frankie Elkin, who describes herself as an “average, middle-aged white woman, short on belongings, long on regret,” to Wyoming’s Shoshone National Forest to join a search party for Tim O’Day. Five years earlier, Tim and four of his best friends set out into the woods for a bachelor party weekend; Tim, the future groom, disappeared without a trace. Every year since, Martin, Tim’s father, has organized a search for his son’s remains. This is to be Martin’s last attempt. Frankie insinuates herself into the group, which includes Tim’s four friends from the original trip. One day into their six-day trek, problems arise. From missing provisions and the sense of being watched, things escalate quickly, and the question becomes: who will survive? Fascinating details on cadaver dog training, as well as on camping and tracking in difficult terrain, complement the suspenseful journey as it winds toward a surprising conclusion. Readers will hope to see a lot more of the compassionate Frankie. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

December 1, 2021
Frankie Elkin, a miraculous finder of missing persons, seeks a man who wandered into the wilderness and was never seen again. Last seen rescuing a missing teenager from the gritty streets of Boston, Frankie embarks from a bus in Ramsey, Wyoming, drawn in by the story of hiker Timothy O'Day, who's been missing for five years, and the last-gasp efforts of his father, Martin, to search for his remains. Frankie has some regrets about leaving Boston, but she's called to find those others have given up on. She manages to finagle her way on to the search party, which in addition to Martin includes a local guide; a search-and-rescue dog and her handler; a Bigfoot expert; and Tim's friends, who were in the woods with him when he went missing. In the years since, they've moved on with their lives, but they are carrying guilt and secrets about the night Tim disappeared. As they all head into the unforgiving wilderness, it quickly becomes apparent that someone is deeply threatened by this effort to find Tim's body. As she endeavors to draw the truth from each member of the search party, Frankie can tell that she's in over her head, and not only because she's an inexperienced outdoorswoman. Could Tim still be alive and looking for revenge, or is there a more dangerous secret that someone would kill to protect? Gardner is incredibly skilled at developing tension and suspense; she's equally skilled at slowly revealing complex characters and their secrets. Both gifts reinforce each other in this novel. If Frankie is out of her element, so are we: It's not often that a thriller so deeply casts us into the darkness of both nature and the human heart. Terrifying, primal, and very, very tense. Read it with your heart in your throat--but read it.

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January 7, 2022

In this follow-up to Before She Disappeared, middle-aged recovering alcoholic Frankie Elkin keeps up the job she has crafted for herself: finding people after everyone else has given up. Here she goes after a young man lost in the forest but soon realizes that it's not a simple case; other people are vanishing in a situation that's turning more ominous by the moment.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2021
Missing-persons finder Frankie Elkin returns, fresh from rescuing a missing teen in Boston (in Before She Disappeared, 2020). This time she's hunting Timothy O'Day, who vanished into the wilderness while on a camping bachelor party with his best friends. Frankie heads to Ramsey, Wyoming, where she manages to work herself into the five-year anniversary search party only after Bob, a Bigfoot hunter and wilderness rescuer, who knows Frankie from online missing-person forums, vouches for her investigative skills. Two days into their Devil's Canyon expedition, it's clear that something in the wilderness poses a threat: their food stores are destroyed, and Neil, one of Tim's friends who made it home from the original trip, is attacked. Frankie scours the site of Neil's attack and discovers horrific evidence that their party has become the latest prey of a human hunter. Gardner's latest series continues to excel; instinctual, tragedy-driven Frankie is one of crime fiction's most intriguing new sleuths, and thriller-veteran Gardner's ability to evoke both inner-city Boston and this story's threatening wilderness setting bodes well for future adventures. Here, Frankie's tracking acumen and survival instincts lead to more of the heartfelt connections her subconscious craves, but the demons in her past still fuel a need for redemption, ensuring that Gardner plans more Frankie Elkin page-turners. Recommended for fans of Nevada Barr and C. J. Box.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Gardner has assumed a permanent chair on most crime-fiction bestseller lists, and her latest won't change that at all.

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