A book review by Sebastian Lim
Title: Still See You Everywhere
Author: Lisa Gardner
Publisher: Century
ISBN: 9781529917093
For an expert at finding the missing persons that the rest of the world has forgotten, Frankie Elkin couldn’t have anticipated this latest request to locate the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks’ time.
The case was sensational. Kaylee Pierson had confessed from the very beginning, waiving all appeals. Despite the media’s chronicling of her tragic circumstances – the childhood spent with a violent father – no one could find sympathy for “the Beautiful Butcher” who had led 18 men home from bars before viciously slitting their throats.
Now, with only 21 days left to live, Kaylee has finally received a lead on the whereabouts of the sister who was kidnapped over a decade ago, and she needs Frankie’s help to find her.
Unable to resist the chance for a rescue, Frankie takes on Kaylee’s request. Twelve years ago, five-year-old Leilani went missing in Hawaii. The main suspect? Kaylee’s tech mogul ex-boyfriend, Sanders MacManus.
Now, on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific, the site of MacManus’ latest vanity project, fresh evidence has appeared. In order to learn the truth and possibly save a young woman’s life, Frankie must go undercover at the isolated base camp. Her challenge included a dozen strangers. Countless dangerous secrets. No means of calling for help. And then the storm rolls it.
On par with Lisa Gardner’s other books, this time, she goes above and beyond to create unique and interesting cases and scenarios that the reader really doesn’t get in other books.
In this case, Gardner visited an atoll off Hawaii that prompted the vivid scenery we get in the book. Take a highly tumultuous setting and add an array of characters from all walks of life that you cannot be sure you can trust and top it with a serial killer and you have yourself a next-level novel.
Frankie Elkin is one of the author’s favourite protagonists and it’s amazing how her character hasn’t changed, but we have learnt so much more about her throughout the novels Gardner has released.
Her backstory is what makes her and her constant struggles that we witness, whether that be with alcohol, trusting people, or second-guessing her life choices – they keep us wanting to peel back the layers of her life and hopefully see her be happy one day.
Each of the other characters in this book brings something to the story and while you may love some of them, you cannot help but wonder if you can trust any of them. This is because Gardner sows doubt throughout the entire book.
The suspense in Still See You Everywhere is really what puts the readers on the edge of their seats the entire time.
Sebastian Lim is an experienced journalist and editor who now runs his own book review blog — coolreadsseb.blogspot.com. The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of The Weekly-Echo.
WE