When they face the most baffling missing person’s case of their careers, a fiercely ambitious lawyer and a homicide detective have no one to turn to for help except each other, from New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin.
Up-and-coming attorney Leigh Larson fights for victims of sexual extortion, harassment, and online abuse. She is not afraid to go after the sleaziest targets to get payback for her clients. Leigh is laser-focused on her career–to the exclusion of everything else–until a seemingly routine case and a determined cop turn her world upside down.
Austin homicide detective Brandon Reynolds is no stranger to midnight callouts. But when he gets summoned to an abandoned car on a desolate road, he quickly realizes he’s dealing with an unusual crime scene. A pool of blood in the nearby woods suggests a brutal homicide. But where is the victim? The vehicle is registered to twenty-six-year-old Vanessa Adams. Searching the car, all Brandon finds is a smear of blood and a business card for Leigh Larson, attorney-at-law.
Vanessa had hired Leigh just before her disappearance, but Leigh has no leads on who could have wanted her dead. Faced with bewildering evidence and shocking twists, Leigh and Brandon must work against the clock to chase down a ruthless criminal who is out for vengeance.
Review:
Last Seen Alone, Laura Griffin‘s latest romantic suspense novel, is a standalone book unconnected (as far as I can tell) to any of her series. Its hero and heroine are a police detective and an attorney respectively, brought together by Brandon’s latest case. A missing woman–Last Seen Alone–who has Leigh’s business card among her possessions in her car, deserted along the side of the road.
Ms Griffin knows how to ratchet up tension in a romantic suspense like no one’s business, and she was in fine form here! Things were constantly happening that had me on the edge of my seat, and though I don’t have as much built in time as I used to when I can listen to audiobooks, this one had me looking for excuses to keep listening (at which point my headphones inevitably ran out of charge. I seriously need to get myself a new pair!) Leigh and Brandon are great characters, both flawed and sympathetic, and their chemistry together was great, even as they kept sabotaging their chances as a couple.
Gah–she had me really worried for a while there; I honestly wasn’t sure they were going to be able to pull out a satisfying HEA once…something happened. (LOL–not going to say what, you’re going to have to read it yourself ;)) But of course she did, and of course it was great 🙂
As per usual, Ms Griffin does a great job of keeping things hidden from the reader until she’s ready to reveal them. I have to admit there was a twist here that I honestly did not see coming–and OMG I did not want to stop reading for anything once I got to that part (curse you, work and my need for occasional sleep!)
I listened to the audio version, and it was decent but not great. I wasn’t a huge fan of the voices the narrator used for the characters’ voices, and it distracted me a bit from the story, taking me a while to readjust to it each time I started listening again after a break. I won’t seek out more from this narrator, but I (probably) also won’t choose not to listen to a book because she’s the narrator. My rating here is based just on the story itself, not the narration.
And now…I can’t wait to see what Ms Griffin has in store for us next!
Rating: 4 stars / A-