For a short story the writing was excellent. Your drawn in from the start then keep on the edge of your seat until the end. Just a brilliant and throughout short story

Great characters in a novella, how can you go wrong.

This book was a great little short story about a cold case, but I don't think it's a great place to start if you aren't familiar with the characters. Although it's a stand-alone short story, I don't think it gives justice to how great these characters are. I read Find Her last year and loved it, so this story was a nice read.

I love everything about chilling and twisted thrillers! Especially Lisa Gardner novels! As odd as it might sound... her books are just FUN to me! This brand-new short story was no exception... although with just at 40 pages, I wished it was longer. There's no gore (bummer), no DNA left behind at the crime scene 10 years ago... a mystery that Quincy, Rainie, and D.D. are working together on to solve.

The author's note at the end is interesting where it explains that this novel was based on a real-life killer with a seemingly bizarre fetish. There wasn't much suspense here once the identity of the killer is brought to light, but I really liked this anyway.

I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I will leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that... my opinions.

I must have missed that this was a very short story which was quite disappointing given that Lisa Gardner is one of my favorites! Turns out that bringing back Rainie Connor and Pierce Quincy in this format only leads to frustration because I just wanted more. The tale itself was pretty basic closed room whodunnit. Not much else to say.

I am embarassed to say that I had never read a single book by Lisa Gardner until two months ago. I know... Where have I been? I made up for it by binge-reading through her D.D. Warren, Tessa Leoni, and FBI Profiler series for the past two months. Lisa Gardner grips her readers by their emotions like no one else, then grabs hold of their minds as you try to figure out what is going to happen next. She writes about crime victims in a powerful, and oftentimes, agonizing way as you can't help but sympathize with the plight of fictional crime victims, knowing her stories reflect the real victims of real life monsters. And she writes about law enforcement in a way that honors their commitment to keeping us safe and the internal struggles they deal with as they see things on a regular basis that most of us have enough difficulty reading about in fiction. Her "Acknowledgements" section at the end of her books--where she thanks those from various law enforcement agencies for adding their expertise to make fiction seem real--are always fun to read. I cannot help but laugh to think of the initial reaction of those law enforcement experts when they get a message from the author asking the best way to kidnap someone!

This was my first story in the Quincy & Rainie series. "The 4th Man" is a crossover with Gardner's D.D. Warren series, of which I've read a few. Warren, Quincy, and Rainie have teamed up to work a cold case. After going through the original case files and looking at all the suspects, the team has narrowed down the suspect list to a handful. We sit in on the interviews, but lack the information that the police and FBI have. D.D. Warren has identified one or more lies that each suspect told. Using those lies in conjunction with the questioning, they zero in on the guilty party. While the identity wasn't a surprise, the motive was. The reveal left me going 'huh?' And then I read her note at the end where she states that it was inspired by a real case. And I went 'huh' again. Truth really is stranger than fiction.

The story is tightly written; at under 50 pages there's no room for detours or extraneous details. Despite that, the story didn't grab me right away; but I was pulled in as I read. I was left wanting to know more about Quincy and Rainie. They worked well together and seem like interesting people. That was helped by the excerpt at the back from their next book. "The 4th Man" has strong plotting and writing and interesting characters.

The team of Quincy and Conner consult on a 5 year old cold case. 3 suspects and none of them fit. Is there a 4th Man?

Five years ago, the strangulation of a young woman in the library stairwell rocked a college community. With no physical evidence, no signs of sexual assault, or witnesses, the police had to release the three men who were with her in the building — her boyfriend and two campus security guards.

Ex-FBI profile Pierce Quincy and his wife, former police officer Rainie Conner agree to help D.D. Warren look into the cold case. With only a dead girl and missing shoes to go off of, figuring out if the killer is one of their three suspects or a fourth they haven’t considered will prove to be only the beginning.

Lisa Gardner’s The 4th Man presents a classic locked-room mystery, in which the only thing more surprising than the killer’s identity is the motive. If not for the fact that the author garnered her inspiration from a real-life case, I would have thought the motive unbelievable.

Probably due to its length, this short story didn’t contain the depth found in Gardner’s novels. The characters, even the recurring ones, felt a bit like caricatures. D.D., notorious for her hands-on, dog-with-a-bone approach (the reason we all love her), seemed uncharacteristically detached. In fact, her willingness to simply present the facts to Quincy and Rainie and let them run with it made me wonder if she had actually solved the case and was testing her friends.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed piecing together the mystery and liked The 4th Man even more than last year’s short story, 3 Truths and a Lie. I recommend it to Gardner’s fans.

It was wonderful to be back in the world of Quincy and Rainie for this short novella. I loved seeing them work with Boston detective DD Warren in order to solve a cold case.

With these beloved characters and an engaging storyline, this was a great prequel to the next book!

Fast and intriguing! Gardner never disappoints. So happy to have a Quincy/ Rainie book in the horizon!

As with all Lisa Gardner's books, this was a page turner that kept you guessing until the very last page. I read in one sitting.

Lisa Gardner at her best. Usually, at this point in a series, a series will start to drag. Lisa Gardner is the exception, her books get better and better.

FBI Profiler Pierce Quincy and Officer Rainer are invited by Detective D. D. Warren to consult on a cold case. Gardner is the novelist of over eighteen successful novels. This Kindle Single again proves she is solid in her storytelling.
This review can also be read on: Le Coeur de l'Artiste http://www.djadamson.com/le-coeur-de-lartiste

Let me tell you about my latest favorite: Lisa Gardner's The 4th Man.

Combining the characters from her books, Gardner writes a compelling little story of Boston detective D.D. Warren coming together with ex-FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, former police officer Rainie Conner. The three of them come together to solve a five year-old cold case with three viable suspects.

The case? "A young woman is found strangled in the stairwell of a college library, only her sneakers missing. With no physical evidence, no signs of sexual assault, and no witnesses, all the police have to go on are the three men who were in the library with her: her boyfriend and two campus security guards . . . all of whom have secrets, none of whom can be proven guilty."

Warren, Quincy, and Conner must delve into the backgrounds of all three suspects, snaking out secrets and lies to figure out if one of these three suspects is guilty of murder, or did they miss someone? Could the guilty party be an elusive 4th MAN?

I loved The 4th Man. Quick, engrossing, and fun.

An intriguing short story with familiar characters that entertained and thrilled.

This is a very short story featuring Profiler Pierce Quincy and Officer Rainie Conner D. D. Warren, who plays a minor role. Although this read is a stand alone I would recommend to read the previous books to enjoy it even more.

Many years ago a young college student was found strangled in the library. At that time, only her shoes went missing. They couldn't find any DNA, nobody saw anything and they couldn't get any clues. The only suspects were the three men who were at that time in the library: 2 security guards from campus and her boyfriend.

At D.D. Warren's request, Quincy and Connor agree to see if they can find any leads talking with these three men. But what happens if maybe there was a fourth man?

The story is very good and I wanted to read more! Too short!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley

For fans of Lisa Gardner you are going to be thrilled to see the return of FBI Profiler, Pierce QUnicy and his wife Rainie. They have been brought in to help with a cold case that DD Warren has been researching. A women was strangled in the college library stairwell. No witnesses, no sexual assault and her shoes are missing.
DD has it narrowed down the suspects to 3 men who have been caught in a lie. Pierce and Rainie interview each one and try to identify if one of them is the killer.

It is fascinating to watch them interview each suspect and what they are able to gleam from the interview and their body language. I am not sure if I was more surprised by the killer or the motives. What was more shocking was the note from the author in the back of the book.
I received this book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review.
You can see my full review at More Than a Review dot com where I rate the level of sex, violence, language and drug/alcohol use in books.

Five years after a college student was found strangled in the library stairwell, a cold case squad has narrowed the list of suspects down to three--and a possible fourth unknown man.

Gardner is really good at writing short stories that are great mysteries in their own right. The concept for this one was really interesting, especially that the detectives had figured out a lie each suspect had told all those years ago, and were about to confront them with it.


The ending to the mystery was merely good, not great. It was based off a true story, but it felt like within the short story context, the ending was rushed. The story might have benefited from being fleshed out more.

At forty-seven pages, this is a quick read, and an interesting mystery. Pick it up if you have an hour or so.

I am not used to short stories and I had forgot that this was one from Lisa. I wish I read it all in one sitting or maybe two because I left the story feeling a little cheated it was so short. I love to try and figure out how Lisa twisted my view of who it would be.
However, this was a story with an ending that I couldn't have predicted. The "why" of this story will leave your mind blown.