I have to Thank St. Martin’s Press and the author for an advanced copy and Netgalley for the e-book in exchange for an honest review!! Best book ever!!

When you read a book in under 24 hours can't think of anything else except what will happen next? Then that is a fantastic thriller of a book!! I held my breath in anticipation more than a couple times. Like always her books typically keep me guessing until the very end and this one blew all others right out of the water.

The story is told Before Anna and After Anna. If you enjoy a good plot twist or three or four this book is for you.

If you haven't read Lisa Scottoline before START WITH THIS BOOK!!!!

Lisa Scottoline is one of my all time favorite authors. The reason being is that she never fails to entertain her many followers.
“After Anna,”is a story told in the before and after Anna.
Anna is Maggie’s daughter that she lost custody of. At the time Maggie was 6 months old. Maggie lost custody of her daughter due to suffering from Postpartum Psychosis.
Anna’s father gained custody of his daughter. Seventeen years later, Anna loses her father in a plane crash. Anna is in an all girls boarding school , which she is not happy in. She seeks out Maggie and Maggie and her physician husband Noah, along with her stepson, allow her to live with them.
Noah is a pediatric allergist with a successful practice.
Without giving away the plot... Dr. Noah Alderman is facing first degree murder. Who was murdered? Anna.
Did he or didn’t he do it?
If you enjoy domestic/legal thrillers, then put this on your TBR reading list.
A special thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and author Lisa Scottoline.

Another masterpiece by Lisa Scottoline. Full of suspense. A classic page turner. Five Stars!!!!

Maggie Ippoliti is married to Dr. Noah Alderman, a pediatric allergist. They are raising Noah’s son, Caleb, whose mother passed away some years ago. Maggie had been married before to Florian and had a daughter named Anna. Some months after giving birth, Maggie was plagued with some mental issues diagnosed as postpartum psychosis. As Florian was French, the French court gave him sole custody of Anna, and he, in turn, sent her away to school. Maggie never saw her again. Now, Anna is 17 and Florian has died in a plane crash. Maggie and Anna connect and Maggie has now regained custody of Anna. In addition, Florian was a very wealthy man and has left an estate to Anna worth $50 million. Florian’s attorney is currently handling the money for Anna but has said that at age 18, she can control the money herself.

Noah is thrilled for Maggie and happy to welcome Anna into their home. He is very kind to her and moves his office into the basement to allow her to have her own bedroom. Noah is concerned that Anna wants to immediately purchase an expensive Range Rover car as he feels she should settle for a more modest vehicle. He feels that Anna needs to realize that she is to live by their own family rules and values. In addition, as Anna had been going to school in Maine, she should get a Pennsylvania driver’s license and Noah offers to give her some driving lessons. Anna feels like the money is there for her to spend and talks her mother into letting her buy the Range Rover.

Maggie is so happy to have Anna in her life again that she will let her have anything she wants and finds it hard to parent a teenager. Soon, Anna starts to do things to tear Maggie and Noah apart. She also makes sly, sexual comments to Noah which surprises and shocks him. But when Anna turns up strangled to death, it is Noah who finds her and the finger of suspicion points directly to him.

This story encompasses the pain of the loss of a child and the ecstatic joy at having her back. It also goes through Noah’s trial and incarceration in prison. The breakdown of love and trust in a marriage is tested. Did Noah kill Anna? If so, why?

I don’t want to give away too many spoilers here. Just enough teasers to grab the reader’s interest is all that’s necessary. I will say that I think Maggie is pathetic in that she would “throw Noah under a bus” in favor of Anna. Of course, you have to read the book to understand my comment. I wonder how many other people feel that way. Lisa Scottoline is a very talented author and has obviously put a lot of research into writing this book.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Zu Beginn des Buches lernt man Dr. Noah Alderman während seiner Gerichtsverhandlung kennen. Er wartet auf sein Urteil, aber verloren hat er ohnehin schon alles. Seine Frau Maggie, seinen 10-jährigen Sohn Caleb, die Allergologie Praxis und das Haus der Familie. Es begann damals alles, als Anna in das Leben seiner Familie trat.

Im nächsten Kapitel erfahren wir dann mehr von Maggie, die vor siebzehn Jahren ihre sechs Monate alte Tochter Anna wegen einer psychischen Erkrankung aufgeben musste. Sie ist nun seit einigen Jahren erneut verheiratet, mit Noah. Bei ihnen lebt auch ihr Stiefsohn Caleb. Sie hilft ihrem Mann in der Praxis beim Rechnungswesen.

Plötzlich und unerwartet nimmt Anna nun mit Maggie Kontakt auf. Obwohl ihr Vater Florian Anna gänzlich über all die Jahre Maggie vorenthalten und sie ihr entfremdet hat, um sie dann auch nur ins Internat abzuschieben. Daher weiß Maggie nur sehr wenig über Annas Leben, hat aber immer für sie gebetet und will nun gerne einen Kontakt etablieren. Sie erfährt, dass ihr Ex Florian, nach dem Verkauf einer App Technik-Millionär, mit seiner ganzen jungen Familie bei einem Flugzeugabsturz ums Leben gekommen ist.

Sie verabreden sich zum Essen und aus der Situation heraus ergibt sich ziemlich schnell, dass Anna mit Maggie nach Hause geht, um bei ihrer Familie zu leben.

In wechselnden Kapiteln verfolgt man den Prozess mit Noah rückwärts, über das Warten auf das Urteil, die Verteidigung, die Anklage und die Zeugenvernehmungen und Kreuzverhöre. Die ganze Zeit erfährt man als Leser noch nicht, wie es dann überhaupt zu Annas späterem Tod gekommen ist.

Nach Annas Einzug beginnen seltsame Dinge zu geschehen. Mit großem Unbehagen erlebt man mit, wie ein Lügengeflecht wächst und sich ausbreitet. Vor Gericht verheddert Noah sich immer weiter in seinen Aussagen und Halbwahrheiten, reitet sich beständig tiefer rein.

Die Grenzen zwischen Wahrheit und Lüge, Gut und Böse beginnen zu verschwimmen, man weiß als Leser nicht mehr, was man glauben soll. Dann kommt es zu einer überraschenden Entwicklung, die berechtigte Zweifel weckt und Maggie versucht mit ihrer Freundin in dickstem Schneesturm in Maine den Fall selbst zu klären, während Noah um sein Überleben kämpfen muss. Es folgt ein ergreifender Show Down.

Noah ist dem Leser trotz der Mordanklage spontan sympathisch. Die Handlung ist nicht sehr spannend, aber die rückwärtige Aufdeckung der Ereignisse kann fesseln. Das Buch „After Anna“ von Lisa Scottoline ist etwas für Leser, die sich für Gerichts-Thriller begeistern können. Die Ereignisse dort werden sehr detailliert aufbereitet und man rät als Leser ständig mit, was eigentlich vorgefallen ist.

Fazit: Solider Thriller mit einem zeitlich interessanten Erzähl-Konstrukt.

4 von 5 Punkten

This book was an easy read. I devoured it over a couple of days. It completely went in a direction I was not expecting!

A gripping page-turner that will have you guessing to the end. A wonderful book about how one seemingly perfect addition to a family can change everything in a blink of an eye and wondering who you can trust, believe, and love. Can a happily married couple find a way to work through the turmoil or will one day end their lives as they know them?
When Maggie sees her daughter after seventeen years, she is ecstatic, so much so, that she moves Anna in right away. At first everything seems like it is going well. Noah, Maggie's husband, accepts her and changes his office into her bedroom. Shortly after moving in, Anna starts saying that Noah is doing and saying inappropriate things and Maggie doesn't know who to believe. Why would her daughter lie about something like that? But, why would her husband change so suddenly and tell her the exact opposite of Anna?
Getting snippets of Noah's perspective, while he is on trial for Anna's murder, you start to realize something isn't right in the picture. One of them is clearly lying, but what would be the purpose of either one lying to Maggie? When the verdict chokes in, will Noah go free or spend the rest of his life behind bars? Will Maggie accept and believe her daughter over her husband? Or, will she fight for her marriage? What happens when one phone call can change everything? Will it be a little too late to help?
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

This was the first book that I have read by Lisa Scottoline and it will not be the last! I read this book in no time. I could not put it down! There are so many twists and turns that you think you've got it figured out and something changes. It will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole book. Wow...just wow! You have to read it!

4.5 Page Turning Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

“Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead”

I haven’t read a Lisa Scottoline book in quite some time, and I’m not sure why but after reading this book I’m going to go back and pick up some of those I have missed.... this book grab me from the very beginning and did not let go until the bitter end..... A combination of both legal thriller and domestic thriller it was fantastic.... The only reason this book did not get a full five stars is I felt as though the ending was a bit rushed and tied up a little too neatly....

Maggie and Noah have the perfect life.... A beautiful home, fulfilling jobs, and a 10-year-old adorable son Caleb..... The only thing missing from Maggie’s life is her estranged 17-year-old daughter Anna... so when Anna reaches out to her she is beyond thrilled... Anna comes to live with the family and now the happy family of three is a happy family of four, but not for long..... not long after Anna arrives and has caused much tension..... she is found murdered and Noah is charged with her murder.....

Told from alternating points of view between Maggie and Noah... I think I enjoyed Noah’s point of view a bit more.... I loved all the court scenes.... there was so much tension and it kept me on the edge of my seat..... and there were times I wanted to yell at him think about yourself not about Maggie... he was almost too good of a guy..... my heart did break for Maggie.... here is what should be the happiest time in her life the reunion with her daughter.... and things have gone unbelievably wrong.... i’d always say a woman should believe her child and stand by her child no matter what... but this was such a different situation.... she didn’t really know her daughter and she knew her husband, I just couldn’t see a good answer for her in the situation....

Throughout this book I kept trying to figure out what the twist was.... Who murdered Anna and the even bigger question why? And what Game was Anna playing? There of course were plenty of twists and turns none of which I saw coming.... and some of these twists if anybody saw coming then they are clairvoyant.... because they were a little out of left field..... even if some of the parts of the ending of this book were a little unrealistic, I don’t care the book as a whole was fantastic... and it is fiction after all.....

Strongly recommend to all fans of legal thrillers, domestic thrillers,and books that keep you turning the pages as fast as you can!

*** thank you so much to the publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this book ***

Another great story from Lisa. After Anna is a suspense filled thriller that starts in the most personal and private of places, a family home. Maggie and Noah are married, Maggie divorced for many years and lost custody of her infant daughter due to her post part psychosis. Those aspects were handled so well by the author. Maggie and Noah have son, happily married when one day Anna shows up and that moment and every page that follows was all consuming. The lengths to which Anna would go knew no bounds. Happy to have her daughter back home, Maggie tried to appease and smooth over or ignore certain situations, that is until Anna is found strangled and Noah is arrested and charged with her murder. The book then runs between story line and courtroom proceedings which at times bothered me a little but not enough to ruin the story. The rest of the book runs through past history, trial and what seemed to me a deck stacked against Noah, but I'm just the reader. Until the day Maggie gets a phone call. A phone call that throws her and her son into action and the story moved so quickly and darn those twists and wicked hairpin turns! And oh the end..... read the book!!!
This wasn't my favorite book from Lisa but it was a great read and certainly worth reading.

**arc from NetGalley and Publisher for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own**

This thriller is told with two timelines. The one that takes place 'after Anna' is told backwards: Dr Noah Alderman is on trial for the murder of his stepdaughter, Anna, and is just about to learn the jury's verdict. Next we learn what happened in court the day before, then the day before that...and so on.

But sharing centerstage with that is the story of 'before Anna' and what led up to her murder. At about the 75% mark, the two storylines converge, Noah hears the verdict and then the story completely explodes!

I was constantly trying to guess the killer's identity but never in my wildest imagination would I have come up with the twists and turns this story takes. Well done! I enjoyed this thriller immensely and highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of the book for my honest review.

Title: After Anna

Author: Lisa Scottoline

St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: 9781250099655

Copyright 2018

Publication Date: April 10, 2018



Scottoline’s latest novel opens with the trial of Dr. Noah Alderman, who is being charged with first degree murder. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Dr. Alderman and his wife, Maggie. Noah’s version starts from the end of the trial, working backwards while Maggie’s version starts several months before and moves forward. Their stories feel like they are literally hurtling towards each other as the reader starts to tease out what has happened to their lives and their marriage. The story starts out as a courtroom thriller, but once the trial is over the plot increases dramatically in pace, reaching that “must-finish” level that will have many readers staying up past bedtime.

The heart of this story is made up of Maggie’s reunion with the daughter who was taken from her as an infant. Maggie, struggling from a severe case of postpartum psychosis, loses custody of her child to her ex-husband. While she has built a happy life with Noah and her stepson, Caleb, she has never stopped wondering about her daughter, sending letters and gifts, even doing a little cyber-stalking to get a glimpse of what her life has become. So when Anna, the daughter she lost, is suddenly back in her life, Maggie looks forward to finally having it all, but disaster is waiting to strike.

The story moves at a quick pace and readers who think they see every twist and turn coming will be surprised. Scottoline throws several curve balls into the last few chapters. This book is for any reader who is tired of figuring out their whodunnits half-way through the book. The most significant criticism I can offer for this book is that it wraps up too quickly. As a frequent reader of mysteries and thrillers, I enjoy the tying up of loose ends at the end of the story, and I felt a little cheated of that experience here. I appreciated the complexity of the story, but I would have loved to have delved deeper into the issues that were presented in the final chapters.

As a Scottoline fan, I felt After Anna lacked the complexity of One Perfect Lie, but is still not to be missed.

I got access to this title for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Clear your schedule when you start After Anna because you won't be able to put this captivating novel down. Lisa Scottoline definitely has written another best seller. The story begins with a murder suspect in a court room awaiting his verdict. The man on trial is Dr. Noah Alderman. He is accused of killing his step daughter, Anna. Maggie has been happily married to Noah, a widower, for two years. Noah has a ten year old son, Caleb. Maggie has a daughter, Anna, from her first marriage. When Anna was an infant Maggy was hospitalized with postpartum psychosis and she lost custody of her daughter. Maggie has not spoken to or seen Anna since that day, seventeen years ago. One day Anna calls Maggie and Maggie is shocked and overjoyed. Maggie and Anna meet and soon Anna is living with the family. Scottoline skillfully makes the reader question both Anna's and Noah's reliability. The chapters are narrated by Maggie before and Noah after. Although the plot is disturbing, this book is a joy to read.

A thrilling physiological novel that will keep you turning page after page. Very good character development that will pull you in and having you feeling their ups and downs. There are plenty of unexpected moments to hold your interest from page one all the way to the end.. If you enjoy a good women's fiction novel with mystery this is a great book and I would recommend it to friends.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Mom tells the story from the point of view of before Anna. Step-dad tells the story from the point of view of after Anna. Together is makes for an interesting tale with some great twists and turns that continue after the two stories merge in time. Engaging story with some interesting modern issues and family dynamics, that were tackled in a new and different way. Once you reach about the half way point, you won't want to put it down.

This book was full of twists and turns. It was highly suspenseful and a real page-turned.

I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

The story is told Before Anna and After Anna. Before she was killed, and after she was killed. The majority of 'After' is told from her supposed killer point of view, her step-father, during his murder trial. This is where I feel the story got bogged down, the back and forth dialog was ... blah.

3☆

Maggie Ippoliti lost the custody of her daughter Anna almost seventeen years ago after neing diagnosed with postpartum psychosis. Her ex-husband moved to France and she hasn’t seen her daughter since. Now she is happily married to Dr. Noah Alderman, a widower and the father of a young boy. When Maggie’s ex-husband and family is killed in a plane crash, Anna comes to move in with her mother and family. Things begin to go from good to bad to worse for Noah as Anna accuses him of unspeakable things.

The story is told from both Maggie’s point of view when Anna moves in with them and Noah’s point of view during and after the trial. A fascinating concept and I was enthralled by the whole experience and realized things didn’t seem right. Adding to the mystery, was some thrills, but by the conclusion, everything seem to move too quickly and the resolution to manufactured. I loved 95% of the book. That last 5% ruined it for me unfortunately.

4 kept me reading stars

This was my first book by this author and I have to say that I did like what I read. The story, although it did have a few hiccups at the end, flowed well and kept this reader fully engaged until the last page was read.

Maggie and Noah have recently married. Noah is a doctor and a widowed father of a ten year old son. Maggie, his wife, formerly suffered from postpartum psychosis after the birth of her daughter, Anna, with her first husband. This rare illness causes Maggie to lose custody of her daughter, She also loses any kind of contact with Anna. Anna's father, who had divorced Maggie, is a very wealthy man living in France and as Anna grows she is sent to a boarding school in Maine. However, Anna is searching for her birth mother and when Maggie gets word of her search and connects with her, she travels to the boarding school. to meet her. Anna is so unhappy and lonely at the school that Maggie decides to bring Anna home with her and incorporate her into her fairly new family without consulting her husband.

Anna is seventeen, and due to a fatal accident that happened to her father, she is quite a wealthy girl. One would think that all would go ever so well and that is what Maggie hoped for. However, things start to go downhill very quickly as Anna targets Noah and there develops a "he said, she said" scenario of sexual abuse. As the story continues things get ever worse for Noah and it seems to be up to Maggie to discover the truth. This truth is ever so dark and one that she is not prepared for. Can this family be saved?

This was an exciting domestic thriller that although had some holes in the story line, it keep me quite interested in the outcome.

Thank you to Lisa Scottoline, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this riveting novel.

Stepfather (Noah) accused of murdering his stepdaughter (Anna). Did he do it? Or, is there something more sinister at play? Perhaps "something darker than she ever could have imagined."

After suffering from postpartum psychosis, an extreme form of postpartum depression, Maggie lost custody of her six month old daughter, Anna, to her ex-husband, Florian. Seventeen years later (after the tragic death of Florian, his wife, and kids), Anna reached out to Maggie, and both were beyond thrilled to reunite. After spending much of her childhood living at a boarding school, Anna was excited to have a "real" family. Unfortunately, as soon as she moved in with Maggie, her husband, Noah, and Noah's 10 year old son, Caleb, Anna's relationship with Noah was rocky, tumultuous, and volatile.

In fact, when Maggie asked Noah, "When did you turn into such a control freak? ... Noah had an answer, except one that was unsayable: After Anna."

Told in alternating timelines (aka "Before Anna" and "After Anna") and perspectives (Maggie and Noah), this story follows Maggie's reunion with Anna and Noah's murder trial. If you enjoy courtroom dramas and twisty thrillers, then be sure to read After Anna!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for a free advance copy of this book! All opinions are my own.