After Anna by Lisa Scottoline

The bad seed spreads copiously.
A suspenseful and terrifying read about the callous way people often treat others. I am so grateful for my stable family and friends!
Compelling and satisfying. Read it. This is one of my favorite authors for an intriguing thrill ride.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I’ve also purchased a copy to gift.

I enjoyed the plot of this story very much and wanted to know just what was happening because the book did a good job of hiding exactly where it was going. At first it was difficult to adjust to the difference in Maggie's chapters and Noah's chapters but once I became used to them, it was an interesting way to learn what had already happened and what was happening. The last part of the book did seem a little strange because I don't see law enforcement allowing Maggie to insert herself into an ongoing police event and the manner in which the guards at the prison addressed Noah, didn't ring true. I do not think guards would be calling a convicted murderer, Doctor, once he's in prison. Over all, I wanted to keep reading the book to find out the fate of this person named Anna. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Short Take: Wait for it….. Waiiiiitttt for it…. Keep waiting…. Almost there…. Waiiiiitttttt…. OMG DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?????

*Note: I received an advance copy of this book for review.*

I am not as smart as I like to think I am. See, I read the first three quarters of this book in a state of mild annoyance and semi-resigned boredom. I accepted After Anna in exchange for a review, which means I had to read the whole thing in order to write an accurate and honest review. Generally, I that’s not much of a hardship, but that first seventy-five percent of this one was a slog.

It starts when Maggie is reunited with Anna, the daughter she had lost custody of seventeen years before. Maggie went through a pretty rough bout of postpartum psychosis after Anna’s birth, and Anna’s wealthy caricature of a father, Florian, promptly took full custody of Anna, then dumped her with a series of nannies and boarding schools.

When Florian dies suddenly, Anna finally contacts Maggie, and both Maggie and her new husband, Noah, welcome Anna into their lives and home. Six weeks later, Anna is dead, and Noah is on trial for her murder. The book flips back and forth between Maggie and Noah’s sides of the story, and plays with alternating timelines - Noah’s trial, and the events leading up to Anna’s death.

And it’s kind of a pain to get through. It’s long, and drawn-out, and virtually every scene leading up to Anna’s death is played out repeatedly - it’ll be mentioned in the murder trial, and then we’ll get both Noah’s and Maggie’s perspective on it in multiple chapters. There are just too many words rehashing the same scene over and over, when really, anyone who has seen at least a few dozen Lifetime movies (and who here hasn’t???) would know within the first couple of chapters that Something Isn’t Right with Anna.

So there I am, going through chapter after chapter of “didn’t I just read this exact scene?” and “who brings a strange 17 year old home and then just immediately accepts everything they say at face value no matter how ridiculous?” and “there are only a few characters in this book, if Noah didn’t kill Anna, it’s going to be one of like two other people, I am A GENIUS” and so on, when OH. MY. WOW.

Everything turned sideways. I could hardly believe what a fantastic twist I was reading. The final quarter of After Anna moves at a breathless pace as Maggie starts putting pieces together and the absolutely batcrap insane truth starts coming out. I’ve been processing that ending for the last hour, and my gast remains flabbered.


So if you are willing to use a little patience getting through the beginning, the payoff is more than worth it.

The Nerd’s Rating: FOUR HAPPY NEURONS (and a Top Gun DVD, because there’s a shortage of shirtless-man-volleyball montages in my life)

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Lisa Scottoline for the opportunity to read and review her latest book - loved it! I love everything Scottoline writes - thank goodness she is a prolific writer so I can get my fix!

The book centers on a family unit - Noah and Maggie are both on their second marriage and are happy; Caleb is Noah's son and Anna is Maggie's. Maggie lost custody of Anna when she was an infant and she hasn't seen her since then. When Anna appears in Maggie's life as a 17-year-old and moves in, things change quickly for the family. Maggie is so desperate to have Anna back in her life that she allows Anna to do whatever she wants, setting up conflict between Maggie and Noah. Then Anna is found brutally murdered and Noah is charged with the crime.

This was a very twisty book and presented in a clever format - Before Anna and After Anna. In the Before Anna segments, it is the courtroom trial counting down backwards from the verdict. The Before Anna is the rest of the story of the family and how everything came to be.

Couldn't put it down; loved the twists and turns. Highly recommended!

For some reason, I’d stopped reading Lisa Scottoline. As I recall, the last one I read seemed formulaic and just didn’t grab me. But, when I read about After Anna, a standalone “domestic thriller,” I was looking forward to digging into the copy I received from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in return for my honest review.

The main characters are Maggie and Noah Alderman and Anna, the daughter Maggie relinquished when she struggled with postpartum psychosis. Maggie had been married to Florian (Anna’s bio dad), but they divorced and he got custody of Anna, then sent her off to boarding school while he made a gazillion dollars developing software. Maggie, who hadn’t seen Anna for nearly 17 years, gets a phone call from the daughter she has mourned for so long, seeking a meeting. She leaps at the chance and leaves her physician husband of two years and his 10-year-old son to go off to meet her daughter.

It turns out that Florian has died in a plane crash, leaving Anna to fend for herself (and also leaving her fifty million dollars). Maggie leaps at the chance to be a mother to the daughter she has never known, and takes her home to join the family. Surprise, Noah!!! Before long, Anna has turned the household upside down, Maggie kicks Noah out, and the next thing you know, Anna turns up dead on Noah’s front porch.

The book includes Noah’s trial and the aftermath, and is told in alternating points of view between Noah and Maggie, so there are really two stories going on, but it is also two stories told out of chronological order, with Noah’s unspooling in reverse order. It sounds weird, but is well done.

I don’t know if Scottoline’s books have been made into movies, but the last quarter of this one reads as if it might have been designed for the screen. Overall, it is an extremely entertaining read, with excellent characterization (especially the high school aspect) and unexpected plot twists. Well, at least to me, but I am the world’s worst at seeing the clues in mysteries/thrillers. I didn’t see this one for a LOOOONG time (although I did wonder when the trial was over and I was less than ¾ through the book.
Four enthusiastic stars.

My favorite Lisa Scottoline to date! A stepdaughter who is hiding something, a stepfather accused, a mother confused. Where does it all lead? Trust me, you definitely want to find out!

After Anna begins with the first chapter titled Noah, After. Each chapter takes place either Before Anna or After Anna. The whole before and after thing works really well in this book. It sets the stage that everything changed when Anna arrived.

In the first chapter Noah, After we find Dr. Noah Alderman in the courtroom. The jurors are filing in and Noah is about to learn wether or not they find him guilty of first-degree murder. His entire world is destroyed and it all started with Anna.

The second chapter is Maggie, Before. Maggie is Noah’s wife. She is talking on the phone to Anna, her daughter who she wasn’t seen or heard from in seventeen years. She is beyond excited that Anna wants to come back into her life.

Each chapter then alternates from Noah After and Maggie Before and then Maggie After.

I don’t want to give away anything about the process away, but things start going downhill immediately for Noah as soon as Anna arrives. Finally coming to a head when Anna is murdered and Noah is charged with her murder.

Another winner from Lisa Scottoline.

I received an ARC of the book.

I loved the first half/ two-thirds of this book: the pace was relentless, and the switch between points of view really worked well. It was clear from the beginning that Anna was not who she seemed (I had my suspicions about the twist that comes later), but I was still glued to the pages to find out what exactly happened, and who murdered her.

The last third of the book felt a bit rushed because of the lengthy build-up, which didn't bother me too much. But the way Maggie's husband Noah gets tossed around and thrown under the bus, then just forgives in the end didn't sit right with me. The teens in this story also go through too much to wrap things up so neatly in the end.

A good thriller that could have used a more realistic ending.

This was a thrilling ride. I didn’t want it to end. I think the husband, Noah, must be a great man to have picked up where he left off in the family dynamics. The twists and turns in this story was amazing. Can’t wait for the next book!!

4.5 Stars rounded up!

I feel like I needed a really solid mystery/thriller to read as of late. I was excited when I got the chance to read Lisa Scottoline's new book. I was totally engrossed in this book and I read it in just about 24 hours. That's when I know I really liked something. I kept picking it back up just to know what had happened!

We meet Noah and Maggie. They are a happily married couple and they are both married to each other in their second marriages. We find out that Maggie had a child (Anna) with her first husband but was deemed "unfit" to take care of her. It's now been 17 years and every year she celebrates Anna's birthday hoping that she will one day come back to her. One day Anna gets a call out of the blue and so their journey begins. Anna and Maggie have to get to know each other but how does a Mother balance being a Mom after 17 years of her child missing and then also making them feel the most welcome they possibly can?

The other focus of this story is Noah and Anna's relationship. Are there secrets about Noah we don't know about that make Anna feel uncomfortable? Is Anna manipulative? There's a courtcase involving Noah and Anna that plays out that is SUPER interesting (at least to me). I would like to think that what came of the case in the book also happens often in the US Legal system.

I would say the biggest theme that came out of this book is that people may not always be who they seem to be no matter HOW good they are at manipuation....

There's also a large twist at the end, well actually a few. One thing the author did that I loved is she used names to her advantage. You know those names that you assume the gender? Well, this book does a good job tricking you with that which made the twist even better.

I would definitely recommend this book to those who love mystery/suspense novels. It did a great job keeping my interest the whole time. Well done to Lisa Scottoline!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for sending me an ARC of this novel. Be sure to pick this on up on April 10th when it's published

I didn't like Anna from the get-go. Something wasn't right about her. It seemed so obvious that she was acting. She had her mother, Maggie, convinced. Her step-father, Noah, knew something wasn't right with her but it would take a murder for all of them to discover exactly what. Let's just say, sometimes people aren't always what or who they seem.

After Anna by Lisa Scottoline is filled with drama, suspense, and unexpected turns. Several times throughout the story I thought I had everything figured out, only to quickly discover that I was completely wrong. I love stories that prove me wrong. There were enough twists and turns that kept me on my toes.

Maggie is reunited with her daughter, Anna, after being estranged for most of Anna's life. Anna is brought home to live with Maggie, her husband Noah, and Noah's son Caleb. Anna moving in disrupts the family in ways they never expected, and ten days later Anna is found dead with Noah the accused murderer.

You know a book is good when the review is hard to write because you don't want to spoil the story for anyone. The story goes back and forth between Noah's trial and the events that lead to the trial--events both "before" and "after" Anna. Fans of Scottoline will not be disappointed.

Find my full review on April 5, 2018 on my site Reads on Wednesdays.

I know several fellow book bloggers have read and really enjoyed this one. I was really excited to finally grab it off of my TBR pile.

I’m on the fence about this book. Overall I gave it three stars. I really liked the story line and the writing. The characters were interesting. I was reading this one and really loving it – right up until the end. I did not love the ending – at all! It kind of went out on a bad note for me. It got messy and felt like throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the end. There were new characters and a “twist” that felt too overdone to me. I which it had been more streamlined and simple instead of last minute complicated and rushed. Overall, it was a decent read in the mystery

Maggie has an ideal life....a wonderful husband named Noah and a step-son named Caleb. The only thing that is missing is Maggie's daughter Anna, whom she hasn't seen in in 17 years when she lost custody of her. Then one day, Maggie's dreams come true. Anna contacts her and wants to meet. Overjoyed, Maggie meets her and they decide that Anna will come home to live with Maggie, Noah, and Caleb. Once she does, things start being not so perfect. Anna keeps accusing Noah of being inappropriate with her. She files charges and Noah moves out of the house. Anna is found murdered at Noah's new house and he is arrested for her murder.
That is all I will tell you, because you will want to read the rest for yourself. This book is full of suspense, with lots of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. Definitely a must-read!

I'm always glad to read Lisa Scottoline's books - they never disappoint. This book, told from two viewpoints and two different timeframes, kept my interest throughout. There were many times I wanted to scream at Maggie for believing everything Anna said!! My sympathies were with Noah throughout. The characters were believable , the story fascinating, and the twists & turns went in unexpected (and sometimes hard to believe - but that's ok) places.

This is another winner for Lisa Scottoline!

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for an E-ARC of this book. I liked that the book was told from two points of view. It made it an interesting read. The alternating chapters made me keep reading to see what happened next. #Netgalley #After Anna

I have read three other Lisa Scottoline, two of them had the mystery evolving into a big mega crime situation which was a bit unbelievable. So, I was interested to see where this book went. The book had me from the start where a man is on trial for murdering his stepdaughter. The book goes back and forth between the court proceedings and the wife's recollections of what had happened. You get the feeling early on that the stepdad just didn't do it so it was all trying to figure out who it was and what happened. Overall, it was a good, fast paced book that kept me guessing until the end.

I have been a fan of Ms. Scottoline's Rosato & Associates series for many years so I was excited to get a chance to read her newest stand alone, After Anna. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.
The story is told from two perspectives, Maggie's and Noah's. Maggie's story line moves from the past forward and Noah's moves from current day (the trial) backward so that we see the after effects of Anna's appearance while we are learning how it happened. It is a good concept for storytelling but I have see it quite a lot lately.
My main problem with this story is that the narrative from Maggie started out a little unbelievable and then became more and more immature and annoying as it went along. The half of the story told from Noah's perspective was much more interesting and I wish the whole book had been this way.
I will admit that I did actually read (skim) through to the end just because I was curious as to what the end game here was and for that I will give it a 2.5/5 stars.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that secrets are toxic and break up families. - Jane Ridley

Dr. Noah Alderman (a pediatric allergist) and his young son, Caleb, are happy in Noah's second marriage to Maggie - and so is she. Their world goes off kilter when Maggie hears from her 17 year old daughter.

Maggie lost custody of her daughter Anna when her daughter was six months old because Maggie was suffering from post partum psychosis and ended up being hospitalized until she got better. Her ex-husband kept her from her daughter even then. So Maggie is thrilled to hear from Anna and doesn't stop to think that things might be moving a bit quickly when Anna asks to move in with the family.

There were interesting court scenes in the story that made up about half the book. I had guessed part of the twisty ending but there were definitely some big surprises. I felt the ending was a bit rushed considering all the time spent telling the rest of the story. I wanted a bit MORE but I was happy that an epilogue was included to tie up some details.

I enjoy author Scottoline's writing style and books and I appreciate that this is a stand-alone book in this day and age of series books.

I received this book from St. Martin's Press through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

This is my fourth Lisa Scottoline book and After Anna is by far my favorite. I would rate After Anna a 4.25/5 stars. I really enjoy a good domestic thriller and this is it; I was devouring the pages as quickly as I could to find the answers.

Maggie and Noah have been happily married for two years, both experiencing second chances at love. Noah is a pediatric allergist who lost his first wife to cancer and has one son from his previous marriage, 10 year old Caleb. Maggie had a difficult divorce from a rich French man where she lost physical custody of their 6 month old daughter, Anna. Anna is now 17 years old and contacts her mother, Maggie, wanting to rekindle their mother/daughter relationship after her father has died in a plane crash. Maggie is elated and feels that all of her dreams have come true…but a nightmare is about to begin.

After Anna is told in alternating time periods and views- Before Anna and After Anna. I absolutely loved the court scenes with Noah. He was a very likable character and I found myself really hoping he was not guilty of murdering his step-daughter, Anna.

I think I unraveled all of the twists pretty quickly but that didn’t take away my enjoyment of the story at all. I kept speeding through the pages wanting to know how everything was going to be tied together and explained. I think the ending was a bit much and maybe a little rushed. Outside of that I loved, After Anna and would highly recommend it to those who like domestic thrillers.

***Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

After Anna is a stand-alone mystery / psychological thriller centered around Maggie's teenage daughter Anna coming to live with her and her husband Noah after Anna's father dies suddenly. Ann was taken from Maggie when she was a baby. Although Maggie wrote to Anna and tried to connect with her, she was never able to spend any time with her daughter as her ex-husband kept her away claiming she was 'unfit' to care for Anna. Maggie is now beyond excited that she finally gets to develop a relationship with her daughter. Noah is somewhat indifferent, but is happy for Maggie. Unfortunately, Anna's arrival quickly comes with many surprises.

The book is written from both Maggie's (before Anna) and Noah's (after Anna) point-of-view. Most of Noah's view is from his trial as he is accused of her murder, although we also get Noah's flashbacks. It was a very engaging way to write this book and try to figure out the story behind Anna because there are definitely 2 sides to her... but is it because of how Maggie and Noah see her differently. I was surprised by the ending, a good twist to the story.