I began reading with great enthusiasm. The story plot line and cover really piqued my interest. The characters are well thought of and crafted but I couldn’t keep up with the structure of thr narrative. I had to constantly keep referring back.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

After Anna, Lisa Scottoline’s latest standalone thriller is an excellent tension-filled thriller with interesting characters and lots of twists and turns. Maggie Ippoliti and Noah Alderman are happily married with Maggie helping to raise Noah’s son Caleb from his now dead first wife. Their life changes quickly though when Maggie hears from Anna, her daughter from her first marriage. Maggie lost custody to her husband after Maggie had some unsafe thoughts soon after Anna’s birth. Maggie’s father sent her to a private high school in Maine and Anna is now interested in meeting and living with Anna, unhappy with her private school life.

Noah and Caleb welcome Anna into their home but things quickly change with Anna making claims that Noah has made sexual advances. Noah is forced to leave his home and soon thereafter Anna is found dead at Noah’s new house with Noah accused of Anna’s murder.

This story is told in many different timelines, going back and forth much of it Noah’s murder trial. This constant time shifting would normally bother me, but Scottoline masterly tells the story this way building the backstory into the front along with building the suspense. You never really believe Noah is Anna’s murderer but you’re also not sure. You will also never be satisfied putting this book down, put you do have to sleep eventually. Lots of twists by the time you get to the satisfying end.

Several years ago, I became disappointed in a couple of books by Lisa Scottoline and stopped reading her books. I found them too silly with women taking unrealistic risks and doing dumb things. In the past year, I decided to start reading her again and I’m glad I did especially with this new book. I enjoy Scottoline’s humor especially in her series books, but that’s absent here and I did not miss it in this book. I found the constant tension and twists much more enjoyable that way. I’m really looking forward to reading more of her recent standalone book as well as her series books.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press. Lisa Scotttolline just never disappoints. This is a suspense, legal thriller, and gut wrencher all into one. Noah is in trial for the murder of his step daughter. However, Anna was not so innocent. This story played out so well and so compelling. I felt for both Maggie and Noah. This is a must read! Unputdownable!

If you like suspense, mystery, murder and mayhem, then you'll love this book. The title is indicative that Anna has possibly come and gone and that Anna, or "something" could be torn. Which, in every effort, hits the nail on the head.

Plot Summary:
Dr. Noah Alderman remarries Maggie Ippolitti and they live very happily with Dr. Alderman's son, Caleb. Maggie longs for her long lost daughter she hasn't seen since infancy. Maggie unexpectedly gets another chance to be that mother to her long-lost daughter , Anna, even knowing it will change her and her husband's lives. Little do they know that their life is fixing to become something absolutely horrific, Anna's murder, to which Dr. Alderman is accused of. First, losing her daughter from murder, to her husband being the one accused of it. Finding new information, Maggie is driven to search for the truth, not only about her daughter, but about the accusations against her husband. With a race against time, will Maggie beat the clock? Will Anna survive? Will Noah survive? With a new horror facing her, Maggie is now lead on a journey to something even more horrific than she ever thought.

I like the book, itself, it was a wonderful read, but because of the way it's written, I had a hard time getting into the book. I struggled, literally, until midway, when I reached a point that I didn't want to put the book down. It took me three days to get to that point. I'm not sure if it's how the author bounces back and forth between Noah's view and Maggie's view, but whatever it was, finally hooked me midway.

The one thing I absolutely loved was Caleb's involvement. I truly LOVED how Caleb's laughter was brought in at the end. It couldn't have made for a better ending. I'm giving this book four stars because I did have such a hard time getting into the plot of the book. It really was a great read, but I feel it could have been more with a different format. I did love the author and will be following her and reading more of her books.

I received this digital copy in return for my honest review.

This is 2.5-3 star for me. I thoroughly enjoy all of Lisa's books, but this one didn't grab me like I wanted it to. Over all, I thought the plot was good. It moved well and was written with a lot of detail, thought I felt the ending was rather rushed. What bothered me is the characters. I didn't like any of them and, quite frankly, didn't care what happened to them. I was irritated that Maggie instantly became a pushover and sacrificed her entire life with absolutely no proof. I didn't like Noah because he seemed arrogant. The dialogue between Kathy and Maggie during their talking/walking seemed very forced, and the conclusions they were each drawing from the other's thoughts didn't add up. It's like they knew something we weren't privy too.

This will not discourage me from reading Ms. Scottoline's books in the future because I think her writing is wonderful. I own all of her books and was very happy to receive this one via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This is just one of those books that you won’t soon forget! That being said—there’s just so much that I don’t know where to begin! Scottoline has been one of my favorite authors for years! I can’t say this is my favorite book of hers but I did read this pretty quickly in about three nights and it was definitely hard to put down! Is it worth staying up to read? Definitely! Will you be happy with everything? Probably not. Hence my 4 stars.
First let’s talk about the structure. The chapters alternate between the two main characters of Maggie and Noah. They also alternate between the happenings Before & After Anna came into their lives. Also, in the beginning Noah’s chapters are told as he’s standing trial for Anna’s murder and so these chapters actually go backwards until he gets to present time and catches up with Maggie’s chapters.
It sounds complicated and weird and I’m probably not doing it justice explaining the concept but it works great in this book!! Noah gets the chance to tell us his story through his thoughts as he’s going through trial. I liked the structure and was impressed by it. It stood out to me.
Basically the story is about a mother who hasn’t been a part of her 17 year old daughter’s life, through no fault of her own, suddenly gets the chance to be part of her life and of course she jumps at the chance! She brings her daughter home to live with her husband and stepson. Everything is picturesque in the first 24 hours but suddenly daughter and stepfather don’t seem to be getting along. Daughter accuses stepfather of sexual harassment. Two weeks later, daughter turns up dead. Stepfather stands trial.
Telling you more than that and I’ll be spoiling it so I won’t!! But let me just tell you that you will be flipping pages quickly because the suspense doesn’t end there. That’s actually just the beginning!!
I didn’t necessarily like how quickly the drama ensued with Anna moving in and actually how quickly she did move in. This piece of the story seemed forced and fake. It wasn’t quite believable for me. Also, Noah didn’t seem like a fully fleshed out character. I found myself unable to hate him or love him.
What I loved was the bombshell cliffhanger and the big reveal. I can’t tell you what it was but I absolutely love when I can say I didn’t see that coming! The suspense was spot on!
*A copy of this book was provided to me by Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for review. Release date is April 10, 2018 and it’s available for pre-orders now.

#AfterAnna #NetGalley #LisaScottoline

After Anna by Lisa Scottoline is an intense thriller. A deadly journey where people have died and other may still die. A father wrongly accused of murdering his wife's daughter. He never killed anyone and the dead girl isn't who they originally thought she was. This family was torn apart and ruined. Only to be bounded together again once more. However, getting back together, will depend on timing. If they're too late the husband dies and so does the real daughter. But if timed right, they may just end of saving both. The FBI are involved after a therapist finds out that the young girl isn't the one matching in the newspaper. This whole time, the innocent have been trapped and tortured. I was filled with intrigue. This book kept me guessing. I was afraid of what the outcome would be. Lisa Scottoline has once again, written a title worthy of reading. Dramatic, frightening, and emotional...After Anna is a journey of survival and hope in a world of darkness. Overall, I recommend it to readers everywhere.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for an ARC of After Anna by Lisa Scottoline. This is a well crafted mystery/thriller for the first three-quarters of the book. The storyline centers on Maggie who lost physical custody of her daughter, Anna, 17 years ago when she was an infant. They have no real relationship due to Maggie's ex-husband, but when he dies unexpectedly, Anna reaches out to reconnect with her mother, who is now living with a new husband and his young son. Eager to reconnect, Maggie meets with Anna and ultimately brings her into her home....where she tears apart the life Maggie has built for herself. It is an intense, page-turning read, but the ending is rushed and a bit over the top. It left me feeling a bit like I had been watching a Scooby-Doo mystery and it was time to wrap it up :( I wish the ending felt as satisfying as the rest of the book.

I love when a book throws me for a loop, and this one did.

The story starts off with the reader knowing that Noah is on trial for Anna's murder. We see glimpses of the past through Noah's eyes, then through Maggie's. My heart breaks for Maggie. She wants so much to have a relationship with her daughter. The death of her ex husband gives her the perfect opportunity.

I can totally believe a mother acting the way Maggie does. She not only wants a relationship with her daughter but she wants her husband and step son to embrace Anna with the same love and acceptance that she does.

This is one suspenseful read. You will not want to put it down.

Maggie remarries and is excited about starting a new life with a new family. Her husband of two years, Noah, is a successful doctor with a ten-year-old son. Things couldn’t be better, until her daughter, Anna, enters the picture. At first, Maggie is thrilled Anna wants to develop a relationship with her, but once she moves in things take a turn for the worse. Maggie and Noah’s lives are turned upside down. Anna is rebellious and not interested in following the rules. Shortly after moving in, she is found murdered, and Noah is charged.

The story switches back and forth between Maggie and Noah, and is filled with drama, manipulation, and murder. AFTER ANNA is a faced-paced, easy read that keeps the reader engaged, with intriguing real-to-life characters. This is an edge-of-your-seat read, with the breath-taking twists and turns at the end Scottoline is known for!

I've seen several reviews state this was like a Lifetime Movie. I would agree. But then who doesn't like a Lifetime Movie now and then? It had the usual great storytelling from Lisa Scottoline. Several twists and turns. And since it was told from the wife's and husband's point of view separately, it was almost like reading two books at once. I enjoyed this and loved the ending.

Thank you Netgalley for an advance copy of this novel. I enjoyed the book and was hooked until the last few chapters. The ending was too fairy tale-ish for me.

Lisa Scottoline is an awesome storyteller, and I adore her Rosato and Associates law thrillers. They have a great mix of mystery, suspense, and relationship storylines.

This book, however, was very different. It will take some suspension of disbelief as the main concept of the book involves a mother who was hospitalized and lost physical custody of her daughter 16 years ago. Since then, she has not seen or spoken to her, even on social media, and was not even notified when her ex-husband died, leaving the daughter an orphan save her mother.

Putting that strange start aside, the book is very readable with several interesting twists. The book is told from the mother's point of view and from the point of view of her current husband, who is the stepfather to the daughter. I found both points of view very interesting and equally compelling, but I do not want to give anything away.

Overall, I would recommend this book as a quick, action-packed read with a compelling marriage and family storyline.

Thanks to Netgalley, St, Martin’s Press and Lisa Scottoline for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lisa Scottoline knows how to write an unputdownable thriller, and this one was no exception! This was very fast-paced and riveting. It was also rather Lifetime Movie-ish, and some of the dialogue seemed a bit stilted, so I didn't love it or find out very memorable, but it was exciting and fun to read.

Also, while an evil teenage girl is always a fun villain to read about, I do agree with another reviewer that it seemed slightly out of step with this particular cultural moment to have a deceitful young girl accusing a poor, innocent adult man of sexual assault. It was an enjoyable, engaging story for me nevertheless, but if that puts you off I'd say skip this one.

Maggie Ippolito gave birth to her daughter, Anna, and soon found herself suffering from postpartum psychosis. Her husband, Florian Desroches, used the illness as a reason to divorce Maggie and take baby Anna to his home country of France.

17 years later Maggie’s life had changed. She was cured of her psychosis and had married a wonderful man, Noah Alderman. He was a doctor who specialized in pediatric allergies and also a widower with a young son. His wife had died of cancer and his son, Caleb, loved Maggie as much as Noah did. However when Maggie got a phone call from Anna, everything changed . Maggie was ecstatic as she had had no contact with Anna after the baby was taken to France. However Florian and his new family had been killed in a plane crash. Anna, who had been attending boarding school in Maine, was now a heiress who had inherited her father’s $50 million tech fortune.

Anna called her mother and asked to meet her. Maggie was very excited and flew up to Maine as soon as she could. Maggie was now Anna’s only parent and happily agreed to take Anna home to PA with her. As soon as Anna settled into with her new family, she started making allegations of sexual abuse against Noah. Rather than have the local courts set up an order of protection against Noah and ruin his medical practice, he agreed to move out of his house. A few days later he returned to his new rental to find Anna strangled on the front porch.

Noah was arrested and tried for the murder.

The story is told from Maggie’s point of view from when Anna arrived and also from Noah’s view as he is on trial and recalls everything that happened after Anna arrived. It is a psychological thriller with many trusts and a surprise ending.

Lisa Scottoline has hit a home run with "After Anna". This one twists and turns more than a mountain trail. Noah Alderman, a widowed doctor, has a comfortable life with his second wife, Maggie. And then Anna shows up. The joys of a mother-daughter reunion and the horrors of a trial gone bad unite to make "After Anna" a spellbinding novel. This one reads like a combination of John Grisham and Jodi Picoult at their best.

This book was amazing. I enjoyed the way the author kept you in suspense the entire book. It was a true page turner. Maggie was so happy to have her daughter Anna back that she failed to see through Anna's facade. Her husband Noah was a true good guy who suffered. I appreciate the way the author wove you through the time however it was a little difficult in the beginning to go back and forth in time. I did really enjoy this book and would recommend it to my friends!

After Anna – Lisa Scottoline

I was fortunate to receive this novel as an Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an objective review.

Margaret (Maggie) Alderman has a good life – she’s blissfully married to the love of her life, Dr. Noah Alderman, and is Mom to his sweet young son, Caleb. But Maggie longs to find her daughter – a daughter that was taken from her by her estranged ex-husband after Maggie struggled with post-partum depression shortly after her birth.

Maggie receives a call one day, seemingly out of the blue – her daughter Anna is attending a prestigious private school in Maine and wants to meet her. As Maggie rushes to Anna’s side, she also learns that Anna’s father has been killed in a plane crash with the rest of his family overseas. Impulsively Anna decides to leave school and come home to live with Maggie, Noah & Caleb.

Soon, things begin to happen. Caleb seems at odds with his new sister Anna, and Anna seems to have difficulty adjusting to a new family and rules. She soon accuses Noah of molestation, tearing the family apart. Then, Anna winds up dead at Noah’s apartment and he is arrested for her murder, all while protesting his innocence.

The book opens with Noah standing trial for Anna’s murder, and each chapter details events that occurred ‘before’ and ‘after’ Anna, from various points of view, moves quickly, and then culminates in a discovery, and then an ending that you’ll never see coming!!

Lisa Scottoline is one of those authors whose books I’ll pick up and read immediately! I’m never disappointed, and this novel is no exception! A great read!

I received an advanced copy in exchange from an honest review. This is the second mass-market mystery I''ve read this year that uses the trope of the seductive young woman framing the innocent man , and it just doesn't seem comfortable in light of #metoo and #timesup. It's the basic mass-market mystery , it's not literature , the twists are not earth shattering , but I read this kind of thing occasionally as an escape , and there's nothing escapist about reactionary lIt. Not that I need all my mysteries to be feminist ethics, but this is real trauma , and I imagine most of the audience is female , and it just feels a little … cynical and reactionary. We don't need this right now, especially from a writer who specializes in strong women.

After Anna
Lisa Scottoline

MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️
PUBLISHER St. Martin’s Press
PUBLISHED April 10, 2018

A consuming and cleverly structured thriller, blending the story of before and after Anna.

SUMMARY
Maggie lost custody of her baby, Anna, when she was only six months old. The two have not seen each other since, and now Anna is 17. Maggie had no choice but to move on, She’s found love again and is now happily married to Noah Alderman, a widower. Maggie adores Caleb, Noah’s son, and they have quite the perfect life. But everything changes when Maggie gets a call from Anna, who is now a high school student, parked in an elite boarding school in Maine. Once they meet, Anna surprisingly says wants to live with Maggie, and Maggie is beyond thrilled to have a second chance with Anna. But when Anna moves in with Maggie, Noah and Caleb chaos ensues. Anna refuses to follow the rules, makes demands and tensions mount. Within weeks of moving in, Anna is dead, she had been strangled. Noah, who found her body is now on trial for her murder. Maggie must not only face losing her daughter, but her husband as well. And then she gets another phone call.

REVIEW
Have you every wanted something so much that you turn a blind eye to what you know and love. That’s what Maggie did. It’s so difficult to read about the implosion of a family. It’s a gut-wrenching story. One that has you scratching your head in wonder. What was Anna really after? There was nothing in Anna‘s character to like, she was a master at manipulation. And Maggie was at her most vulnerable.

Lisa Scottoline is a consummate storyteller, and this story pulses with angst and drama. The focus of each chapter alternates between Noah and Maggie. Noah’s initial chapters (after Anna) are told from the last day of the trial and move backwards in time. Maggie’s chapters (before Anna) start with that fateful phone call from Anna and move forward in time. When at last, the story lines converge in the later part of the book, the pacing abruptly changes. It’s fast and furious, and the twists and turns are insanely intense. Just remember to breathe. While some actions may seem implausible, it’s an adroit page-turning thriller. Lisa Scottoline fans can’t help but love After Anna. Thanks to Netgalley, St, Martin’s Press and Lisa Scottoline for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.