In the early 2000s, a string of abductions rocked the small upstate town of Reine, New York. Only one girl survived: Alex Salerno. The killer, Ken Parsons, was sent away. Life returned to normal. No more girls would have to die. Until another one did.

It's been twelve years since Kira Shanks was reported missing and presumed dead. The disappearance of Kira has long been hung on Benny Brudzienski, a hulking man-child who is currently a brain-addled guest at the Galloway State Mental Hospital. Alex is drawn into a dangerous game of show and tell in an insular town where everyone has a secret to hide. And as more details emerge about the night Kira went missing, Alex discovers there are some willing to kill to protect the horrific truth.

This reminded me of an episode of On the Case with Paula Zahn from the ID Channel and I loved it! This story had me going through all kinds of emotions and everyone had secrets so it was difficult to know who to believe.

Thanks to #NetGalley for this ARC of #TheOneThatGotAway
Pub Date: 03 Dec 2018

This book is not not your normal mystery or crime thriller. I really enjoyed this book I finished it one day! The main character Alex was abducted at the age of 17 by a serial killer she was rescued , but the other victims where all brutally murdered. As the one that got away she always wondering if living was really better than suffering death like all the other victims she’s constantly in fear but puts on a front that she’s tough and doesn’t care. When asked back to her hometown Reine 12 years later to be interviewed by a college newspaper she takes it’s a chance for some easy money. Once she’s there she realizes the interview is less about her but more about a beautiful girl Kira who vanished after Alex had been rescued. In an attempt to hunt down the truth and face her own demons, Alex sets out to finally get answers about the other girl Kira’s disappearance. A murderer was arrested even though Kira’s body has never been found. However the more Alex investigates she starts to realize things aren’t what they seem and the suspected killer a mentally challenged man named Benny has been wrongfully accused. The best part of this book for me was the journey you take with Alex as she faces her issues head on and she is far from perfect and that just made me admire her more and relate to her. I found myself rooting for her to get her own life on track but there were also times I seriously just wanted to yell at her and ask her what she was thinking! The ending felt rushed only because I wanted more and didn’t want the book to need! So mark your calendars for December 3rd!!

Right so I love a good mystery and the only thing that can make it better than that is a psychological mystery and this is exactly that, I really enjoyed The One That Got Away.

Alex Salerno returns to her hometown of Reine. 12 years ago, a spate of abductions and murders of young girls took place in Reine, Alex was the only survivor. Ken Parsons was found guilty but Alex always wondered if he had a partner. Will she ever be safe? Having returned to Reine for an interview with a journalist, although just turns out he is a college kid looking for help on his term paper! He is more interested in the case of the disappearance of Kira Shanks a few years previous. Alex spurned on by what seems like jealousy at first at Kira being in the limelight, begins investigating. The local mentally challenged man, Benny is in a mental institution for the murder of Kira as blood and bodily fluids were found at the scene of the crime albeit no body was or has ever been found. The more Alex digs, the more secrets are discovered and with a town full of them, is Alex in danger if she discovers the truth behind Kira’s disappearance/murder?

Alex is a complex character not having had a good start to life with her mother being an alcoholic, being abducted, tied up and left for dead in a basement, she is now herself a borderline alcoholic and drug addict herself although she never admits this to herself, she knows where to draw the line having seeing her mother!!! Hmmmm!!! She never lets anyone close and only uses sex as an escapism. I also really enjoyed the POV of Benny, my heart went out to him, just because he couldn’t’ put the words together didn’t mean he didn’t have feelings or thoughts.

Overall I’d give this a 4/5*** I will definitely be recommending it to my friends & family. Will keep an eye out for more from this author.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Down & Out Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'm torn as to how to view this book. It is a competent story, with more than competent writing, but nothing about it makes it stand out of the pack in the crime fiction genre.

Much like Cliffords Jay Porter series we see a greatly flawed cast trying to keep life from overwhelming them.. Cliffords writing is lean and he moves his stories along without fanfare. Great stuff, highly recommended.

This book kept my interest and had some fascinating and gritty characters. Every time I put it down I kept thinking when could I pick it back up and figure out what happened to Kira. Although the ending was not as exciting as I had hoped, this book was over all a good quick read.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I thought that this was one of the best books that I have read this year.
It was a very well written, addictive, gritty and dark thriller.
I could see this book being made into a movie.
I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a difficult book for me to review. Basically, I liked this book; however, I did not like the character of Alex Salerno until the very end of the book. For being a 29-year-old, I found her to be very immature and very sarcastic and abrasive to everyone. She returned to her home town in upstate New York to look into the disappearance/murder of Kira Shanks which occurred some 6 years after Kira was kidnapped and rescued from a basement by local detective, Sean Riley. The chapters featuring Benny Brudzinski were very sad but really added to the story. I did not care for the ending as I felt it left unanswered questions.

This is one of my favorite galleys I received from NetGalley. The story kept me guessing the entire time. One girl was found kidnapped, bound yet alive while another girl was kidnapped a few years later and was never found again. Alex is the survivor & returns to her hometown to find out what happened to the second girl. The problem is everyone in this town has a secret.

The parts of this book from Benny’s perspective were so incredibly sad and haunting, even Benny’s happy memories were bittersweet. I felt overall the female characters in the book with the exception of Alex could have done with some more depth but overall a good read with a completely unexpected twist at the end.

I have really enjoyed Clifford's Jay Porter series and this standalone was very good as well. Serial killer Kenneth Parsons is in jail for the abduction and murder of young girls. However one girl, Alex Salerno, was rescued and survived and the town of Reine felt safe again when Parsons was locked up.
But then another girl goes missing and a dimwitted local, now in the State Mental Hospital, is the prime suspect.......but something just seems a little off. Alex, a very complex, compelling main character, returns to the town to try and find some closure not only for the missing girl but also for herself. But what she finds is a town closing ranks, a town that doesn't want the memories of the past to be rekindled. A gritty, psychological story of grief, compassion and catharsis, this was another very good book by Joe Clifford.

I actually really liked this book. It gave me slight Dark Places vibes, but didn't actually mirror Dark Places at all. There was just a really eerie air about the book that reminded me a lot of Gillian Flynn writing, which is an amazing feat, if you ask me.

This would be a pretty run of the mill story about the escapee who just barely missed death when kidnapped as a child/teenager but is now a drug induced mess of a person who is unsure of where he/she belongs in life, had it not been for Kira Shanks's story. I liked the way that Clifford intertwined these two crimes without actually making it about the same criminal. I also thought that adding Benny's point of view was inspired, because he really did add a lot to the story. Beyond Benny and Alex, though, all of the characters felt very two dimensional and there on need basis, if that makes sense. Everyone felt very disposable, which I suppose could have been intentional since Alex is hard to trust and easy to cut off, but it made it annoying to read about anything that didn't directly deal with Kira Shanks's disappearance.

Overall, the story itself was wonderful and though it wasn't super mysterious, it was very thrilling. You never know what exactly is going to happen next, or what is going to be uncovered. It makes for a really good, keep you on the edge of your seat type of story.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I would give this 3.75 stars. This novel definitely had an emotional component to it that went deeper than thrillers/suspense novels usually go. I very much enjoyed that and definitely thought it elevated the novel. I thought the premise of the novel was intriguing, it’s a short novel so it was a quick read, and I found myself invested in the chapters and wondering how everything would shake out.

This was definitely more of a character driven novel- I wouldn’t say that plot is necessarily riveting or fast-paced, but I think the character development and growth over the course of the novel was what made it enjoyable. I especially enjoyed Benny’s chapters, but they broke my heart and definitely made me feel for him. I think he’s one of those characters who will really make you think, long after the book is done.

I’m honestly sort of torn - while I do think this novel was good, I’m not sure that it’d be one that I’d say “Oh my gosh, you just HAVE to read it” - but, if you were already thinking about it, then I’d recommend reading it.

This author can set a mood! The setting was so bleak and Alex is so damaged. She felt the abduction was actually a good thing because of the attention she got after she was found. The town is run down, tired.

The story itself was interesting. The chapters from Benny’s perspective made the story for me. There were some twists and that ending was something else!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Author Guide for a copy in exchange for a review.

Joe Clifford has hit the ball out of the park with The One That Got Away. Riveting from page one. A rare trick in true noir, Clifford not only evokes the requisite sense of doom, but manages to evoke fully fleshed out characters without sacrificing pace. Highly recommend to fans of the dark side..

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time! It was definitely a book that kept you thinking! I would definitely recommend this book to fellow readers. Thank you!

This book is not your average mystery or crime thriller read. The main character, Alex, was abducted by a serial killer when she was 17 & although many other victims met their ending at the hands of this madman, Alex was able to escape. As the one who got away, Alex spends her life wondering if living was really a better ending than suffering death like all of the other victims. She is a complicated character who suffers with a lot of hard-hitting demons from her past.

When asked back to her hometown 12 years after being abducted for a newspaper interview, Alex cannot turn it down. Although tragic, her abduction is in some way the only thing that has made her really ever feel significant in her life. She hopes the interview will somehow reignite that feeling of being something and someone—remind people she exists. However, once she meets with the interviewer, she understands the intentions are less about her story and more about a girl who vanished after Alex had been rescued. In a lot of ways, Alex feels as if this girl is her rival, as her disappearance stole from Alex’s infamous notoriety and took her spotlight. In an attempt to hunt down the truth and face her own demons, Alex sets out to finally get answers about this other girl, Kira’s, disappearance. First for selfish reasons to set her own mind at ease and collect a paycheck, Alex dives into investigating the strange unsolved case of Kira. However, as the story progresses and Alex is faced with more and more challenges and questions about Kira’s disappearance, the mission morphs into a personal journey not only to uncover the truth, but to also free Alex from her own crippling past and traumas so she can hopefully look forward to a future of her own for once.

This story is made enjoyable by the complexities of Alex and the easy style in which the book is written. The book is written in a way that makes you feel very much a part of Alex, her past and the small town in which she grew up. You very much feel like a local fly on the wall throughout this book, making it a story you feel very personally invested in because you feel such a part of the events.

There is a bit of a rushed ending, although there aren’t too many loose ends per se. Perhaps the ending is perfectly suited for such an unsettled character as Alex. There is a realness to the ending that coincides with the sincerity portrayed throughout the storytelling and writing style of the novel. Life doesn’t always wrap up nice and neat and such is the way this story ends.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me a free advanced copy of this novel to enjoy. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in the least.

For anyone who enjoys a twisty mystery with a true crime feel, you should definitely read this book when it comes out in December 2018.

The One That Got Away by Joe Clifford is a gritty, dark crime thriller. Alex Salerno was abducted 12 years ago at age 17 and held captive underground. Luckily, she was rescued before the serial killer who took her could finish her off. Alex was rescued by Sean Riley, a married cop she ends up having an affair with. Cut to the present--Alex returns home to Reine, NY because a reporter wants to interview her. A few years ago another girl went missing and is presumed dead. Are the cases connected? Alex is determined to find out. This book was very dark and most of the characters were not deeply flawed. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and the revelations that kept coming. I will definitely check out the author's previous works now! Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Joe Clifford book and I am enjoying it so far! Love the writing style and the story was fast paced, which left you wanting to know more.

Alex Salerno was abducted 12 year ago, kept in a basement for three days. She's the one that got away, before her abducteur could rape and murder her. Since then, her life has been a mess. Doing drugs and drinking to numb the pain, she is called by a reporter who wants her help to get a passing grade. Noah offers to pay her for information and Alex will do almost anything to get money. Years after Alex was rescued, another young woman (Kira) went missing and Noah, the reporter, wants answers regarding this case. Kira's body was never found and Alex finds herself obsessed in finding out what happened.

Alex is a complex and hard to understand character but the author does a great job in showing us the hardship of Alex's relationships and the residents in Reine.

Okay guys, this is a good one- mark December 3rd, 2018 on your calendars because that’s when this fantastic book comes out, The One That Got Away by Joe Clifford. This is a book getting a lot of positive buzz right now and after finishing it this morning, I can absolutely see why. It’s a gritty, slow-burn of a thriller that follows Alex Salerno, the sole survivor of a string of abductions and murders in the early 2000s. Reine, a small, rough-around-the-edges town in upstate New York is the silent starring character, alongside Alex, in this story. Clifford’s descriptive writing about a town that has seen its fair share of substance abuse, tragedy, and crime over the last several decades was extraordinary and so real.

Alex returns to her hometown after being away for several years when a young college reporter asks to interview her about her past abduction for a school paper. This interview snowballs into Alex investigating a seemingly unrelated murder case in Reine, where a beautiful teenage girl has been missing for years, and though a body was never found, a man suspected of her murder was identified and shipped off to a mental hospital. However, things aren’t as they seem, and Alex begins to think the suspected killer, a mentally-challenged man named Benny, has been wrongfully accused.

For me, the best part of this book was the journey, literally and internally, that Alex, reluctantly at first, forced herself to embark on in order to find the truth. Alex is a deeply flawed person who had a difficult childhood and had the most traumatic experience as a teenager, which then led her to make tough choices as an adult. I couldn’t help but root for her to get her life on track. She also frustrated me to no end and I found myself silently yelling at her while reading (“NO, you do NOT go there!!!”). Haha.

The ending for me seemed so sudden, and I wished we got to see more of the aftermath following the final events, but there was a good ending, and I feel like all my questions were answered in the end. If you’re into mysteries, psychological thrillers, or books that just creep you out, this one is definitely for you!

4 out of 5 stars for The One That Got Away from Joe Clifford, which comes out on December 3rd, 2018.

Thank you to NetGalley, Down & Out Books, and the author for the opportunity to read and provide my honest review for this book.