Whist sitting in a coffee shop surfing the missing persons websites, PI Jessica Shaw receives an e mail from an anonymous source with an image attached, reluctant to open suspicion finally wins and she is faced with am image of a 3 year old that surprisingly is her

To find out her real identity Jessica delves into a 25 year old murder and missing persons enquiry to discover the truth as to who she really is

Thin Air has been on my to-read shelf for nearly a month because as soon as I read the synopsis, I was hooked. So, as you can probably imagine, I practically hyperventilated when I saw it on NetGalley. I've never downloaded something so fast!

While I enjoyed the concept, I wouldn't necessarily say the outcome was unpredictable. Now, this isn't generally too hard to overlook, especially if the other bits are top tier, but unfortunately Thin Air didn't meet my expectations. I liked the characters just fine, although it often felt like the author was trying too hard to make Jessica seem all cool and tough. The writing was plagued by unnecessary descriptions, and/or weird ones like "..hedges as neat as a Brazilian wax." I've never really thought of things in terms of bikini waxes, but you do you, Lisa Gray.

One more thing that bugged me: everything was so convenient. I barely remember what I did yesterday, but these people have crystal clear memories of things that occurred two and a half decades ago, and they're all working at/frequenting the same places.

Overall, I wouldn't call this a thriller by any means, but it is an enjoyable read. It held my interest, though I don't think I'll be reading the next ones.

A huge thank you goes out to NetGalley and the publisher for providing with a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review!

This was an interesting take on a mystery/thriller and the pace, on the whole, kept the pages turning. The main character isn't going to be put off her quest and she faces some tough challenges on the way. An interesting debut and some universal themes explored through a multilayered approach. I would recommend the book.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Jessica is a detective. She receives an anonymous email containing information on a missing child. She is shocked to realize that the child in the picture is herself. This leads Jessica on a wild chase to find information on the case. She doesn't remember her mother, and her father died a couple of years ago. Jessica has little information to go on, but begins to search for answers. Where will her search lead her?

Interesting new character who is trying to solve the murder of her mother. Lots of red herrings and a twist at the end. A good read.

"First I want to thank Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the opportunity to read this book for a fair review.

<i>"Not everything's black and white in this world, Jess. Sometimes good people make mistakes. Sometimes innocent folk are locked up for things they didn't do. And Sometimes, the really bad ones never have to pay for what they've done."</i>

I enjoyed this book. Lisa Gray has a new character in town and her name is Jessica Shaw. Jessica is a flawed, sympathetic and definitely likeable character. She is a private investigator who is using her craft to escape some of the sadder parts of her background. She doesn't always follow the rules which is fine by me.

Jessica has come to California after an anonymous email where she learns she is not who she believed she was. There was a gruesome murder, a disappearance of a young child and now it is 25 years later. Jessica wants to learn who are parents are but this quickly evolves into a search for a murderer.

The author does a great job of alternating between characters. This keeps the storyline moving and the reader questioning. There are many aliases - which didn't really get too confusing because the author keeps them in line together - oh and by the way - it drives our main character a bit crazy too.

As I said, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading additional Jessica Shaw titles.

Jessica Shaw is a private investigator. She specialises in missing persons and while trawling through online pictures of various missing people wondering which job to take up next, she receives an email with a picture of a three year old with the message 'your next job'. Jessica recognises the little girl as herself, and with a little bit of investigation realises that she was once that missing person.

The investigation which she obviously has to take up, makes her feel her whole life was a lie and just has to find out what happened to her murdered mother, who her father is who brought her up, and who her real father is. Someone from the past wants to keep things in the past, and as Jessica faces things head on and unwittingly puts her life in danger.

This is a very intriguing storyline – not knowing you're a missing person – and it is cleverly written with a dual story of a very brutal murder of a young student. The two stories seem to be separate, and so many years apart, but all is revealed at the end.

Set in L.A., the reader is faced with loss, secrets, betrayal, anger, guilt, fear and a search for the truth.
Holy sh*tballs! What an opening! My heart was racing as I read each line – until, well…you HAVE got to read it – #killerhook! Lisa Gray NAILED it! One of my favourite things when reading is when a chapter ends on a hook so that you have no choice but to read just a little bit more and this book absolutely does that. There is great description and narrative and the whole novel had a very authentic feel to it. If I hadn’t know that the author was Scottish, I never would have guessed from reading this book. I also really enjoyed the storyline – I thought it was cleverly done, leaving the reader on edge as the mystery unfolds. I didn’t know who to trust of believe. This was a refreshing take on the PI side with Jessica Shaw and having the reader delve into the past in a dual timeline gripped me. Brilliant!
Character-wise there is an abundances of interesting characters, but for the sake of not turning this review into a novel, I will mention three that stood out for me. Jessica Shaw – I absolutely LOVE her. She is a PI who is both cautious and reckless, curious and really has no time for any crap coming her way. I am definitely looking forward to what she gets up to in the next novel in this series.
Pryce is police and has secrets of his own. I found him to be bold, loyal and determined. And finally, Holliday – ADORE him! Cheeky, charming and totally disarming – such a brilliant character!
Would I recommend this read? You bet your sweet ass I would! Thrilling, pacy, twisty and captivating – I want to know more…like yesterday! For a debut, this was simply a stellar read and I look forward to the next in the series!

Loved it......
From start to finish this book had me hooked. The characters are fantastic from Jessica to Hopper the motel clerk you get a real sense of who these people are and the small town of Eagle Rock.
The story moves at a nice pace and time is given to all aspects of the story.
If I had any criticism is would probably be that in one or two parts it seemed like maybe a paragraph or a line was omitted from the book leaving you confused for a second as to where we were or who was who but honestly it didn't affect the pace of the book too much and didn't take from the enjoyment.
This is well worth a read

I think overall I’d give this one 3.5 stars. It was good while I was reading but pretty easily forgotten. I’m truth I finished this about 3 weeks ago and clearly waited to long to write this review because I had to go read other reviews to even remember the character names.

Don’t get me wrong, the premise of the story was very intriguing and done well but there were moments that took me out of the “thrill” of the story (why was that kiss even written in??).

By the halfway mark it was just turning out to be a bit predictable and Jessica took a little warming up to, but I still wanted to solve the mystery with her so that kept me pushing through to the end.

I would probably recommend this as a starter crime thriller because of the unique synopsis, but I personally won’t continue the series.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Thin Air had an interesting twist to a mystery plot line in that the Private Investigator found herself at the center of the investigation as a missing person victim. It had the potential to be very exciting, but it got bogged down in details. It's not a good sign when I had no problem putting it down. I also feel as though Jessica Shaw's character was not developed in a way that we actually cared about her. While it's fine to create a "tough female" lead, Jessica wasn't a rounded character -- she was very flat.

I think this was a decent first attempt, and I may see how Lisa Gray goes on to develop Jessica Shaw in the next book.

Thin Air by Lisa Gray is the 1st book in the Jessica Shaw mystery series, and my first book by this author. Private investigator Jessica Shaw receives an anonymous picture of a three year old girl, who was kidnapped twenty-five years ago from Los Angeles. The picture was Jessica at that age. Determined to find the truth about her parents and what happened, she investigates. I found this book to be pretty exciting, which kept me reading page after page. What a shock it would be to receive this information. I am looking forward to the next Jessica Shaw adventure, and I recommend this book for all people who enjoy a good mystery.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

I really loved the setting and thought the author absolutely captured the feel of the classic LA based PI novel.. Good characters, great plot, excellent reveal. This was really enjoyable and I' would definitely read more in the series.

I had been looking for a good female PI for awhile now. This book was exactly what I was looking for. I loved that the case wasn't just a straight forward case but that there were twists and turns.

The book follows Jessica a Privete Investigator who gets an anonymous email with a picture of a missing child. Jessica though recognizes the girl in the photo to be herself. So she soon turns up in LA to discover what happened and why she was considered missing. When she meets detective Pryce she realizes he is hiding more from her than he is letting on. However he isn't the only one lying to her and not telling her the full truth. This book takes us on her journey to discover what happened and who she is.

Such a good twist on a classic storyline. This is the first book I have read by this author but it definitely will not be the last. I really enjoyed the character development, the way the book ebbed and flowed, and the emotions the writing drew out of me! I was on the edge of my seat from the moment I started until the moment I finished.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

This was a good read and the story line kept me guessing. My only criticism is there were too many characters to keep up with however I really enjoyed this book. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

When reading a mystery, I appreciate an interesting main character, smart unveiling of the clues, and a satisfying ending. Thin Airfollow by Lisa Gray met all of these requirements!


Jessica Shaw may be young-ish, but she’s certainly not new to the party. She’s smart and resourceful, while still being a decently likeable person. In this first book, the reader finds out pretty quickly who Jessica Shaw really is. The problem is, no one knows why her identity was kept secret for so long.

There are so many characters in this story that it was difficult to keep up at times. The story also alternated perspectives, which helped to round out the mystery. It was unclear how two seemingly unrelated crimes could be connected; I was impressed by the clean way it was wrapped up at the end of the book.

The author left some clues that pointed to the killer as soon as the character appeared in the story. The how and why didn’t become clear, though, until the final pages. I was invested in Jessica’s story and wanted to keep reading. Thin Air contained more profanity than I typically read. It also contained many scenes with alcohol (like, a lot.) Though the writing style was overall easy to read, there were so many peculiar similes included as if the author had a checklist to fulfill. It wasn’t bad, just curious!

I really appreciated the portrayal of police officers in Thin Air. Sometimes novels present cops as dirty and corrupt. In this story, though, their hard work and diligence really paid off. I loved that! I hope I get to read the next book in the Jessica Shaw series.

Thin Air (Jessica Shaw)
By Lisa Gray
1⭐
If I could give it 0 stars I would. I try my best not to write many bad reviews. However if I am going to write a review it is going to be honest . This is my first read by this author and may just be the last.This is the first book in a new Jessica Shaw series by Lisa Gray. I figured out the killer early on and there was just too much unnecessary description. At times she would write 2 pages describing a room. This was done over and over. Thin Air is told from several points of view and alternating timelines . And was very confusing. The past (the 90s when Jessica was first abducted )and in the present (as Jessica works to solve the mystery of her past) all while Detective Pryce works a mystery in the present. Thin Air is Advertised as a thriller,however there is nothing thrilling about it . In fact ,It's a very, very boreing read. It didn't keep me hooked at all. I kelpt putting the book down not really wanting to pick it back up. The main character was very unlikeable and uninteresting . And done some really stupid things.Such as drinking a quart of scotch in a short time, topped it off with a glass of wine laced with sleeping pills. Pretty much through the whole book All she did was drink and smoke. All of the Characters were underdeveloped and not believable. It was very clear the author did little if any research on law enforcement language, procedures, etc. Another thing that bugged me was the author seems to enjoy describing many minor character in a harsh negative way. Examples : bartender, with acne scarred face and limp hair, waitress old, her red hair is from a bottle, her breasts aren't natural, her fingernails fake, her tight-fitting uniform reminds me of a porn star, oh, and her name tag is crooked). It's not just the people she describes this way. She also describes places and objects like this. Another example was the bar stool with a rip in it from which the foam rubber cushion erupts like a popped pimple. Ewww gross and unnecessary. At times i wondered if an immature 5 th grader was writing. Save yourself time and money and pass on this one.

So, full disclosure: If I was reviewing this book as the first book I'd ever read by Lisa Regan, then I'd give it a three star rating. However, I am going to be completely transparent and tell you I did give half to one star because I have read some of her other books. I am by no means a super fan or anything of hers, however I do feel that I am familiar enough with her books and writing that I could fill in areas of this book with perhaps more than someone who wasn't as acquainted with her books. All that said, this book was not a bad book. It just was not especially sensational either. This is not a bad thing though. I don't like to read a book and review it based on how it compares to the books I read right before and after because it's not fair in my opinion. I think some books are written with the intent to elicit a strong emotional response in the reader and some books are supposed to do the exact opposite and be a little reprieve from the stress of life or just to take a breather and not have to overthink for a few hours. This book is one of those books you read when you want entertainment that isn't mindless, but isn't going to get you overly emotional either. I liked this book. I think most fans of this genre with recognize common patterns and might not be fully vested, but will enjoy reading this book.