If there is one character that I really love it is Alice Vega. So it goes without saying that I was very excited for another book with her in it, and I ended up really enjoying The Janes!

I found it to be a pretty slow burn and since it was on the slower side it took me longer to read it, but it was so worth it. Vega is just such a badass and I loved watching her work her magic in this book. I also really enjoy Cap as a character, plus it helps that he adds some comedic relief! It took me a bit to get into it, but after I did I found it to be pretty captivating. The Janes really is crime fiction at its finest, and I love the way Luna writes her stories and her characters.

There is a serious theme of sex trafficking in the novel, but there aren't any graphic scenes so that may help if this is a trigger for you. There were definitely some surprises in the book, and I especially loved the ending of this one. I would follow Vega and Cap anywhere they go, and I hope to see many more books about them to come. If you are a fan of crime fiction and characters you can love, I would for sure recommend this series to you. This duo is so smart, and Luna's writing is always superb!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy of this book via Bookish First and NetGalley. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This is the second book in the Alice Vega series - although I didn't read the first, I enjoyed this. Will definitely go back and read the first in the series and any subsequent.

The team of Alice Vega and Max Caplan join forces once again to solve the mysterious murders of two young Hispanic girls. The trail to solve these crimes is a twisted one, involving drug cartels, sex trafficking and corrupt cops. There is plenty of action and suspenseful moments as the whole tale comes together. I can't wait for the next adventures of these two private investigators.

Tried this one. Couldn't get into it. Maybe it was me. Maybe it will be okay for someone else to read.

I really enjoyed this book set in the USA along the border with Mexico which dealt with human trafficking and sex trafficking. It is told in a sensitive way but doesn’t gloss over anything to spare your sensibilities. Alice Vega and her partner Max Caplin are great characters that I like to read more stories about. The setting was described in a way that made you feel you were there even if you have never been there ( which I haven’t) like how the air and temperature feel on your body and how the sky is when the sun starts to set. I thank #netgalley for #thejanes to read and review.

This is book 2 of the Alice Vega series.

The bodies of two young girls have just been discovered. The police are quick to realize their deaths are most likely related. One of the girls is holding a small piece of paper with Alice Vega’s name scribbled on it.

Alice is a no-holds-barred private investigator that knows no boundaries! She will do whatever it takes to solve a crime. Occasionally, Alice works alongside or at odds with the local law enforcement. Doesn’t matter either way to her. But when she does work with the cops she insists on bringing in her good friend Cap - now retired from the police force.

Can Alice put the clues together to solve the mystery behind the two Janes before another girls’ life is taken?

I loved book one in this series, Two Girls Down. The chemistry between Alice and Cap was positively simmering. Unfortunately it was completely lacking here in the follow up. Did the sparks fizzle out? Come on! I wanted more heat from my leading characters.

Hopefully by book three....Alice and Cap will rekindle the fire!

A buddy read with Susanne.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for an ARC to read and review

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. My reviews can be read on my GoodReads account here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly

Alice Vega is a Private Detective renown for finding missing persons. When bodies of two young women are found the police call in Alice and her partner Cap. Were these two girls snuffed by human traffickers? Since they were found outside San Diego, it seems to be a good premise.
Luna takes the reader into the bowels of drug cartels, sex trafficking, illegal immigration, and child prostitution—not for the queasy. I found Alice’s character to be reminiscent of Jane Hawk in the Dean Koontz series of the same name. Alice has the same determination and drive that Jane possessed, although Jane’s motivation was much stronger—finding her missing son. Cap, a retired police officer, gives a needed counterpoint to Alice’s drive. He is intelligent and seasoned and injects some humor into the story. I enjoyed this fast paced, action packed novel, and plan to read the first Alice Vega book soon.
My thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the follow-up book to Luna's other crime novel, "Two Girls Down." Although it's not essential to read the other book first, it does create more of an established tone if you're already familiar with the characters. "The Janes" centers around a human trafficking ring (so basically trigger warnings galore) that deals in young girls who've entered the US from Mexico. When two of the girls are found dead, kick-butt PI Alice Vega is hired to take on the case. Of course, she enlists her partner from the first novel, ex-cop Max Caplan, to tag along. Although I enjoyed the dark tone of this book, some parts seemed pretty outlandish to me (like when a character pulls out her own stitches or when characters are physically beaten or stabbed but then have no issue running and fighting). There isn't a lot of character development beyond what is already established in the first novel - so anyone hoping to get more insight into Vega or Cap won't find it here. There were a few good twists in the plot but nothing that left me completely shocked. In fact, a lot of the situations described felt a little too much like the first novel in the series. I'd have to read a killer review of a third book before I'd dive in again.

Private investigator Alice Vega returns (after Two Girls Down) in Louisa Luna's gritty The Janes, in which she's hired to find the killer of two underage girls whose bodies were dumped. The trail leads Vega and her partner, Max "Cap" Caplan, to San Diego, Calif., where they discover the girls had been sex trafficked from Mexico, and more minors are likely being held as sex slaves where the dead girls came from.

As Vega gets closer to unearthing the killer and sex trafficking ring, however, her investigation is hampered by the people who hired her. Determined to rescue the other girls before more end up dead, Vega and Cap go rogue to mete out their own brand of justice.

Vega is like a female Joe Pike, someone of few words and lethal action who likes to keep the shades on. She's mostly inscrutable, even though the narrative is from her point of view, but her sense of right and wrong is crystal clear. What she does with a pair of bolt cutters is terrifying, and bad guys should never question whether she means what she says. Cap is a nice guy whose perspective tells half of the story, but the moments in which he gazes at her body without her knowledge are somewhat cringe-inducing. At least he keeps his thoughts to himself and doesn't say or do anything inappropriate; he respects Vega's space and skills. Together they wrap up the case in a violent climactic showdown, and find that mercy and righteousness don't always result in a happy ending. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, blogger at Pop Culture Nerd

This is the second in the Alice Vega series, which I like quite a bit. I had some (very) minor issues with the first book--largely in how the main character's, Vega's, background was doled out in disconnected pieces. This seems to matter less by book 2, so it wasn't a distraction here.

On the other hand, this book was a little less of a page-turner for me than was the first: Two Girls Down was a visceral read and the glimpses we got regarding Vega's work--her search for missing children--was gut-wrenching. The follow up is a bit less urgent. The subject matter is also visceral (human trafficking of young women); however, I did wish at times that the plot took less detours and was more streamlined. I got bogged down once in a while.

Despite the above complaint, this was still a solid entry in the series and I look forward to the next. I like the chemistry between Vega and Max Caplan and really enjoy watching Cap allow Vega to lead--she's the real star here, even if the POV is most often his. I also really enjoyed getting to meet The Bastard at the very end of this novel--that's an excellent tease for next time I hope to see much more of this enigmatic character!

I suggest starting with the first in this series since character development is strong. I recommend this as a good thriller with engaging character development.

I loved this book - mystery, intrigue, suspense, and a strong female protagonist. Alice Vega is awesome and Louisa Luna did a fabulous job creating an empathetic, but determined detective with her.
I have a number of students who are huge fans of intense mysteries (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or The Girl on the Train), and I was hoping to find this book a good fit for the high school library. Unfortunately, it was a bit too intense - the liberal use of fowl language and some pretty graphic sexual and fight scenes made this a tough sell. I do have it on my back burner for students who may want to do some outside reading and I have recommend this to my book club. So glad to have had a chance to review this book and sad that it is not a good fit for my high school library. Thank you!

Private Investigator and police consultant Alice Vega is hired to help San Diego PD and the DEA when the bodies of two unidentified teens (The Janes) are found outside the city. She agrees to help if she can bring in her friend, retired police officer Max Caplan. The two soon find out these two girls were victims of a sex trafficking operation. Vega and Cap must determine how many other girls there might be and who on the force they can trust.

I didn't realize how much I was looking forward to another Vega/Cap adventure until I started the first chapter of this book.

I really enjoy the dark, broody Vega and the kind, nurturing Cap. This book did not move as quickly as the first in this series, but it caught my attention and pulled me in right away. This book could be read as a stand alone, but I encourage you to read the first book as well.

If you enjoy unapologetic, strong, slightly flawed female protagonists, you will love this book.

Thank you NetGalley, Louisa Luna, and the publishers for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I would put this mystery police procedural up there with some of the greats. Alice Vega and Cap are right up there with Harry Bosch, Alex Delaware or Alex Cross. When a bunch of underage Jane Does pop up in the morgue, the police department hires Alice and Cap as "consultants" on the case. The deeper they get and the more successful they are at solving the crime the more the heat is on. This novel has everything you want in a good detective novel.

This is the next book in the Alice Vegas series. I enjoyed Two Girls Down so wanted to check this one out. It was intense, gruesome, and stressful. Bodies of two young women are found, FBI thinks its human trafficking and Vega is called to help. One of the lines said, “at least we get to keep our eyeballs” WTF! It was good, but lots of trigger warnings so enter at your own risk.

Louisa Luna has crafted a complex, interesting, topical murder mystery. She has woven a gripping story of the murder of innocents caught up in illegal immigration, prostitution, and abuse. Her protagonists are intriguing and well written. I found myself putting Luna's other work on Hold at my library, such is her skillful storytelling and well developed characters.

After reading Luna' s first book in the series featuring Alice Vega, I thought there was great potential and vowed to read another book in the series. The Janes is that better book. A logical, methodical series of events surrounding underaged Mexican girls and trafficking showcases the super private investigators' skills and styles. Action, good guys are good but sometimes have to be bad in a riveting investigation. I'm a fan and follower.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

If you're a serious reader of police procedurals, true crime, or detective novels, you've already heard of Alice Vega and her buddy/more-than-buddy Cap in Louisa Luna's The Janes. Vega is the deeply intuitive police investigator of major crimes, 35 years old but worldly wise, and Cap her loyal assistant and sometime lover (?). (I definitely wanted to know more about this in the novel, but the thread of this part of the narrative is touched on, dropped, then picked up again, but with such a slow burn that I couldn't stay with it.). In Luna's venture with Vega this time out, it's immigration and sex trafficking that are the subject of exposure, and its timeliness and disturbing details are spot on in highlighting what is happening in the real world right outside the window of the novel and our lives. The story is well told, with good pacing and plotting, but a long-time reader of detective fiction might want more from Vega's persona than is currently here. I stayed with the novel for about 1/4 of the way, and I may yet finish skimming through it to discover how the plot and criminals are stopped - if they are stopped. However, long-time readers of any detective fiction from Tana French, Agatha Christie, John McDonald, and so many others might not get as much out of The Janes as anticipated. I'll check into Luna's other work to be sure, from the basic quality of characterization and writing here, but I wanted a little more from this novel than it delivers.

LOVED this book, the second installment in Luna’s fantastic series featuring private detective Alice Vega. I really enjoyed book one and was thrilled to receive an ARC of The Janes. And I loved it even more than the first! I was thrilled to see Cap back as Vega’s partner; they make a formidable (and adorable) pair. This time we’re in California as Alice and Cap investigate the murders of two young women. In her typical no holds barred, kick ass and take names fashion, Vega will stop at nothing to figure out what happened to these girls. The story takes some serious twists and surprising turns, and isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s thrilling and completely engaging every step of the way. I absolutely cannot wait for book 3!

One of the many joys of reading extensively is discovering new authors. Louisa Luna’s first book “Two Girls Down” was a gritty, fast-paced, and suspenseful read with a strong (and enigmatic) female protagonist. I was thrilled to discover that Luna has written another book about Alice Vega and the disgraced former cop, Max Caplan, she works with. “The Janes” was just as suspenseful and well written as “Two Girls Down” and Vega and Caplan continue to be well-developed and intriguing characters. I encourage readers to get both books and read them in order, but it’s not essential. Here’s hoping this turns into a long running series. I’m very curious and anxious to find out what made Vega who she is, and to see what kind of relationship develops between Vega and Caplan.

My review was posted on Goodreads on 3/2/20