One year ago, Laurie Shaw disappeared from the middle of nowhere. There hasn't been a single trace of her at all. Where is she and if she's dead, then how come there is nobody? Laurie's mother hires a PI team which includes the new arrival of Jessica Shaw to try and track down her daughter as she knows that her daughter wouldn't just vanish without saying goodbye. Jessica is thorough and when a few coincidences start to pop up around a motel called the Twenty-Nine Palms, she soon discovers other females that have disappeared. As the book goes along we see that the females who have disappeared are all connected to an old cold case that happened in 1990 over thirty years ago when a single mother named Dea vanished in the middle of the night. As Jessica does her research, she soon discovers that the site of the Twenty-Nine Palms Hotel is the former location of a University that eventually folded over twenty years ago due to lack of enrollments. How is the University connected to these various disappearances years later? Even though this is Book #3 in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone thriller. I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series and as we learn a little bit about Jessica's background, I think it would be cool to have her own story as a prequel tale to the Jessica Shaw Thrillers as her tale is a "Girl on the Milk Carton" scenario. If readers are looking for a great revenge-based thriller, then check out Dark Highway by Lisa Gray today.

I had high expectations for this book after reading another book in the series and loving it. Sadly, this book didn't reach the same level.
The connection between the three cases was flimsy at best. Considering the highway was long and deserted, it was likely more than three crimes were committed there, so why these other 2 cases specifically?
It was just written as a starting point but I would have liked the link to be more plausible.
There were other instances where some dots could've been connected easily, but were left non tackled just to stretch the plot.
Also, why the many POVs? From the very beginning there were a lot of characters, one even had a different timeline. It all made it confusing and hard to discern who is who.
Jessica was a great main character, I loved how the author highlighted how her charisma is due to her confident, no nonsense character rather than killer looks.
Unraveling everything through her sleuthing was enjoyable to read.
The writing was really good, I was engrossed throughout and didn't feel bored.
It isn't the best by the author, but still a good book.
*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Full disclosure—I wrote this book! I am only leaving a review to maintain a good feedback ratio on NetGalley.

Non stop suspense and non stop twists and turns. I normally don't like when perspectives change during the book but every chapter left you on a cliff hanger and you learned a lot about the characters which made you feel empathy for them and wanted them to succeed

I love this series, each time getting to know Jessica a bit better, this action packed book kept me guessing until the very end, Jessica saw a connection between three missing women and doesn't stop until she finds it, I hope there is another in the series. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for reivew.

Great plot to get yourself lost in. This book has everything. A real fast paced thriller. Will get your heart racing on more than one occasion. Very well written. Highly recommend this book

The book was great, but I did not feel it was time for this type of fiction. I'll be continuing reading it in another period of time and for sure I'll love it!

Fabulous story that I could not put down. Would highly recommend to fans of this genre. Great writing, and I will look for more from this author.

I find this series to be riveting and this newest book didn't disappoint. In fact, I think it's the best so far. Jessica Shaw is one of my favorite protagonists. She's tough, smart and incredibly vulnerable. The book is full of twists and turns and a little more of Jessica's background comes to light.

Laurie Simmonds disappeared two months ago, her campervan abandoned on the isolated Twentynine Palms Highway, miles from anywhere or anyone. The police investigation has been stalled so her parents have put their faith in private investigator, Jessica Shaw, to find out the truth of what happened. Jessica and her partner Matt Connor discover two other women are missing .

I did not know that this book was part of a series when I requested it but it did read well as a standalone. This is a fast paced thriller with lots of twists. We are told the story through multiple points of view. Jessica Shaw is a fearless and likeable character. There's quite a few characters that are introduced at the beginning which made it confusing. This is a great suspenseful read that will keep you guessing. My first read by the author but it won't be my last.

This was a very good mystery told from several POV. It was fast paced, suspenseful, and a great addition to the series. I loved that there were multiple clues as I followed along on the investigation.
Many thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion

Possibly my favorite book in the Shaw series. Well written, engaging, and filled with suspense. Worth the read.

I wish they would drop the romance subplot - minor criticism.

Lisa Gray is a strong storyteller and her mystery-suspense series improves with each new title. As with the previous thrillers Thin Air and Bad Memory, this one features feisty private investigator Jessica Shaw. The sorrows and challenges if Jessica’s past make her a relatable character. Meanwhile, her daring responses to the dangerous predicament keep the reader turning pages.

I am loving this series, its gets better with ever new book. It is a great story with many twists and turns, it kept me gripped throughout.
I'm looking forward to reading more.

This is a fairly even-keeled mystery novel. Some twists, all the necessary detective work, with a romance thrown in. This is the third book in the series and Jessica keeps getting better!

When young artist Laurie Simmonds disappears without a trace, save for her campervan found abandoned on an isolated highway miles from home, her parents hire private investigator Jessica Shaw to figure out where their daughter is. Jessica and her partner soon discover that this desolate stretch of highway in the California desert has dark connections to several other missing women and a long-forgotten college scandal.

Page-turner! I did NOT want to put this one down. The plot has a good pace with an ending full of adrenaline and a sympathetic villain which I enjoy in a story. There were a lot of perspectives going on which at times made it hard to keep track, especially towards the beginning when trying to find how they’re all related, but also added depth to the overall plot. I constantly found myself trying to put my own detective skills to the test to sort everything out before Jessica. Overall an enjoyable read I would recommend.

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an advanced review copy of this book, but as always al opinions are my own!

A young woman's disappearance from the middle of nowhere on Twentynine Palms Highway....if you've travelled this road, it could be the road to nowhere....leaves so many unanswered questions that her parents hire private investigators to find her, and so enters Jessica Shaw. Very quickly, her investigation reveals there have been several young women disappear along the same stretch of highway never to be found. As she moves closer to an answer, the girl's parents suddenly change their minds. WTH? This story moves quickly with the characters always a step ahead of the readers. Multiple POVs add layers of mystery and several more questions to Jessica's search but they also add suspects and motives that keep us all guessing. An excellent 3rd book in a well written series.

This was a very satisfying entry in the Jessica Shaw series. I loved the mystery and the story and the act of revenge and the uncovering of certain somebodies. I really liked how Gray built up the story and laid it out. It wasn’t the hardest story to figure out, but that was some of the joy of the read. I highly recommend the story for readers of this series, but also for the casual thriller/mystery reader. It’s good stuff.

Dark Highway is the third Jessica Shaw thriller from Lisa Gray. I really hope you haven’t been snoozing on these excellent stories as they are already really high on my annual “most wanted” list. Regular readers may have realised I much prefer reading about recurring characters; I really enjoy following the character evolution as new books are released and Jessica Shaw has already got a cracking back story in place which the author has been able to build on in Dark Highway. That’s not to say you can’t enjoy Dark Highway as a stand alone thriller if you haven’t read the first two books – you most certainly can come into this one with no prior knowledge of Jessica and her previous expolits.

We join the story with a hell of an opening paragraph. Eighteen words and scene guaranteed to keep you reading – no spoilers but I will confirm the presence of a corpse. So straight into the action and a small group with a big problem and there is division in their ranks. Lisa Gray doing exactly what is needed to draw me into her world once again.

Cut to Jessica Shaw and she is hired to find missing artist Laurie Simmonds. She hasn’t been seen for a couple of months and her mother wants her found – even suggesting there is a connection to other missing women. Jessica and her partner, Matt, start digging and it isn’t long before Jessica thinks there may be some truth in the suggestion that there are some common elements to the disappearances she is looking into. However, Laurie’s father is about to pull the plug on Jessica’s case and bring her investigations crashing to a halt.

Laurie will need to convince Matt that they can’t just walk away from these missing women. Matt and Laurie have some history and there is more than a little chemistry between them but their relationship is currently a business one and doing pro-bono work will not pay the bills. A confrontation is brewing and Jessica knows she can’t simply forget about Laurie Simmonds.

Dark Highway is a multi layered story which also takes readers back a few years to follow the story of a single mum, working in a bar near the same highway where Laurie Simmonds was last seen. The steps back in time give readers a brief respite from Jessicas troubles but you know that there is going to be some connection between past and present events. Well there may be but I certainly must confess to being well off the mark as a tried to guess where the story was heading. Dark times lie ahead and the author takes the readers to some grim scenes which sustain the excellent edgy feel of this series.

Although I have not had the opportunity to hear the Dark Highway audiobook yet I did listen to the previous book (Bad Memory) through Audible and I was delighted to see Amy Landon is returning to narrate Dark Highway. Amy did a magnificent job on Bad Memory and I thought her voice captured the tone and feel of the story perfectly – I am quite sure that magnificience will carry over into Dark Highway. Audiobooks are always a more enjoyable experience when the narrator is such a good fit for the story you are listening to.

As I alluded to at the start of my review – I am a huge fan of the Jessica Shaw books. I strongly encourage everyone to read Dark Highway and if you are new to the series you can’t go far wrong if you pick up Thin Air and Bad Memory too.

The third in the Jessica Shaw series but it stands alone.
jessica is working on becoming a PI in CA. She becomes involved in a case of a missing woman. A case that turns into much much more. A page-turner that I read in one sitting.

I was given a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.