It’s really not fair that this is a standalone, it was so good!! This is an immersive story about a missing teenage girl and an ordinary woman who will stop at nothing to find her. It has so much intrigue and travels in refreshingly unexpected directions. It’s hard not to fall in love with the gritty neighborhood and sympathetic characters. Lisa Gardner is a true master at storytelling. Get it when it comes out on January 19th!

Frankie is “like some kind of modern-day gunslinger”. At first I find Frankie’s lifestyle odd and honestly by the end I still find it to be odd but I also understand it better. She’s an addict who has replaced alcohol with finding missing people. She’s running from her demons hence her drifter lifestyle but I really enjoy her skills to listen and relate to strangers. The one thing I don’t like is she’s unlicensed because she’s actually pretty good at what she does. Granted in her previous cases she was too late to save the people, she still finds who she’s looking for. I really grew to love this damaged, caring, strong-willed woman. Frankie is a heroine that is definitely going to stay with me and again I really wish this wasn’t a standalone because she could be a great lead for a series.

BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED BOOK REVIEW

“My name is Frankie Elkin and finding missing people is what I do. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never bothered to care, I start looking.”

The premise of this book was so unique- a woman that travels to different places in the hopes of solving missing persons cases that have gone cold. While Frankie wasn’t the most likable character, I was really rooting for her!

I really appreciate how complex this mystery was—there was so much more than meets the eye and so many layers to this case. I didn’t guess the ending until a few pages before it was revealed, so I felt like Gardener did a masterful job with this mystery!

This one was a suspenseful mystery that you won’t be able to put down! Even though it was 400 pages, I read it over the course of two days!! This was the first Lisa Gardener book I read and now I want to read more of hers!

TW: alcoholism, gangs, violence

Keep an eye out for my review on my Instagram page, which will be posted on pub day! https://www.instagram.com/tipsybookreviews/

I'm a big fan of Lisa Gardner's multiple series, and this standalone doesn't disappoint. It's got all the signature crime solving, tough woman style I love in Gardner's other books while introducing us to a new character. Boston's Mattapan neighborhood is an essential character in the books, and while the setting has always been a part of Gardner's stories, in this one it is really explored and integral. Gardner is addressing a lot of issues in this story, from immigration to human trafficking, and it all combines to an intense, readable story.

What an amazing ride on the thriller roller coaster! Frankie is flawed, and because of her flaws that she is so determined. Frankie is a great example of a heroine. Determined, dedicated, and reckless. Sometimes it takes all stepping out of line to find the answer. Her relationship with Lotham is something I would love to see in future books. However, we know Frankie doesn't stay in one place too long. I would call her a vigilante, but with a twist. The story read like what I imagine a real missing person case to be like. Nothing that would be solved in an hour as if it's a show. I can not wait for the next Frankie Elkin's book.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review

I really really struggled staying engaged in this book. I kept coming back to it because I couldn’t leave it unfinished and not know what happened to the girls. But it was a struggle. I am a true crime addict, but unfortunately that did not carry over to this book. I don’t think I ever felt a genuine connection to the main character, Frankie.

Another excellent novel from a consummate author. Lisa Gardner always delivers a well conceived plot, and very relatable characters.

Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic who looks for missing girls and tries to solve cold cases. Working against her is the fact she is a private citizen with no law enforcement credentials, and lots of baggage from failed attempts. She has replaced her addiction for alcohol with her loner way of life traveling from town to town looking for people to save. This obsession does not fill the hole sobriety brings as Frankie refuses to get close to anyone regardless of how much she might like to let her defenses down.

Fresh off a cold case where she was unable to save the victim, Frankie Elkin lands in Mattapan, a Haitian neighborhood in Boston determined to find Angelique Violette, a teen ager who disappeared after school nine months earlier. After finding a one room apartment in the neighborhood, getting a job in a local bar Frankie sets out to find Angelique. Her search leads to more than one missing girl and murder. A real page turned that is difficult to put down.

I have read and enjoyed other books by Lisa Gardner but this was not my favorite. I found the storyline to be unbelievable at times. The author notes at the end of the book that there are people who go and try to find missing persons, but I had a hard time believing that the police would allow a civilian to go with them when they are chasing down leads. The romance storyline never really took off and at the end I was wondering what was the point of it.
This is advertised as a stand alone book, but I have a feeling that this character might be back. It won’t be on a must read for me though.

She is a recovering alcoholic. She takes on missing person cases and follows through until she finds the person missing.When she shows up in Boston a white lady in gang run neighborhood she knows she has to watch herself. When she goes into a bar to ask for a job the owner cleaning glasses says no she goes behind the bar and starts cleaning glasses putting them up.She tells him shell work for the room above the bar a a meal a day he looks at her an says you'll have a room mate a cat that hates everyone she says she's shared with worse.He says she can start tomorrow she goes upstairs an sits on the bed looking around for the cat she sees fangs an hissing so she says ok I'm your roommate.Later she goes to the missing girls aunts apartment an rings asking for her but the brother says she doesn't want to talk to press.When Frankie says she wants to help find the girl the brother comes down an says lady go away but Frankie says she's found fourteen missing people so far an won't leave until she finds his sister. His aunt says let her go in.She asks for the cop she can talk too number the name of her friends and such then leaves.The hair on the back of her neck is standing up an she knows someone is watching her.When she meets the detective in charge of the case she tells him she's found fourteen people the cops didn't find she says you have slot of cases in not saying you aren't looking but your over worked I can focus on just finding Angel.They aren't crazy about each other.There are dangerous people involved an her life is in danger but she's not gonna stop until she brings Angel home hopefully alive.There are so many twists an turns to this story you will be riveted until the very last page an leave you begging for more. I love the way this amazing author brings the characters to life before your eyes and makes you feel their emotions and their pain. I can hardly wait to see what's next by this multi talented author.

Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic who spends all her time going from place to place working on missing person cold cases. Her latest case involves a missing Haitian teenager named Angelique Badeau who has been missing for almost a year. She's from a rough neighborhood on the outskirts of Boston named Mattapan. Frankie gets a job at a local bar with a chance to live in the upstairs apartment. With the help of the victim's family she starts asking the questions that are finally turning up some leads. The book took a lot of unexpected twists and had a great group of secondary characters including a detective, a member of AA, employees at the bar she works at and even a not so friendly cat!.

I have read other books by this author and have enjoyed those too. I highly recommend this book!

Before She Disappeared was more mystery than thriller but I really enjoyed it. I’m a fan of police procedurals – the methodical following up of leads, the slow build toward a resolution, the red herrings and dead ends.

Frankie isn’t a police officer, but she works the case with the same dogged persistence as a seasoned police detective. Her superpower is her ability to connect with people. A recovering alcoholic, she’s non-judgmental and is great at reading others.

To solve the mystery of missing high school student Angelique, Frankie gets to know the girl’s family and also works hard to gain the trust of the lead detective on the case, who really doesn’t want a random woman meddling in his investigation.

Before She Disappeared reminded me a bit of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. Frankie is a similar character: a loner on a quest for justice, one town and one case at a time. She travels light and when she closes her case, she moves on.

I think that this is a standalone, but I think it has great potential as a series. Check it out and tell me what you think!

Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner

This is an author that I know will write a solid book. In her latest stand alone novel, Frankie is a recovering alcoholic that also now spends her life finding missing people. In her latest quest, she heads to a rough neighborhood in Boston to find Angelique. There ends up being much more to Angelique's disappearance.

I enjoyed this book! I was hooked from the beginning and was caught off guard by how the story ended.

Another great book by Lisa Gardner.

I'm a huge fan of Gardner. I would have read this book no matter what it was about. It held up to be another fast-paced mystery that you just can't put down. Not gonna lie, I have a killer migraine right now because I couldn't put it down last night. Worth it!

On one hand, I did hope for a little something different from Gardner but on the other hand, what she writes is fantastically gripping so obviously, keep doing what works. I enjoyed the cast of characters and the layered plot keeps you on your toes throughout the book. I highly recommend it!

Wow is what I have to say first about Before She Disappeared. It follows Frankie Elkin who finds missing people -- particularly minorities. Frankie is also an addict and has been sober for many years. Frankie has located 14 people so far and she is looking to bring him Angelique Lovelie Badeau (LiLi as she is known to her family and friends).

I am a huge fan of Frankie as she is very relatable. As previously mentioned, she is an addict of alcohol and has been sober for many years. She does not have a job and moves from city/town searching for missing minorities whose case has gone cold. Frankie is not a minority herself, as she is white. Many people question her motives in the story, however, she simply wants to find people and bring them home. She wants to find those that others have forgotten or did not find important enough to utilize all of law enforcements resources in finding.

Angelique or LiLi is a Haitian teenage girl who disappeared 11 months ago. She has the ambition and goal to stay in America. She is on a temporary visa as she and her brother are originally from Haiti and immigrated to America after the earthquake like many others.

All of the characters that Lisa Gardner has created for this book are extremely relatable and the story seems very realistic to me. As you learn more about LiLi and her disappearance and how the police handled her case as well as how Frankie is viewed in the city of Mattapan, which is a Haitian community, it is easy to draw some similarities to the world that we live in now.

The story moves at a nice pace and it is really hard to put the book down. LiLi's disappearance is not all what it seems to be which really helps keep you drawn into the book. Frankie continues to struggle with her addiction throughout the book which keeps her relatable and realistic. I absolutely loved how difficult it was to figure out what happened to LiLi as Lisa Gardner keeps you guessing until the very end.

Rating: 5 out of 5. If you are looking for a book that is a page turner and will keep you guessing until the very end than this is the book for you. It does not appear that Before She Disappeared is going to be a series but that of a stand alone book. However, I am hoping that we will see more of Frankie Elkin and she continues to search for more missing individuals as Before She Disappeared has left me wanting more.

Published January 19, 2021
Dutton
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Dutton, for granting my wish!

Lisa Gardner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three suspense novels, including The Neighbor, which won Thriller of the Year from the International Thriller Writers. An avid hiker, traveler, and cribbage player, she lives in the mountains of New Hampshire with her family.

“Why do men always have the best eyelashes?”

Frankie is haunted by her past. She has secrets, scars, and talent—a talent for finding missing people when everyone else has given up. Fourteen times Frankie has found her target. And 14 times, she has brought bodies home to be laid to rest. She hopes this time will be different, that this will be when she gets a living person back to their family. Except this time might be Frankie’s last time.

This was a heartbreakingly intense book. I liked Frankie, our main character, right away. She is damaged, she has baggage, but she truly wants to help those who are at their most desperate.

I really enjoyed the Haitian incorporation, and the way Boston was described as such a melting pot of cultures. Getting a glimpse into another world I’ve never experienced was a delightful treat.

There is so much to Frankie, and I love how it is delivered throughout the book. The entire cast of characters in this book is all so well done. I enjoyed the depth and dimension each character had. A lot of time, research, dedication, and love went into bringing these bold individuals to life. The painted visuals are truly vivid, and you will feel as though you know these characters by the end of the book.

I enjoyed Boston as the backdrop for this story. Everything from the description of the streets to the full and lush blend of identities and cultures. It was so easy to picture the places as they were described. I could almost see the bright colors, smell the aromas, and feel the Haitian community surround me.

This plot is bananas. It will grab you and hold you until the end. The build is steady and robust. But as soon as the twist hits, this story moves at a rapid-fire pace and holds you captive until the very end. You will never guess what will happen next, and the twists and turns are so well done they slap you out of nowhere.

I found myself rooting for Frankie, and not just because she is an underdog. Frankie is such a strong yet vulnerable character. And her level of self-awareness is incredible. Frankie knows who and what she is. She makes no apologies for that. She gives her all and has more integrity than most. She is smart, resourceful, brave, stubborn, and witty. There is a level is street smarts and hard-earned experience riding on her shoulders. She is the anti-hero we all need right now.

If you’re looking for a beautifully written, thoroughly researched, complicated, complex, twisted thriller- look no further. This is a must-read for all thriller fans.

3.5⭐️

CW: addiction, gun violence, racial stereotypes

This was the first Lisa Gardner book that I’ve read. It’s a quick read and feels like a typical mass-market detective mystery. I don’t mean that in a bad way. I was hooked on the journey of finding Angelique Badeau. I read this book in just over a day. It was a common mystery/thriller trope of recovering alcoholic trying to avenge past mistakes, with some new twists, turns, and schemes that kept the story fresh.

At the beginning of the story, and really throughout, there is a lot of mention of racial stereotypes. Our MC, Frankie- a white middle-aged woman, makes a life out of searching for missing persons, usually from minority communities. However, it’s not that clear why Frankie chooses these types of cases. Even though there is mention of this a few times in the book, there is an underlying sense of a white savior complex.

Overall I think fans of procedural mystery/thrillers will enjoy it.

Before She Disappeared,” by Lisa Gardner
Jan. 19 from Penguin Random House, 395 pages, $27
The prolific and reliable Lisa Gardner is the author of three ongoing series, but “Before She Disappeared” is billed as a stand-alone. That makes it a good introduction to a writer you’ll want to get to know if you’re a fan of crime fiction. The fascinating lead character here is Frankie Elkin, who on her own — without pay, without even being hired — investigates disappearances. She has been successful, if finding the dead can be considered a success. But now, newly arrived in a poor, Black neighborhood in Boston, she’s determined to find a teenage girl, bright and on the brink of college, alive this time.
Gardner paints a richly detailed picture of the Mattapan neighborhood, home to a community of Haitian immigrants, where Frankie gets a job in a corner bar and butts heads with suspicious locals, police and the family of the missing girl. Middle age, broke and a tenuously recovered alcoholic, Frankie has only one asset: her determination. The pace of “Before She Disappeared” makes it a faster read than the number of pages would suggest. For me, it fell into “couldn’t put it down” territory, and of all Gardner’s books that I’ve read, I think this was the best. As a stand-alone mystery, the implication of “Before She Disappeared” is that we won’t see Frankie Elkin again. But I won’t be the only reader who ends the book hoping for her return.

Great way to start the new year! With my first book by my one of my favorite authors and it's her first standalone in 20 years!

Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will--searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.

I loved the characters and the setting. The plot had me hooked from the beginning and I felt connected, thought about the story when I wasn't reading - signs of a good book, as usual for a Gardner book.

Thank you to #NetGalley #BeforeSheDisappeared #PublishingDateJanuary19,2021 for an e-copy for an honest review.

Great Suspense/Mystery.
Freddie is a middle aged woman who has no family, belongings, or home. She wanders from place to place helping to find missing people. Her past is not something she is proud of, but she works hard to erase it. She arrives in a poor, gang infested neighborhood of Boston looking for Angelique, a 15 year old girl with a brilliant future who disappeared from school 11 months ago. The detectives on the case are not happy she is poking her nose into their case, but within days of Freddie asking questions, people start talking and clues of the teen's whereabouts surface. But when Freddie discovers there are actually 2 missing teens, and Angel has sent a message to her brother, the cops know that Freddie is opening this investigation. and they would be better off working together. But someone has secrets to keep, and they are willing to kill to make sure those secrets are hidden. Will Freddie be up against her first case that was too much for her to handle, or will Angel and her friend be found in time?
Awesome book with a lot of twists and turns. Could not put it down.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner is a very highly recommended crime thriller. Don't miss this incredible heart-stopping stand-alone novel!

"My name is Frankie Elkin and finding missing people - particularly minorities - is what I do. When the police have given up, with the public no longer remembers, when the media has never bothered to care, I start looking. For no money, no recognition, and most of the time, no help."

Frankie, a middle-aged woman and recovering alcoholic, spends her life searching for missing people long after the case has gone cold. Her new search is for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished eleven months earlier at the age of fifteen. She moves to Boston and finds a job at a bar with an apartment available above it in the rough Mattapan neighborhood where Angelique lived. Frankie wastes no time introducing herself to the family, Angelique's Aunt Guerline and her younger brother, Emmanuel, and letting the Boston PD know she is looking into the case. Frankie is used to having to dig out information and investigate on her own, so the initial resistance from Detective Lotham is expected but doesn't hold her back.

Frankie is unquestionably an extraordinary fully developed new character full of depth, intelligence, and complexity. She has a dark past and is running from her own demons but she faces it all with honesty and tenacity. Everyday is a struggle to not drink while seeking information to bring her case to completion. She sets her personal safety aside as she asks questions and searches for the truth hidden by layers of subterfuge and obfuscation. At the same time Frankie is an unconventional woman. She has a quirky personality and a mouth on her as she says what's on her mind and holds nothing back. The wonderful fact is that all the characters are well-developed and presented as unique individuals.

Adding to the excellent character development is the absolutely perfect and, quite frankly, masterful writing in this un-put-downable thriller. Gardner grabs your attention - by the throat - right at the start and from then on the plot is riveting and spellbinding while the intense pace increases incrementally. The sense of danger is palpable as Frankie looks for the truth. I simply could not put this novel down once I started it. It can't be denied that Gardner has a gift for writing.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group
After publication the review will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

From Page 1 the reader is engaged and the engagement continues until the last page. I was so engrossed that I had to force myself to stop reading so that I could sleep. This is the story of Frankie, a woman on missions to find lost people. Her latest quest brings her to Boston and her goal is to find Angelique, a missing teen. There are so many twists and turns ( I stared writing about then but realized it would spoil the plot so I stopped).
Suffice it to say this book will keep you on the edge of your sea,