Find Me by Alafair Burke

My interest in Alafair Burke stems from my love of Mary Higgins Clark. I miss her and her books so much, and since I enjoyed her collaboration with Alafair I thought maybe reading an Alafair Burke book would give me a new author to love after losing MHC. Boy, was I wrong. Apparently I just like Mary. i hated all the women in this book, the suspense was too simple and ridiculous. There's little to no plot. Looks like i'm looking for someone else to give me a good mystery.

I didn't realize this was a series when I started it. I would have enjoyed it a lot more probably if I read the first few for a better introduction to the characters. It was still good as a standalone though. What if you woke up one day and didn't know who you were? How would you start your life over? Or would starting over be a blessing? Hope's amnesia could be a blessing, or a curse, and then she ends up missing. This was a great detective phycological thriller. I want to go back to the beginning of the series now.

January 11, 2022

Thank you HarperCollinsCA & NetGalley for the gifted eARC to read and review!

I *think* this was my first read in the Ellie Hatcher series. While you always miss some of the finer details coming in mid series, I was still able to enjoy this one as a standalone.

Hope Miller has had amnesia since she woke up from an accident 15 years ago. She's never regained her memory. Her best friend Lindsay means well, but can be smothering so Hope decides to stepout on her own. Great idea,until she disappears....

Find Me is a fun thriller. It does a good job with the amnesia trope and keeps you guessing about Hope's background throughout the story. Burke's writing is fast-paced and has good tension. I do wish I had read the earlier books so I could really understand the background of the Kansas killer. But ultimately, that did not take away from my enjoyment of the book.

If you’re looking for a quick thriller fix, Find Me delivers. I look forward to digging into Burke's backlist!

Hope Miller finishes staging a new home for an open house, sends a text to the realtor to let him know she's done, and then disappears.

Hope has suffered with amnesia for 15 years, not sure if it stemmed from a past trauma or from the car accident she had when her friend Lyndsay Kelly found her. They've been best friends since that accident...Lindsay helping Hope get ID, a bank account, and settled in her new home in Hopewell NJ.

But now Hope is living in the Hampdens, trying to make it on her own and now she is missing. Lindsay makes the trip from NJ to NY to help find her friend and in doing so, unravels a long hidden secret that could help her discover who Hope really is.

I did enjoy this book (listened to the audobook) but found parts of it to be slow and I wanted to skim over that, so maybe I kissed some important info. Over all this was a slower more police procedural type book rather than the suspense or thriller that I thought it would be. I did enjoy it and gre to like Lindsay's character and the Hampden police officers character as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Who is Hope?!? This book kept me guessing. I loved the intertwining stories and how everything came together. I loved the relationship between Hope and her friend Lindsay. This was an intriguing story and keeps Alafair Burke as one of my favorite thriller authors!

As always, I enjoyed Burke's story - and especially the twist at the end!! My mind was continuously working with this one - just the way I like it!

A protagonist with a mysterious past she can't remember. A best friend who'd do anything to help her. A detective at the to of her game. Danger lurks and secrets are revealed in this twisty mystery-thriller.

I can't help myself, I'm a sucker for an amnesia story, and I was instantly drawn into this one. Hope Miller isn't a real person, but she's living her life with this name because she can't remember who she is. She has spent many years in a small town with her best friend Lindsay Kelly, who was the one to find Hope and help her rebuild her life.

But when Hope decides she needs to be on her own, everything changes. And when Lindsay realizes that Hope is missing, she decides to do everything in her power to find her best friend.

I love how many twists and turns this book had. A missing best friend, a connection to a serial killer, and the dead body of someone that may or may not have been involved with Hope, I found that I never knew exactly where the story was going to go, but I couldn't put the book down because I needed to figure it out.

And the end? Well, that completely had me reeling.

Although ever so slightly farfetched, I really enjoyed this novel. It's the perfect summer read for by the pool, lake, or ocean.

The twists in this mystery will keep you turning the pages to discover the whereabouts of Hope along with her true identity. Another hit by Alafair Burke that features strong characters, murder, crooked police, and some romance.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

This twisty puzzling intense read is so rich with detail, characters, red-herrings, nuance and mystery that, if you are anything like this reader, you will quickly find yourself, moody and muttering, questioning every “fact” presented by every narrative witness,- willing yourself to settle down, put the pieces together, and figure it all out.

When Hope Miller (as she now will be known) is found, injured but alive, at the scene of a horrific traffic accident, all traces of her memory of a former life have vanished. As she begins to heal, Hopewell, New Jersey, her new home in a smallish town with a very large heart, is good to her - providing Hope with lodging, employment, caring neighbors and a fresh start that, best of all, includes a new friend, Lindsay Kelly, the young woman who rescued her from the car wreck, who has quickly become Hope’s rock and (somewhat obsessively so) closest supporter.

Without an identity, drivers license or legal source of income, after fifteen years in Hopewell, Hope makes a spontaneous decision to relocate to the Hamptons, NY - her goal, a new “normal”, and a stab at a broader and more independent existence.

And promptly vanishes, without a trace.

Reading easily as a standalone novel (this was my first by this author) this book is the fifth in the series featuring NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher.

A fast-paced, suspenseful read, the plot quickly extends from Lindsay’s search for this cherished missing-person-with-a-missing-identity, to a whole host of dangerous complications including a decades-old serial murderer, a detective’s never-resolved suicide, a newly dead fishing guide, confusing and incriminating forensics, an arrest-happy Hamptons cop, and ties to a long-ago cop-run summer camp for wayward teens that may or may be as ominous as it feels.

A compelling and serpentine read, I enjoyed this one, finding my head spin just a little, right up to the very devious and satisfying ending (only partially predicted by this, unruffled again, reader).

A great big thank you to @HarperCollinsCA #BooksofHCC for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

https://www.amazon.com/review/RHD2EPWJOI2L3/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

I started reading this, not noticing it's part of a series. Fortunately, it reads well as a stand-alone book.

NYPD detective, Elle, has doubts her father committed suicide 15 years earlier. Lawyer Lindsey came upon a serious car accident back then involving a young girl who had no memories and names herself Hope.

Alistair Burke sets up a twisty psychological tale that encompasses murder, bad cops, the legal system, secrets and lies, a past that returns to haunt the present and enduring friendships.

This is a fast pace, grabs you quick, and reels you in story. Living in Wichita, Kansas, I was hooked by the similarity to serial killer BTK. The little breadcrumbs throughout the book referencing my hometown and a real-life mystery added to my connection to Burkes story. I believe Burkes twist of the case and inclusion in Find Me adds to the mystery and suspense for all readers including, those who don't leave in Wichita.

Many thanks to Burke, Netgalley, and Harper Collins for this smart, suspenseful read.

This books is about a woman who claims she has no memories of who she was after being found after an accident left her thrown from a vehicle with multiple injuries. Doctors assumed the amnesia was a part of the trauma from the accident but felt it would be temporary. After getting out of the hospital, Lindsey Kelly the woman who found her, became her friend and helped her set up a new life and new identity as Hope Miller. The story follows secrets of the past that intertwine with the future when Hope tries to start over in the Hamptons.

The plot is full of twists and a story you won’t want to put down. I highly recommend this book and the author.

Alafair Burke's latest mystery, Find Me, opens on a New Jersey car accident (a rollover crash) that left its survivor (a young woman in her late teens or early twenties) with amnesia. Fifteen years later, she still doesn't remember what happened and her identity remains unknown. Everyone calls her Hope Miller.

Manhattan defense lawyer Lindsay Kelly befriended Hope and is still very close to her and concerned for her wellbeing. When Hope goes missing and blood is found linking to the College Hill Strangler case, Lindsay contacts NYPD homicide detective Ellie Hatcher.

They eventually both get answers, Ellie's hitting very close to home. As always, Alafair Burke delivers an absorbing mystery read, with a dramatic conclusion.

This is a standalone novel that is also book #6 in the Ellie Hatcher series. I note that because I have not read any of the series prior to this entry by Alafair Burke. This was not my first Alafair Burke book, I have loved her since I first read her novels, and this one is no different.

In this book we have a character who has amnesia following a car accident, Hope, and then she also disappears. She is lucky enough to have a friend who begins to search for her, and when she does not have luck, she calls on Ellie Hatcher. During the investigation, Ellie has to confront things from her past while working in the present. I had not read the prior books, and why it is a standalone, I feel it would have been helpful to have the prior information.

I really, really enjoyed this book, and it is not surprising coming from Alafair Burke. Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Harper Collins and Alafair Burke for the copy in exchange for an honest review!

I stumbled upon Burke on accident a few years ago, and since then I have bought and read all her books! (Ellie Hatcher is a series but can be read as a standalone.)

Find Me is a brilliantly intriguing and suspenseful thriller. Secrets, lies, and a past that won't stay buried. The story grabs you from the beginning and pulls you in. Distractions and second guesinning left me second guessing myself. I found the character of Hope to be untrustworthy, and often found myself asking if she was just a really good actress. Drama, and corruption. The unfolding of past lives left me breathless. Find Me was definitely not a disappointment and I can't wait to read more!

When Lindsey comes upon a single car accident and calls medics to the scene, she has no idea that the girl who has amnesia will become her best friend. Choosing the name Hope Miller, the girl finally decides to become independent and move from the small town where she and Lindsey grew up. Choosing to live in south Long Island, Hope uncovers far more about her history and why she fled Wichita Kansas. The sordid past also involves a NYPD detective and her brother. The cop and Lindsey work together to pull the missing pieces together and prove who really killed the man Hope is accused of murdering. Once started, this book will be hard to put down until you have solved the mystery along with Hope, Lindsey and Ellie.

How do you find a missing person that has no true identity? Lindsey just knows something is wrong when her best friend Hope goes off the grid.

Hope has been like a sister to her since she saved her forma car accident that almost took Hope's life. Hope was a true Jane Doe--with absolutely no memory or identification from the crash. She moves in with Lindsey and becomes a new person with a new name, but no official proof of identity.

Lindsey begins the search to find out just what happened to Hope and save her. With the help of Ellie, a NYPD detective--they embark on a twisty path to find out what really happened.

Alafair Burke’s latest is “Find Me” (HarperCollins, 299 pages, $26.99), which sees amnesiac Hope running from the past she can’t remember, a past that, after 15 years, seems to be catching up with her.
“What kind of game are you playing?” the man at the door demands.
When Hope can’t be found, her best friend, Manhattan defense attorney Lindsay Kelly, won’t give up searching for her, even at great personal cost. But “Find Me” is also a gift for fans of Burke’s cop Ellie Hatcher, last seen in her own series in 2014. Skipping back and forth between Lindsay chapters and Ellie chapters can be confusing for newcomers, but the fog clears in the end.

Thank you, Harper Books, for gifting me a copy of Find Me {partner}

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Pub Date: 1.11.2022
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Find Me is my first book by Alafair Burke, and I plan to go back and read more from her/add her upcoming books to my reading list!

The story took off from the first chapter and kept a steady pace throughout the book's entirety. One of my favorite aspects came from earlier in the book when Burke dropped connections between the characters; things the characters didn’t know were coming their way. It felt like breadcrumbs leading me down a trail.

The only downside to this story is that I started to feel like too much going on? I knew that the stories and cases were connected somehow, but it did overwhelm me trying to keep track of everything. When it was finally revealed, it made more sense and gave me an “ah-ha” moment.

The ending was one that I had suspected, but I enjoyed seeing it play out!

👮🏽 Police procedural element
🧠 Amnesia
🔪 Serial Killer
🕵🏽‍♀️ Multiple case connections
📖 Page-turner
🙃 Expected, but appreciated ending

❌ - sexual assault

I recommend you read Find Me if you’re a fan of books like Local Woman Missing and Don’t Look For Me.

My girl Alafair Burke really knows how to write, and it is of no surprise to me how much I loved Find Me. There are a lot of characters to keep track of in this crime-filled mystery, and definitely some moments where I would get confused about who was who, but for the most part I was able to follow along. I have not read the Ellie Hatcher series but have now read 2 books that mention her, and they have made me really want to read them! Although this can be read as a standalone, the mention of Ellie's dad still made me wish I had more of a backstory on her, so I am hoping I can get some of that while this story is still fresh in my mind. However, I think it is really important to read the acknowledgments section of this novel because after I did, I understood what the author was trying to accomplish here, and it does help.

This is a plotline with many layers, and I always enjoy watching how Burke will unravel each one. There is so much mystery and suspense surrounding Hope's disappearance, and I loved the inclusion of a few different genres. Find Me is part domestic drama, part suspense, part detective fiction, and part crime novel among other things, and I always love a good genre-bending read. I especially loved the end of the book, and it totally threw me! I wasn't expecting any of the twists which is my favorite thing, and I may or may not have gotten chills at one point. Did I mention it also made me laugh? The audiobook was fantastic and narrated by Kathleen Early who did a great job as always! I have listened to her a few times now and her narration never disappoints She had a lot of characters to voice in Find Me and I think it is worth picking up but also having a physical copy handy in case you get lost in the characters. This was a winner for me though and Burke is at the top of my list to stay for autobuy authors!

Thank you to the publishers and Libro.fm for my advanced listening and reader copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.