Wow! This is a super-twisted police procedural with interesting plotting and lots of red herrings and surprises along the way. I had one twist figured out but the rest were a great surprise. Told from the perspective of FBI Criminologist Leigh Brody, this story pulls you in fast. Leigh is returning to the hometown she fled after her father was convicted of murder, and a dead body is found with similarities to the murders her father was convicted of. The residents mostly resent her presence after her years of trying to prove her father's innocence stained the town's image. Combine that hate with another internal conflict within the detective's personal life, and the suspense is ratcheted off the charts. I highly recommend this one for fans of crime and psychological thrillers.

I have to admit I had a hard time getting into the book, but it was purely from a personal standpoint. Once I sat done to really read the book, I couldn't put it down. The book was written with enough background information to fully understand what was happening with town and the main character Leigh. It did keep me guessing throughout the story, as to how she could prove her theories on who she believed was the perpetrator. But the ending was not what I expected, and really to my way of thinking, very satisfying.

I would like to thank Net Galley and the author Ms. Severn for the ARC copy.

Nichole Severn, has many outstanding books in the romantic suspense genre. With this book, she has left her comfort zone of this genre, and decided to jump off the curb and into the busy literary highways of psychological thrillers. I admire her courage and tenacity! She has created a protagonist, Leigh Brody, FBI Profiler, that is excellent in her career, but still obsessed with solving murders that occurred in her youth, while hoping to resolve an injustice that affects her father. She is independent, resilient and committed, and has chosen to live a lonely life. Her preoccupation to find answers keeps her mentally locked into the past, always there in the background as she focuses on her career, while still wearing grief and anger from those tragedies. She is called back to her hometown to help solve murders that appear similar to those that occurred 20 years ago. It was easy to understand how she must have felt when rejected and shunned emotionally by her community and old acquaintances, even though she’s there to help. It was a bit challenging for me to connect with this character at first. She was written as struggling emotionally, driven by her need to find answers to the murders in her past, and now rejections in her current life in the community where she grew up. But by the end, she was notably stronger, willing to fight for her beliefs, and bring justice for many. I ended up really liking this flawed character, and watching how she strategically put the pieces together in this thriller.

And of course, it would not be a true Nichole Severn pulse-pounding book without her signature surprises or shocking finales. Here, you have both! She has perfected a way of keeping her protagonist under constant threat from secrets and lies buried underneath in the community. This adds to the tension and intrigue, and inspires the reader to join Leigh and her journey to justice. Ms Severn also is wonderful at adding compelling twists and turns that were effective in drawing you in even deeper into the investigation. I look forward to future books in the series with Leigh Brody, and hope through more cases she is able to enhance her inner strength, and continue to thrive in her FBI position. Ms Severn has brought us another amazingly gripping story. I received a complimentary ARC, but I am voluntarily offering my personal opinion.

thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC.
FBI agent Leigh Brody returns home to help in the investigation of a murder that is quite similar to the murder of her brother, a crimer that her father was arrested for years ago. It was quite weird that she was even allowed to work on the case despite her connection to it and some of other police procedures felt completely wrong.
I somehow was not able to like the main character, she is underqualified, irrational despite supposedly graduating top of her class.
The twists and mystrery aspect were great and kept me hooked till the end, and I enjoed the ending very much. The pacing and writing were always on a point, so i think this book is will be a great read for every thriller lover.

Just finished this - read it in 24 hours, I was so hooked, the plot was excellent.
We follow FBI agent Leigh Brody as she is called to consult on 2 murders that have happened in her home town, that she hasn't been back to, since her dad was arrested and put away for the murder of her brother and his best friend. The new murders look like the work of a copy cat and Leigh starts to investigate.
The story is fast paced, the characters are well thought out and I really enjoyed the dynamics between the characters. Would highly recommend and can't wait for the next one in the series.

This one was good but it didn’t have me hooked. There were parts where I felt like it dragged a bit.

Interesting twist at the end that I honestly didn’t see coming. I look forward to more books with these characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

In The Girl Who Survived follows FBI agent Leigh Brody who is called in to look at a case in her hometown of Lebanon, New Hampshire. She had sworn never to step foot in again after the murder of her younger brother, the arrest of her father for the crime, and the suicide of her mother. When a murder similar to that of her brothers takes place, the BAU sends for Leigh to lend her expertise and insights from her experience of the original crimes. She has limited time and help to figure out if the original killer is back or if this is the work of someone new. Leigh wants her dad to finally be freed from what she is certain is his wrongful conviction, and for the real killer of her brother Troy to finally be held accountable.

I know I am in the minority here given the number of enthusiastic positive reviews I've seen... but for me this fell flat.. The descriptive writing was detailed enough to give you a full picture of the places, people and events going on throughout the book, there was some suspense, intrigue and emotional depth to the story and Leigh as a character to begin with, but as the story went along scenes became repetitive as did Leighs internal monologues which caused a good chunk of this book to drag and I found my attention drifting more than once. Without giving details so as not to spoil it the "twists" didn't surprise me in all honesty, the reveal of who was behind it all made me roll my eyes as it was clear it had to be someone with the kind of access that character had. And as for the final twist at the end it made absolute ZERO sense and completely undermined the entire story as a whole but especially Leighs characters entire motivation for everything she did. Not to mention how completely outlandish it is that a 17 year old girl was able to pull off what we are expected to believe she did and law enforcement didn't realise it. It felt shoehorned in at the end to try and make the story more sensationalized than it is and felt totally unnecessary.

I have been a fan of Nichole Severn for a long time and this book didn't disappoint.
FBI agent, Leigh Brody had returned to her home town of Lebanon, New Hampshire after twenty years, the town didn't hold the wonderful memories of her childhood that Leigh cherished, the town was cold and hostile. Leigh has worked hard to put herself through police academy and now the FBI with one thought in mind, to uncover the truth.
Twenty years ago. Leigh's ten year old brother and his best friend had been murdered in the most hideous way, Leigh's father had been charged with the murder and he remained, two decades later, in jail.
Now copycat murders were happening, were they connected? or were Leigh's suspicions that the true murdered was still out there, the MO was the same and each victim has a toy soldier, the same toy soldier that was found on Leigh's brother, the same toy soldier that she now carried in her pocket as a reminder of what she had to do..........the same toy soldier that the latest victim held only this one had Leigh's name carved in it.
This story has so many suspects, so many red herrings, so many clues that led nowhere, it is action packed, suspense filled and with a surprise ending that I didn't see coming. I look forward to reading more stories in this series.
I received a free copy of this book and my review is voluntary.

I enjoyed parts of this one. There is definitely parts of it that felt like it was dragging on and it took me a bit to finish it.

I also couldn’t really connect with the main character Leigh

I did enjoy the murder mystery of this though and I still did like a lot of parts. The climax was definitely over the top but I thought it was a good twist and definitely didn’t predict it!

This book was instantly intriguing for me, and I was unable to put it down. An FBI investigator has an intimately close connection to a local murder, and has dedicated her life to trying to identify patterns of serial killers. She has become dedicated to finding the man that killed her brother and proving her father's innocence. This is a fast paced thriller with so many twists and turns and the ending is a pure shock. I cannot wait to read more of Nichole Severn's work, as she is an incredibly gifted writer. This story has so many directions to go, and I just cannot wait to find out what happens next. The final twist was so unexpected, and left me wanting more.
Special thanks to NetGalley, Nichole Severn, and Storm Publishing for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Girl Who Survived by Nichole Severn is a mystery set in small-town UK with some flashbacks sections. When Leigh was seventeen, her younger brother was kidnapped and murdered with her entire town accusing Leigh’s father of the crime as well as the death of another child. As an adult, Leigh has studied the psychology of serial killers and returned to her small town to reopen her father's case and get justice for her brother, but the town isn't welcome to the idea.

What I liked was how Leigh was shown in a fairly compassionate light. The abduction of her brother and destruction of her family are difficult things she can't move past and this is compounded by the discovery that she has cancer in her ovaries and needs to have a hysterectomy, something she's not willing to do because she wants a family some day. The subject matter is difficult but handled thoughtfully and realistically.

Leigh’s ultimate goal is to bring Chris Ellingson, the man she believes murdered her brother, to justice and clear her father's name. Chris was a psychologist at Leigh's brother's school and the evidence seems obvious but the town isn't willing to listen and wants to move on, reflecting something that does happen in communities when devastating crimes are committed.

I would recommend this to fans of explorations of how communities react to old cases being reopened, readers looking for a mystery with a small town angle, and those looking for mysteries that also touch on topics relating to reproductive health.

I finished this book a couple of days ago, but I had to take some time to process that twist at the end. Wow! I was not expecting that at all. In fact it came out of left field for me and made me dislike some of the characters that I previously liked. Leigh works for the FBI and was sent back to her hometown as a consultant. She ruffles more than a few feathers coming back to town. She is determined and sometimes toes the line on ethical behavior, but she gets the job done. This is listed as book 1, so I'm assuming a sequel is planned for the future and I'm looking forward to reading more of Leigh's story.

Enjoyed this book, lots of twist and turns. A couple of times I did get a bit lost but apart from that a fab read!

Summary: Leigh Brody (FBI) is called back to her hometown after a murders MO is similar to the murder of a decade old case, her brothers. Her father went down for the murder of the previous case. As the bodies keep accumulating Leigh needs to learn who the killer is.

There were a few slower points in the book, but certain parts I was fully encapsulated in the book. I did predict who the killer was like a little over halfway through, but I still enjoyed the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What did I just read??? This was a going in blind book for me and man, it sucked me in from the very beginning.
THE PLOT TWIST????!!! ah loved it.
Cannot wait to read more of Agent Brody's stories!!!

I’m always ready for a mystery thriller, and really enjoy the interactions between characters who are from various investigative departments. This first in a new series built around FBI Agent Leigh Brody was very satisfying in this regard, especially given her situation as a generally unwelcome, especially by the police,hometown girl returning after years away. This was an interesting approach to introducing a character and it worked. While I thought the character of Agent Brody was thoughtfully developed, I felt like I spent too much time in her head; this went beyond her processing her past trauma and trying to reconcile it with what was happening in her present. It became redundant and distracting as a result. While the ending was satisfying overall, setting up for and interesting situation in the next book, it was much too unrealistic to be believable. It will be hard to set that piece aside when I read the next entry; despite that, I am looking forward to book 2.

Thank you to Storm Publishing, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this action-packed mystery.

I loved this from beginning to end. Ms. Severn knocked this one out of the ball park. When FBI Agent Leigh Brody comes home to assist on a case, but things get really interesting as something comes to light that stirs up things that happened 20years ago. This case has just become very personal for her. The town of Lebanon doesn’t want Leigh there, and makes it very clear she’s not welcome anymore. They even go to some extremes that harm her. The Sheriff in town has made it crystal clear she is only there to assist, and not take over in any capacity. He will ask the questions.

Highly recommend, so much more to come. The ending was amazing.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read this book before it’s out. I have bought a copy of this book.
I love Ms. Severn’s book, and read them all.

My first take on Nichole Severn writing and what a bumpy ride it has been! The plot was complex and vivid, with plenty of gore and all sorts of evil. Exactly what a girl wants! ;)

It’s hard to accept the main character’s past. Leigh is a woman tormented by the loss of her entire family (although through different means and in different times) due to gruesome circumstances. Left completely alone, she tries to bring justice to light, while facing the inevitable ghosts from the past. But the start of a new killing spree promises to keep stirring the waters…

The storyline is definitely twisted, with a more than satisfying ending. I was totally surprised with the outcome and all the little gems hidden throughout the book’s intelligently crafted plot. But…

There were moments where I felt lost in the writing. Some chapters were somehow difficult to get in to… And there were some inaccuracies in terms of medical situations.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in advance. This opinion is my own.

Thanks Net Galley for providing me an early release of this book.
All opinions here are my own.
This was my first book by this author and I will be reading more of her books. I love crime thrillers, and this one did not disappoint. After 20 years Leigh Brody returns to her hometown because a body has been found and her name is on it.The last time she was there she was a kid and found the body of her brother Troy. Now she is an FBI agent and has been called back help solve crimes that were committed in the same way that killed her brother. She is met with some resistance from the police force and as the story develops, we begin to understand what happened 20 years ago and how it is still affecting the town she grew up in. This was a fast paced story that kept me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going on. I did not figure this one out and was totally surprised when all was revealed!
A 4 star read for me!