Suspenseful, gripping and intense!

In this new novel by Gardner, the beloved FBI profiler Quincy is back and this time his expertise is needed on a case that quickly unfolds to be much more sinister and premeditated than a simple spree killer.

The writing is well done. The characters are troubled, guarded, secretive and complex. And the plot is a compelling, mysterious web of childhood violence, trauma, lies, abuse, corruption, greed and murder.

Overall, this is a well-paced, riveting tale that gives an insightful look into the complexities of familial relationships, foster care and fugitive tracking, and also has some unexpected twists you won’t see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley, especially Dutton Books, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Right Behind You is the newest thriller by Lisa Gardner. The seventh novel in the Quincy & Rainie series, this novel surrounds FBI profiling couple Pierce Quincy and Rainie Conner. Although the seventh in the series, I found that this one was incredibly easy to read as a standalone. This one is the perfect combination of a fact-paced thriller and an intricately woven police procedural.

The novel opens with a murder; dead bodies at a gas station lead police to a foster home where the body count grows. The main suspect is Telly Nash, a seventeen-year-old foster child with a sordid past. From the first pages, I was hooked. It is not a classic “whodunit” but more of a “whydidhedoit”. As the plot develops and thickens, I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how everything was going to piece together. Gardner provides a plethora of red herrings that had me constantly guessing. By the end of the novel, I was pleasantly surprised to find her twists completely unexpected; they were not jaw dropping or shock inducing but were clever and masterful. Garder is certainly a seasoned writer and this is very obvious as the plot unravels.

Once of my favourite parts of this novel was the unique narration. Each character, even minor characters, got a narrative perspective. This worked so well for character development; no detail is spared. This narration made the novel a fascinating reading experience. Obviously, the main characters have a strong narrative voice, but I was also able to hear perspectives from the past from Telly Nash to following tracker, Cal, as he helps the police investigate. I loved getting to know Quincey and Rainie and will be picking up more of this series; they were incredibly likable characters.

If you are a fan of a police procedural, but long for something faster paced, this would be a perfect novel for you!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner that I read and reviewed.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved that Gardner kept the reader guessing until the very end to find out what was really going on and why the crime took place. Telly was one of those "criminals" that you really did not want to be bad so throughout the entire book I found myself cheering for him and wanting him to be a good guy. He grabbed at your heart stings because of the relationship he had with his sister and the relationship he seemed to have had with his foster parents that it was hard to fathom how he could snap and become a spree shooter so I wanted Quincy and Rainie to bring him in unharmed at the very least. I never felt myself cheer for the "bad guy" as much as I did for Telly in this book not only because I wanted him to be able to get to see his sister again but because I really believe in him.
This book had a great story and it was nice to revisit Quincy and Rainie again. As I stated before the book keeps you guessing until the end and throws and number of surprises your way. Telly is a very special character that you can't help but root for.
Right Behind You gets five out of five stars from me.

Personally... I know I've read better from Lisa Gardner. This read seemed intolerably slow and repetitive, to me. The timeline crept along (even though the actual span of time wasn't long) and the movement just plodded. I like my thrillers to SCREAM along, so... this slow burn was not my bag.

The reveal of THE BIG SECRET was too late in coming for my level of interest in the story and I felt like the prologue leads the reader in a certain direction that would have been better revealed as part of the story narrative.

As well, I CANNOT tell how old Sharlah is by reading her. Her thoughts and speaking patterns (and actions) come across as more adult than teenage girl. I think if you're a Gardner fan, you'll read RIGHT BEHIND YOU because you enjoy her wordplay-- just like I read every Grisham even though I didn't like the last one he wrote... or the one before that. I don't think it'll deter her biggest fans. But if this was the first time I was reading her I don't know if this book would make me a fan.

That said, this was entertaining on it's surface and not a terrible or uninteresting read. Just not one of my faves!

I loved getting my hands on Lisa Gardner's latest! I now have read all of her suspense books, and she is one of my hands-down favorites and an author I keep on recommending.

Sharlah, who now lives with foster parents (and Lisa Gardner fan favorites) Quincy and Rainie, and her dog Luka are inseparable. When older brother Telly comes back into Sharlah's life in a mysterious and murderous way during a blistering hot summer, Sharlah, Quincy, and Rainie join forces with local law enforcement under the command of Sheriff Shelly Atkins, an intriguing character herself (I hope Lisa Gardner writes more about her!).

Overall I could not put this book down and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. This installment of the Quincy and Rainie series is an offering that readers will relish. (It can be read as part of the series or as a standalone.)

Lisa Gardner has done it again with the latest in her Quincy and Rainie series. This is another great mystery/thriller with twists and turns that will keep you guessing right to the end. I loved it and hope to see more of Telly, Sharlah and Luka. The book stands on it’s own, but after reading it, you will probably want to read the other books in the series. You won't be disappointed!

t's been been years since the last book featuring Pierce Quincy and Rainie Conner, which is fair. After all this family has been through, it was kind of author Lisa Gardner to let them have a respite. In RIGHT BEHIND YOU, Quincy and Rainie are close to finalizing the adoption of their foster daughter Sharlah when they are called to consult on a case involving the shooting of two in a gas station. In short order, it turns out the prime suspect in these shootings is Sharlah's brother, Telly Ray Nash, who she hasn't seen since he killed their parents in self-defense years earlier. Told from the perspectives of Rainie, Quincy, Sharlah, and Telly, this book is not only excellent as a crime novel/thriller, but it also is an opportunity to see how Quincy and Rainie have grown as people and as a family while they've been away. This book will please fans of the series and of Lisa Gardner's other books.

This is a great novel. Lisa Gardner always holds my attention. I had a hard time putting this one down so I could work. Good characters and they were so well defined you feel that you know them personally. Read this book

Nine-year-old Telly Ray Nash and his sister Sharlah live in a dysfunctional abusive family where drunken behaviour and drug-fuelled anger are the norm. Their life is chaotic but five-year-old Sharlah has her beloved brother to look after her and look out for her. He prepares her simple meals, washes her clothes, takes her to school and takes her to the library where he reads to her, biding his time until he thinks it is safe to go home. He guards her at night when his parents entertain unsavoury guests who want to pay her visits. Then one night his parents have a violent row. His raging father stabs their mother and chases the terrified children around the house. Sharlah retrieves the baseball bat from her bedroom and hands it to Telly, who uses it to defend his sister, raining down blow after blow upon his father until he was dead and could not harm his two children. Sharlah spoke up for her brother during the ensuing investigation and he went on to receive counselling but no form of imprisonment: both children were kept apart and fostered in different areas after an expert deemed they should be kept away from one another.
This is the harrowing but compelling back story to this exciting new thriller, the seventh in the ‘Quincy and Rainie’ series of crime mysteries, returning after a long absence and voted in first place by Lisa Gardner’s Facebook fans when they were asked in which series they would like the new novel to be. Pierce Quincy is a retired FBI profiler married to Rainie Conner, an ex-law enforcement officer. They live with their foster daughter Sharlah and her dog Luka, once a serving police dog. They are months off becoming her adoptive parents. Unknown to them, Telly knows where his sister is living. He is now 17-years-old and living with Sandra and Frank, a teacher who has taken the decision to mentor Telly in his last year of foster care, preparing him for the workplace and independent living, but still with the support of foster parents. They live quite close by and Frank has already told Telly about Sharlah’s new life.
One morning Quincy is called in to help the sheriff with a local crime in his capacity as a Profiler. Surveillance footage has identified Telly as a spree-killer who shot out the cameras in the local convenience store. Two bodies lay dead on the stone cold floor. It appeared that Telly had also murdered his foster parents earlier that morning, shooting them both dead in their marital bed, before taking flight with provisions and an arsenal of guns. A tracker had already been summonsed and teams were out searching the area of the last known sighting of Telly; their task to track him down and preferably bring him in alive. When photographs of Sharlah are found on Telly’s discarded phone, alarm bells ring. It appears Telly will stop at nothing to get to his sister. He has been stalking her and neither Quincy nor Rainie knew anything was amiss. Sharlah is terrified that he will succeed in tracking her down and others will pay the price with their lives. She has decisions to make – flee or stay put, try to find Telly or wait for him to find her: whichever she chooses is shrouded in uncertainty and danger.
‘Right Behind You’ is an enthralling crime thriller that packs plenty of punches. The storytelling is excellent, fast paced and detailed: filled with information and facts, all meticulously researched. It’s clever, intelligently plotted and full of wonderful, wise, skilled characters, some of them with compelling stories of their own that greatly impact on the contemporary story. The tension and suspense is palpable from the very beginning. There are thrills and spills and curve balls and nothing is really as it would seem to be. This is a master class of a novel and I thank NetGalley and publisher Headline for my copy, sent to me in return for an honest review. This is right up my street and I loved it. It’s a 9.5/10 from me.

"Families aren't built in a day. But, they can be destroyed in an instant."

This was my first Lisa Gardner book, and I am surprised how much I really enjoyed it. I know this is book seven in the series, but it can be read as a stand alone. I really am interested in reading more about Quincy and Rainie now, and will probably grab book one in the series soon.

The plot of this book was amazing, and I give that 5/5 stars. My heart was in my stomach from page one until the last page of this story. The prologue was heart wrenching! They whole story will keep you on the edge of your seat. I really enjoyed the plot twists. I also feel LG did her research when it comes to past trauma with child abuse cases. Of course, this was taken to extremes, but it was still really well done.

I also liked the characters. You get to read about parts through Quincy and Rainie, Sharlah and Telly, and the sheriff and tracker. I really enjoyed them all where normally I would skip over some sections in other books. I mostly enjoyed learning about Tally and Sharlah and their tragic past. I love that even after being separated for so long, they still have a strong love for each other. LG did a good job of showing how important sibling connections are even after being separated when being placed into foster care.

The writing was amazing in some spots of the story, and lacked in others. If you are a fan of criminology, you will love this. For me, there were times when certain scenes were too detailed and I was ready for them to move on. I also did not like how almost every incident was repeated over and over again. This is the reason I took off 1 star.

Overall, this kept my attention and helped pull me out of a reading slump. I loved the plot and the characters. I am not normally a reader of thriller/mystery, but I am happy I picked this one up.

It was so great to be back with Quincy & Rainie, even though it made me want to go back and read the previous books again just to remember a little more about them. Quincy & Rainie have become foster parents to a troubled young girl Sharla, things have actually been going pretty well and Q & R are thinking of adopting the girl to make them an official family. But then there is a case, a double murder at a gas station leads police & Quincy to believe there is a spree killer on the loose but when they learn the identity of the shooter it hits way too close to home. The shooter is Sharla’s big brother, which makes this case very personal to both Quincy and Rainie.

This was a book that was almost impossible to put down I didn’t want to go to work just so I could finish and was up till the wee hours of the morning reading it finally finishing at about 2 am because I had to know how it ended.

Lisa Gardner is a great writer she keeps the suspense going and writes characters you care about and cheer for, this book is no exception.

Highly recommend!!

4 stars

I love Lisa Gardner. I know when I pick up one of her books, I am going to be entertained. And this one did not disappoint me at all. Two kids a boy and girl, brother and sister, both in foster care. The boy is 17, he is being mentored by a high school teacher and his wife. They are trying to teach him the basics of what he will need in the real world. Cooking, writing checks, shooting a gun, how to do laundry, etc. The girl is 12 and she is looking to be adopted by a retired FBI profiler and his partner. Both kids come from an abused family.

The boy goes on a shooting spree - or does he?

This story has so many plot twists and turns. I could not put it down. This is definitely not one you want to start around bedtime. People are not what they seem to be in this book. There are a lot of secrets that have been kept for many years. Those secrets are worth killing for.

Thanks to Penguin Group Dutton for approving my request to read this book and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! I had been hearing so many things about this book and I couldn't wait to get a copy. I've never read any other Lisa Gardner books, and this one didn't disappoint.

After a double murder at a local gas station, retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner are brought in to investigate. All of the evidence points to a young man, Telly Ray Nash. Which proves to be difficult for them, as he is the older brother to their soon-to-be adopted daughter, 13 year old Sharlah May Nash. Quincy and Rainie must race against the clock to find Telly because his shooting spree shows no end in sight as he makes his way through the woods of Oregon. Eight years prior, Telly had beaten their drunken father to death with a baseball bat in order to save both of their lives. Now that Sharlah has finally moved on from that night she must now ask herself, is her brother a hero or a killer? And how much will this cost her new family before they learn the final truth?

This book had me guessing until the very end! I really enjoyed it, as well as the writing style. Going back and forth from present day to flashbacks. While this book did great as a stand alone, I feel that I would have been more invested in the main characters had I read the other Lisa Gardner books! So something to start soon!

A big thanks to Dutton and Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

So excited that Quincy and Rainie are back in RIGHT BEHIND YOU. While the first part of the book was a bit slow paced and repetitive, after all the background, theories, and procedures were explained, the pace picked up and Ms Gardner lead us down an exciting and fast paced course to an unexpected twist of an ending. The secondary characters were very well drawn and interesting and reliable. Sheriff Shelly Atkins and Cal Noonan were a couple of favorites as were Luca and Molly. Cal is a cheesemaker, you know. As always the acknowledgments section was as interesting as the book itself. Please more of Quincy and Rainey, they have been missed.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

So great to see Rainie and Quincy again, I've really missed them, since their series was the first I read from Lisa Gardner. I like the changes in their lives and how they live and think. And there are dogs! This story is told from different viewpoints, which I usually don't care for, but I think it really worked with this story. I will definitely acquire this book for our library and recommend it to our patrons.

Things aren't always as they appear in this fast paced murder mystery/thriller. The story, told in first person by several characters will keep the reader guessing to the end. Two young children brutally murdered their abusive parents with a baseball bat. Fast forward eight years later and the foster parents of one of the children are shot to death followed by two more murders. Telly, age seventeen is the likely suspect so the hunt begins. Highly recommended.

This is why I read: to discover and devour engrossing, fascinating, mesmerizing novels like Right Behind You. There is nothing quite like the experience of becoming completely absorbed and involved in a good book, and this story with its riveting characters and thrilling, non-stop plot is a very good book. You will want to clear a few hours of time to read this since putting it down will not be an option.

Once there was a little family, in a rundown trailer, with a loving brother and sister whose favorite pastime was to visit the library. Once there was a mom who sang them songs and cooked ramen noodles with eggs for supper and who smelled of cheap perfume and cigarettes. Once there was a father – who drank and did drugs and eventually took a knife to that family. When the screaming stopped and the blood ceased flying all that remained was a battered boy and a broken girl and the baseball bat that had saved their lives.

Fast forward eight years. Now there is a new family. Sharlah, the girl whose life was defined by the night her dad decided to kill them all, has become foster daughter (soon to be adopted daughter) to retired FBI Profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner. The two are police consultants now, working out of the small village of Bakersville, Orgeon and their life mostly revolves around Sharlah and her German shepherd, Luka. Until the morning shots are fired at the EZ Gas station just outside of town and it looks like a spree killer has been born. A spree killer who just happens to be the other survivor of that fateful, violent night: Sharlah’s brother, Telly.

From the opening chapters it is clear that things are not as they seem. Something about the crime feels off from the beginning and the reader knows that a great deal more has to be revealed for us to have any inkling of what the hell is really going on. And that’s when the compulsive page turning begins – right at the start, and it doesn’t end till we have the final piece of the confounding, mind-blowing puzzle.

I won’t tell you much about the plot because mysteries are all about going on the journey of discovery for yourself. What makes this a journey worth going on, though, is not just the twists and turns but the characters. Wounded, silent Sharlah might just be the perfect daughter for Raine and Quincy. She understands they have their own demons and know the fight and struggle that is the everyday life of someone haunted by their past. Her silence, her acceptance of their quirks, her interest in their jobs, helps her fit with them in a way few other teenage girls could. But she doesn’t confide in them. This isn’t just typical teen wanting their privacy stuff – this girl has a secret. It is hinted at, alluded to, and in my opinion, guessable. But still it is there and Sharlah’s past trauma and her effort to keep ‘it’ hidden have shaped her into a cunning, determined young woman. She is an unlit match in a room full of dynamite throughout the entire tale and you can’t help but wonder just what will happen when she catches fire.

As exciting as she is though, Sharlah is the boring member of our dynamic duo. Because this tale is really about Telly and the foster family he lands in. The people with whom he has been for less than a year but to whom he is tied in strange and mysterious ways. The question that has defined Telly’s whole life is fully in play as he enters this particular part of his story: Who was born the night he saved his sister with that baseball bat? A heroic protector? Or a natural born predator? As this new chapter in Telly’s life pulls him ever closer to Sharlah, that question becomes THE question for Raine and Quincy, who both want to keep their new daughter safe and want to do what is right for the girl’s last living blood relative.

This is the seventh book in the FBI Profiler/Raine-Quincy series. You don’t need to read the others to appreciate this one and that’s because the book isn’t really about Raine or Quincy. They, along with Sheriff Shelly Atkins and tracker Cal, serve as the eyes and ears, hands and legs of the reader. They discover the secrets that tell us the tale of Telly and Sharlah. For their fans, this story will let you catch up on what is happening with them right now but not much time is spent on the establishment of their characters or telling us what they have been up to since we last saw them. This book reverses, in many ways, the cops vs. villain’s focus of mystery novels. Here the characters that will command your attention are the likely villains.

Ms. Gardner’s prose is always excellent and this novel is no exception. Combine that with her addictive plotting, and compelling characters and you have a novel that grips you from the first few pages and never lets you go. If you like mysteries even just a little, you will love Right Behind You. I highly recommend it to all.

by AAR's Maggie

Lisa kept me guessing till the very end. This is Lisa at her best. Pick this one up, you won't be sorry!!

A very well written page-turner that you will not want to put down. Definitely a five star read.

After a nine year hiatus, Lisa Gardner has brought back Quincy and Rainie and the FBI profiler series and it was worth waiting for. She has brought them up to date but all of the things that I loved about this series were back and even better than before! This was a real page turner with lots of twists and turns. Every time that I thought I had something figured out, the author would throw in a twist that I never saw coming and make me realize that I hadn't solved anything yet.

Quincy and Rainie are retired but still working on special projects for the police. They are also in the process of adopting their foster daughter - 13 year old Sharlah who had lived a horrific childhood. When Sharlah was 4, her older brother Telly beat their parents to death with a baseball bat and broken Sharlah's shoulder during the attack. As a child who has suffered abuse the couple is working very hard to make her part of their family and be not afraid of her past or her future. They have made a lot of progress when Quincy gets a call from the local sheriff to help with a homicide - four people are dead and the police are searching for a young man, who turns out to be Sharlah's brother Telly. Even through Sharlah hasn't talked to her brother in over 9 years, she is still afraid for him and tries to help him in her own way. That's all I can say about the plot without giving anything away but I will tell you that you will read this book very fast to find out how it ends.

I loved this book and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it. It's wonderful to have these two characters back - along with their wonderful soon to be daughter - and in the capable storytelling hands of such a fantastic author!

Thanks to Dutton for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.