Review: The Girl Who Disappeared Twice by Andrea Kane

The Girl Who Disappeared Twice
by Andrea Kane
Release Date: May 31, 2011
2011 Mira Books
Softcover Edition; 400 Pages
ISBN: 978-0778329848
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Source: Review Copy from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations

4 / 5 Stars

Summary
If she'd only turned her head, she would have seen the car containing her daughter, struggling to get out. Struggling to escape her kidnapper.

Despite all her years determining the fates of families, veteran family court judge Hope Willis couldn't save her own. Now she's frantically grasping at any hope for Krissy's rescue. Her husband dead-set against it, she calls Casey Woods and her team of renegade investigators, Forensic Instincts.

A behaviorist. A techno-wizard. An intuitive. A former Navy SEAL. Unconventional operatives. All with unique talents and personal reasons for being part of Casey's group, they'll do whatever it takes.

Able to accurately read people after the briefest of encounters, Casey leads her crew to Krissy's home. There, she picks up the signs of a nervous spouse, a guilty conscience, a nanny that hides on her cell. She watches as secrets beg to creep into the open.

Forensic Instincts will dig through each tiny clue and eliminate the clutter. But time is running out, and even working around the clock, the authorities are bound by the legal system. Not so Casey's team. For they know that the difference between Krissy coming back alive and disappearing forever could be as small as a suspect's rapid breathing, or as deep as Hope's dark family history.

My Thoughts
The Girl Who Disappeared Twice was an interesting start to a new series by best-selling author Andrea Kane.  For a reader looking for everything in a novel, this one pretty much had it: there was romance, suspense, mystery, action, old secrets, duplicity, and even a little of the Mafia involved, but not in the way I expected.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this novel was the characters, their interactions with each other, and the character development that I can sense evolving, especially knowing this is the first in a planned series of books.  While Casey Woods appears to be the main protagonist in this story, she is definitely not the one I felt the most connected to simply as I felt she was too perfect.  While she had issues with her FBI boyfriend when it came to revealing and concealing pertinent information on the case, she just seemed to do everything right and I prefer my characters to be a little bit more flawed as it makes them seem more human.  Patrick, Ryan, Marc, and Hero are characters I absolutely adored and can't wait to learn more about them in future novels.  I also really like the potential development of a romance between Ryan and Claire and the explosive emotions that already exists between them.  This type of romance development has always been at the core of an Andrea Kane novel, but it was somewhat lacking in this one.  I am looking forward to seeing a little more of the romance, something she does so well, take more of a center stage around the thriller / mystery events.

The writing was exceptional, and has a way of grabbing you right from the start, despite the fact the plot line was somewhat predictable and I figured out the who-done-it and the big secret fairly early on.  I also had trouble believing the FBI would be so open to outside companies like Casey's zeroing in on an abduction scenario like this one, and giving her so much information, and allowing her into so much of what was happening.  This could be solely due to my own skepticism, and is definitely not due to an inside knowledge of the workings of the police.

Verdict
The Girl Who Disappeared Twice was an entertaining and fun read that I would recommend to anybody who enjoys good interaction between some interesting and quirky characters.  While the mystery and plot seemed to be pretty conventional, with no big surprises, it was still interesting and gripping nonetheless.  I have always enjoyed Ms. Kane's novels and looking forward to reading more about Casey and the gang in future installments.

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