Melissa "Dog/Wolf Lover" Martin's Reading & Ramblings: where I lost her by T. Greenwood

Saturday, January 16, 2016

where I lost her by T. Greenwood

“Spellbinding. I loved everything about Where I Lost Her.”—Mary Kubica, bestselling author of The Good Girl

In her page-turning new novel, T. Greenwood follows one woman's journey through heartbreak and loss to courage and resolve, as she searches for the truth about a missing child.

Eight years ago, Tess and Jake were considered a power couple of the New York publishing world--happy, in love, planning a family. Failed fertility treatments and a heartbreaking attempt at adoption have fractured their marriage and left Tess edgy and adrift. A visit to friends in rural Vermont throws Tess's world into further chaos when she sees a young, half-dressed child in the middle of the road, who then runs into the woods like a frightened deer.

The entire town begins searching for the little girl. But there are no sightings, no other witnesses, no reports of missing children. As local police and Jake point out, Tess's imagination has played her false before. And yet Tess is compelled to keep looking, not only to save the little girl she can't forget but to salvage her broken heart as well.

Blending her trademark lyrical prose with a superbly crafted and suspenseful narrative, Where I Lost Her is a gripping, haunting novel from a remarkable storyteller.@goodreads

MY REVIEW:

4 STARS

How it all began.. Tess and her husband Jake head out of town to visit Tess best friend Effie. They are bringing Effie's girl back to NY where she is going to go to a ballet school. Tess has known Effie since they were little girls so she is considered an aunt to her kids. Devin is Effie's husband and the kids are Plum and Zu-Zu. Tess and Jake are going to spend a few days with them before going back home with Zu-Zu. --->Tess and Jake are having problems, they have been for years.. after several attempts at trying to conceive a child and a traumatic event trying to adopt put a split between them. And Jake seems to be starting his own life behind Tess's back but I'm not going into that.

So one night when Tess goes down to the store to get more wine for everyone, she sees a little girl standing by the road on her way back. She pulls over and goes to the girl who is bleeding, has no shirt, only wearing a tutu like bottom and lady bug boots. Tess tries to talk to her but she's too little and traumatized to speak. Tess goes back to the vehicle to get a shirt for the little girl and the little girl runs off into the woods. Tess runs after her but loses her. (I mean she shouldn't have walked away from her but I digress) Tess rushes back to the house and calls the police and this turns into a major hunt for the little girl. *Note* Cell phone is spotty around there hence her having to wait to get back to the house!

The sheriff acts like a real jerk from the beginning thinking Tess was hallucinating from drinking. But, he goes ahead with the investigations pulling out all the big guns, helicopter, dogs, volunteers, etc. They all search the woods for days.

After a few days Jake goes back to the city because of a contract he's working on for an author and the sheriff calls off the search and says the town is going to bring charges against Tess. He says she made up the whole thing to get attention because of something that happened in her past. I wanted to punch this man in the throat through-out the whole book and you will too if you read it!

Anyhoo, so Tess is just devastated that this man wants to stop looking for this child and she keeps looking on her own. I mean hello, wouldn't you. Tess finds out some really shady things are going down in this town. The girl at the childcare center out in the woods is not what she seems, there are some sex offenders living down the road from said childcare center and Effie's home, there are some other weirdos going around all drugged out and there is some animal abuse stuff going on.

Tess does get a good lawyer and he helps her with a lot of things. She can also tell him everything she is finding without worrying about it. There is also another good cop in the book that is talking with Tess about things. I'm not going to tell you what happens, but it's not good and it's good all at the same time.

The animal abusers do get what they deserve in a sense which is good because I hate me some animal abusers/killers etc.

I think this would be a good book for mystery/thriller fans. I thought it was good and I was so loving the end with the "in your face sheriff" moment!