national Arts Festival Banner

Friday, March 27, 2020

WHEN YOU SEE ME: REVIEW


If you’re into the thriller genre, “When You See Me” is highly recommended. (Review by Barry Meehan)

“You thought you were safe, but he’s still out there”

When You See Me” by Lisa Gardner has a truly gripping opening chapter, one which sets the scene for this fast-paced thriller featuring Gardner’s hard-working Sergeant Detective D D Warren. It is actually a follow-on from her D D Warren series dealing with the kidnapping and incarceration of Flora Dane at the hands of the psychotic Jacob Ness, but if you haven’t read them, it’s not a problem as When You See Me stands on its own. If you have read the three previous books in the D D Warren/Flora Dane series, however, (Find Her, Look for Me and Never Tell), so much the better, as you will get a much better understanding of the principal characters and what drives them.

The story is told through the eyes of four very different women – a young shooting victim whose mother calls her Chiquita, D D Warren, former victim and confidential informant Flora Dane and FBI agent Kimberley Quincy. Two hikers discover a shallow grave above the small town of Niche in Georgia, a picturesque spot in the Appalachian Mountains, frequented mainly by the hiking community during the summer months.

It would appear that the quaint town is just that, but beneath the surface lie a number of dark secrets. The townsfolk seem perfectly normal to outsiders, but all is not as it seems, as D D, Flora and Kimberley are soon to discover in their quest to solve the mystery of the body in the shallow grave, given the victim’s, and the town’s, possible links to Jacob Ness. Along with Flora’s geeky sidekick, computer analyst and crime enthusiast, Keith Edgar, the three women embark on a whirlwind investigation which shatters the peace of the small town, turning up more bodies as it twists and turns its way to an explosive climax.

Lisa Gardner’s writing style is fluid and eminently readable, as witnessed by her status as one of the foremost thriller writers of today, having sold millions of copies around the globe. If you’re into the thriller genre, When You See Me is highly recommended.

When You See Me is published by Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-1-529-12440-8 – Barry Meehan