Right Behind You

Goodreads Description

Is he a hero? Eight years ago, Sharlah May Nash’s older brother beat their drunken father to death with a baseball bat in order to save both of their lives. Now thirteen years old, Sharlah has finally moved on. About to be adopted by retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner, Sharlah loves one thing best about her new family: They are all experts on monsters. Is he a killer? Then the call comes in. A double murder at a local gas station, followed by reports of an armed suspect shooting his way through the wilds of Oregon. As Quincy and Rainie race to assist, they are forced to confront mounting evidence: The shooter may very well be Sharlah’s older brother, Telly Ray Nash, and it appears his killing spree has only just begun. All she knows for sure: He’s back. As the clock winds down on a massive hunt for Telly, Quincy and Rainie must answer two critical questions: Why after eight years has this young man started killing again? And what does this mean for Sharlah? Once upon a time, Sharlah’s big brother saved her life. Now, she has two questions of her own: Is her brother a hero or a killer? And how much will it cost her new family before they learn the final, shattering truth? Because as Sharlah knows all too well, the biggest danger is the one standing right behind you.

My Review

I'm going to start off with a confession - I've never read a book by Lisa Gardner before and so this book was a first for me. I didn't specifically avoid reading her books but one just never came across my path that I really wanted to read...until this one of course. I loved the blurb and I was drawn in by the premise of a young boy who was forced to kill his father in self-defence. I must also mention that this book is part of a series (I think it's book number 7) but from what I'd heard, the books in this series can be read as stand alone novels and so I decided to give this one a try. Obviously, it's always best to try and read books in order as the backstories of the characters can sometimes be important but I never felt prejudiced in that I hadn't read any of the earlier books in the series nor did I ever feel lost.

It was clear to me from the very first chapter that this author can write and that she has heaps of experience behind her. If I didn't know who the author was, I would have guessed that it was someone with experience. But did that good quality writing translate into a gripping story? Well, to be blunt, no. I didn't find myself rushing home every day to read the next chapter and unfortunately I never felt captivated by the plot or any of the characters. There were parts of the story that I enjoyed, namely the flashback chapters to Telly's life with his foster parents. Those chapters were interesting and I got a real feel for Telly and for the person that he was. What I didn't enjoy much in this book was the amount of time that seemed to be spent on tracking...tracking Telly, tracking Sharlah and so on. It felt to me that a lot of time was spent on events that didn't take the story anywhere and that slowed it down. I felt that better editing could have tightened the story up somewhat so that it moved a bit faster, with more action and less talking, pontificating, wondering and tracking. There also seemed to be a lot of repetition (yes, Cal was a cheese maker as well as a tracker, as we're told numerous times) and I never felt like Quincy and Rainie were integral to the story. They seemed to be side characters. And Sharlah's actions and thought processes towards the end of the story seemed much too advanced for a 13 year old.

Overall, I'm afraid to say that I didn't enjoy this one much. I actually found myself rushing through the pages so that I could get to the end. But, as often happens, I have seen plenty of great reviews for this book and so it will probably still appeal to fans of this author or readers who have read the other books in the series. Personally, I found that it lacked a punch. And it dragged.

My Rating: * *

Publication Date: 27 December 2016

Genre: Crime Thriller / Police Procedural

Format: Trade paperback

Source: Review copy sent to me by the publisher. Many thanks to author Sibel Hodge and Jonathan Ball publishers for my copy.