A teen girl goes missing from a small farm town in Connecticut. Detective Linda Kane is faced with finding Cassie despite the casetriggering childhood memories of her best friend’s disappearance.
The Girl Left Behind is intense at the start- descriptive, free flowing and fast paced. I had an immediate connection with the characters with whom Phelps spent a lot of time building depth.
I’m very excited that Detective Kane could be a reoccurring character with her own series. Apparently, the full title is The Girl Left Behind (A Linda Kane Thriller, Book 1 of 1).
A police procedural in these modern times can no longer avoid hard topics and Phelpscovers intense current police issues such as the opiod epidemic and Black Lives Matter. He creates an interesting perspective from the police side where the main character is uninvolved in a shooting but still part of “the system.”
There are a few cheesy run-of-the-mill characters such as the sassy blond crime network reporter who will do anything to get a scoop.
Also, there were a lot of storylines happening, especially throughout the middle. The main storyline of the missing girl gets so lost. Hopefully, this was a character building book and the second Linda Kane story will get to the point.
Overall, I felt this was a great book and I will be reading the Linda Kane series. We have enough initial information about the characters for a long haul series. Okay, I’m going to make a statement and you should not take this lightly. I love all things Harry Bosch and Michael Connelly. And I really feel that Linda Kane has the potential to be the next Bosch. I know, that’s big, but I’m going to put it out there. Please don’t disappoint me Mr. Phelps! I will eagerly be awaiting book two.
Thank you BookSirens and M Williams Phelps for a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Phelps is a crime writer and investigative journalist (just like Michael Connelly). He has written over 32 books, mostly nonfiction true crime and a few history novels.
Phelps is a well known television personality. He hosted Dark Minds on my favorite true crime tv channel, ID (Investigation Discovery) and was a consultant on the hugely popular serial killer series Dexter.
Recipes
Apple Cider Donut Holes with Apple, Caramel and Maple Whiskey Filling
walking in and saying hello to Officer Brown behind the desk, the same face you'd seen for the past fifteen years, was about as comforting as the apple cider doughnuts, gourds, and squash sold up the road at the farm stand. This was Linda Kane's life. She desired little else.
Grown Up Pop Tarts
Linda poured herself a scotch. The chardonnay would not suffice for what she had planned. She needed liquid guts. Scotch grew those balls mighty quick.