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The Girl Who Disappeared Twice (Forensic Instincts, Bk 1)
The Girl Who Disappeared Twice - Forensic Instincts, Bk 1
Author: Andrea Kane
SHE COULDN'T STOP IT. NOT THEN. NOT NOW. — 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 gras...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780778329848
ISBN-10: 0778329844
Publication Date: 6/1/2011
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 27

3.9 stars, based on 27 ratings
Publisher: Mira
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

kdurham2813 avatar reviewed The Girl Who Disappeared Twice (Forensic Instincts, Bk 1) on + 753 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Another great thriller that kept me turning pages until the end. Although, with this one I think I found the perp a little ahead of when I wanted because I was able to put the pieces together as they came instead of all at the end. I will not spoil the book because I think that it was semi easy to come to the conclusion as to who was a part of the crime.

A story wrapped around this family with a mom and dad who aren't the most attentive parents due to their high stress full time jobs find themselves looking for their daughter who has been kidnapped. The twist is the mother herself had a twin that was kidnapped at the early age of 6 years old. I loved the eeriness that kidnapping happened twice in this woman's life and how ironic that her name is Hope.

A psychological thriller that made me wonder how it was done instead of who because I cracked the code! I would pass this book along to those who enjoy the thrillers, no gore or mess, just a who dun it!
MELNELYNN avatar reviewed The Girl Who Disappeared Twice (Forensic Instincts, Bk 1) on + 669 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Felicity Akerman was 6 years old when someone came into her room at night where she and her twin sister Hope were sleeping. When they left, they took Felicity with them. Felicity has never been found.

Hope Willis, nee Akerman, is now a Family Court judge who lives in Armonk, NY with her husband Edward, a defense attorney with a prestigious firm, and her five-year-old daughter Krissy, who is in kindergarten. She returns home one evening and her nanny, Ashley, tells her that the children at the school said that Hope picked Krissy up from school already. But she didn't. Krissy is missing and her favorite bear is missing from her bedroom as well.

After calling the police, Hope also calls Casey Woods, an independent profiler. Her Forensic Instincts team includes Ryan (techno-wizard, gym rat, mountain bike pro, and ultramarathon runner), and Marc (former Navy SEAL, former FBI agent including a stint in the Behavioral Analysis Unit, base jumper). Together, the team is formidable. Working with the FBI, an intuitive named Claire Hedgleigh, a former FBI agent named Patrick Lynch who was the special agent when Felicity was kidnapped, and a human scent evidence bloodhound named Hero - Casey's latest present from her beau, they push hard to find Krissy before it's too late.

What a good book! There's a bit of everything - decent character development, a little bit of romance, secrets, tons of suspects, affairs, duplicity, a little bit of Mafia action .. all of the things that make a reader want to keep on reading all the way through to the end, which is sad and surprising, although I did have the kidnapper figured out much earlier; I just wasn't sure how it would all play out. Realistic? Maybe not so; I really can't imagine the FBI being so free and loose with information to a civilian group. Interesting? Definitely. The dialogue was a bit weak here and there, but the action more than made up for it. A couple of times I found myself biting my lip, waiting to see what the next turn would be. Would I recommend it? Certainly, especially for a warm-weather read when you don't want something necessarily light and fluffy.
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pottergal avatar reviewed The Girl Who Disappeared Twice (Forensic Instincts, Bk 1) on + 91 more book reviews
Well written and interesting set of characters. Will want to read more forensic instincts for sure. I knew who the kidnapper was immediately but that didn't detract from enjoying how the plot evolved and how the characters interacted. Lots of potential here for a rich series and with the most recent book in the series only a year old , it looks like I'm not the person who liked it.
robinmy avatar reviewed The Girl Who Disappeared Twice (Forensic Instincts, Bk 1) on + 2042 more book reviews
Casey Woods is contacted by a frantic Judge Hope Willis who explains that her daughter has been kidnapped and wants Casey's team on the case. Forensic Instincts is a group of experts who aren't afraid to bend the law to get their job done. Now they are helping the police and FBI search for Krissy Willis who was taken from school grounds. Soon Casey and her team are uncovering possible connections to the mob, a possible ransom, and secrets from another kidnapping 30 years ago.

As the team interviews Krissy's parents and nanny, a large suspect list begins to develop. While Casey and her team track down clues and eliminate suspects, they know that the hopes of finding Krissy alive are getting slimmer and slimmer.

This is the first book in the series and we are introduced to many, many characters. Forensic Instincts is a group of private investigators that consists of Casey who is a behaviorist/profiler, Ryan the computer expert, and Marc a former Navy SEAL and ex-FBI agent. They are soon joined by a new member of the team, a bloodhound named "Hero". They are joined by the police, FBI, a clairvoyant, and a former agent who worked on the disappearance of a young girl many years ago. There are so many characters it sometimes was a little hard to remember what each person's role was in the investigation. I enjoyed the book, even though I thought the identity of the kidnapper was obvious. The story was interesting and I still wanted to know the reason behind the girl's disappearance. My rating: 4 Stars.
donkeycheese avatar reviewed The Girl Who Disappeared Twice (Forensic Instincts, Bk 1) on + 1255 more book reviews
Family court judge Hope Willis is frantic when she receives a call asking if she picked up her daughter Krissy from school. She and her husband Edward and their nanny Ashley cannot locate her anywhere. It brings back too many bad memories for Hope, as her twin sister was kidnapped when they were six and Felicity was never found.

The first twenty-four hours are critical in kidnapping cases and Hope is wasting no time calling in the big guns. Sure, the local police and the FBI are called in but she also immediately hires Forensic Instincts, a private firm of investigators with a high success rate. Casey Woods is the owner and a renowned behaviorist. Rounding out her team is Adam, a former navy Seal, Ryan the techno-geek and she really wants to hire Claire, a clairvoyant.

The team just closed a high profile case and they are all tired, but immediately get to work on Krissy's abduction. The Forensic team can bend the rules a bit to gather leads and other information that the others can't. Casey's boyfriend Hutch brings her a gift of a bloodhound, Hero, which is a welcome addition to the team.

The investigation veers into different directions as the Willis family's secrets are delved into leading into mob connections. An old investigator, Parker, who led the team for Felicity's abduction thirty years ago, appears convinced the two kidnappings are related. He tries valiantly to find that link. But as they all keep digging into different directions that may or may not be connected, the time table on finding Krissy diminishes.

The Girl Who Disappeared Twice is a great thriller. Casey Woods appears to be the main protagonist in this novel but I just couldn't find a connection with her. She was too know-it-all and didn't have a lot of compromise in her character unless it worked out to her benefit. It would have helped to have more background on her character to understand her better. The plot was tight and although I figured out who the kidnapper was half way through the book, I wanted to know why and also to see how the characters would come to the same conclusion. A gripping, thrilling drama with fantastic writing and a handful of diverse characters that I would love to see in another thriller.

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