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Book Review of The Girl Who Disappeared Twice (Forensic Instincts, Bk 1)

The Girl Who Disappeared Twice (Forensic Instincts, Bk 1)
MELNELYNN avatar reviewed 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.