Next Girl Missing: A completely addictive and gripping crime thriller with a shocking twist (A Sally Fairburn Crime Thriller Book 1)
Book Description
The little girl fidgets in her seat, wringing the ends of her scarf in a rush of panic. She tugs at the car door handle but it doesn’t open. Tears well in her eyes. “I want my mommy.”
Four years ago, six young girls were snatched from the streets of quiet, suburban Pioneer Heights—chilling, fake “missing” posters of each victim hung around town just before they were taken. Ex-police officer Sally Fairburn has always been haunted by the case and their inability to bring the girls home. Having lost her own daughter, she knows only too well the pain it brings…
Four years on, the wide brown eyes and neat braids of twelve-year-old Anna Moorhouse—the last girl to disappear—still plague Sally’s dreams. She has never stopped fighting to bring the devastated families back together, but all leads have gone cold. Until Sally receives a chilling call out of the blue: their former main suspect, in prison for another crime, wants to talk to her… alone.
Desperate for answers, Sally races to interview him. But a horrifying discovery stops her in her tracks: a missing poster—on her daily running route, in the same style used four years ago—with Sally’s own face on it…
Not only is Sally in grave danger, but the more threats she receives, the more convinced she becomes that the killer is a lot closer to home than she ever could have imagined… But can Sally finally catch him before any more innocents disappear—and before Sally herself becomes his next victim…?
Fans of Lisa Regan, Greg Olsen and Melinda Leigh will love this gripping new crime thriller series. Prepare to stay up all night!
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Next Girl Missing' by L.A Larkin.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for L.A Larkin, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 16th June 2023.
This is the third book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'Widow's Island' and 'The Safe Place' which I would also highly recommend. It is also the first book in 'A Sally Fairburn Crime Thriller' series.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of Lisa Regan, Greg Olsen and Melinda Leigh will love this gripping new crime thriller series. Prepare to stay up all night!' I am a MASSIVE fan of all of three of these amazing authors so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of L.A Larkin and if this is half as good as 'Widow's Island' and 'The Safe Place' it is guaranteed to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of 59 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is set in Franklin, Tennessee, USA 🇺🇸.
This book is written in third perspective and the main protagonist is Sally Fairburn. The benefits of third person perspective are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.
'Next Girl Missing' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book L.A Larkin discusses/includes domestic abuse, death of a child and suicide.
Wow!!! What a fast paced, shocking and page turning heart racer!!!
This book is extremely well written with extremely vivid descriptions that leaves you feeling the heat and leaves you with sweat dripping down your face. The cover, title and synopsis suit the storyline perfectly.
The storyline is action packed and very fast paced. Although I enjoyed 'Widow's Island' and loved 'The Safe Place' also by LA Larkin I must say this one absolutely hooked me and the improvement in LA Larkin's writing technique is evident throughout. In this suspense packed crime book we meet Sally Fairburn who is an ex police officer. She has always been haunted by a case from four years ago when six young girls were snatched from Pioneer Heights. Just before each of them were taken fake missing posters of them were posted around the streets. Sally lost her own daughter so know the pain the families are going through and has never stopped trying to reunite the families but all leads have gone cold. However, this changes when Sally receives a call out of the blue from an inmate who just happened to be their previous main suspect. Sally is determined to interview him but when she discovers an identical poster to the ones from the case four years ago but with her face on it this time things take a turn for the worse. With Sally receiving threats will she back down or put herself in danger? Will she ever get the answers she is looking for? Grab this explosive book to get the answer to these questions and many more. I just couldn't put this gritty and suspense packed page turner down and each and every time I promised myself one more chapter each one ended so I just had to know what happened next. Well it would have been just rude to have put it down so I read one more, then another until I had completely devoured it in one sitting!!!! The storyline is multilayered with several plots going on and each one just as addictive and explosive as the next. Larkin weaved them all together perfectly and the ending was an explosive twist I would have never seen coming!!! It is getting alot harder to shock me but Larkin blew my mind with this one so a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS is in order!!!The storyline is filled with tension, family, heartbreak, fear, stress, suspense, twists and everything that will keep your heart pounding. I am please that this book highlights domestic abuse and suicide. Both of these are sadly regular occasions and the devastation that both events leaves have tragic consequences. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the next book in this series which is called 'Her Deadly Truth' and which I am off too read next!!!
Another HUGE success by this amazing author!!! Clear your schedules as you will not be able to put this fantastic page turner down!!!
It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead protagonists but also any characters that may make repeat appearances during the series too.
There was a wide range of strong, realistic and unique characters. I absolutely loved Sally and became completely invested in her. She has had an awful past having suffered from abuse and lost her daughter but instead of wallowing in pity she is determined to fight for families to get their answers, as well as her own. She has gone from an abused wife to police officer to an advocate for victims. She stands up for herself along with those others who are victims. I love how empathetic she is as well as being such a fantastic and strong female lead. I loved when there are strong female leads in books being female myself I always seem to connect more to female leads. Sally is a mum like myself and even though she lost her daughter through suicide she still has her son Paul even though their relationship is frictional!!! I can definitely relate to this being a mum of three boys myself!! Sally's ex Scott who is also a police officer is a complete plick who is a manipulative and lying bully who I could not stand!!! I loved watching Sally grow in strength and just adored her personality. I really cannot wait to see her continuing to go from strength to strength and learn more about her on the next book in this promising series. I won't say any more as I don't want to give too much away but regardless of how you feel about each of the characters they all came together perfectly to make this a gripping and addictive page turner!!!
Yet another absolutely fantastic read LA Larkin!!! Congratulations on another huge success and here's to your next one 🥂 This is exactly why you are one of my favourite authors!!!
Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the first two chapters of Larkin's ''Her Deadly Truth' which promises to be just as addictive as this book and is one I'm definitely looking forward to reading myself!!
Overall a heart racing, fast paced, non stop action packed psychological thriller that will keep you up late turning the pages
Genres covered in this book include Serial Killers, Women Sleuths, Police Procedural, Murder Thriller, Mystery, Thriller, Women's Literary Fiction, Women's Crime Fiction, Serial Killer Thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Suspense, Crime, Thriller & Mystery Adventures, Murder Thrillers and Crime Fiction amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of 'Gone Girl', 'Behind Closed Doors', 'The Housemaid', 'The Night She Disappeared', 'The Perfect Couple', 'The Family Across The Street ', 'The Family Upstairs', Shari Lapena, Karin Slaughter, Melinda Leigh, Kendra Elliot, Lisa Regan, Greg Olsen, Paula Hawkins, Lisa Jewell, Gillian Flynn, Freida McFadden, Rachel Abbot and anyone who loves an explosive ending!!!
336 pages
This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £9.99 for the paperback via Amazon at time of review which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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About L.A. Larkin
L.A. Larkin’s crime and psychological thrillers have won her fans all over the world. Described as a superb “chiller thriller” writer by Marie Claire magazine, and praised by the king of crime, Lee Child, for her “fast and immersive” thrillers, Louisa’s novels will keep you reading all night.
Her new Sally Fairburn series kicks off with Next Girl Missing (book 1) and Her Deadly Truth (book 2), available from all online bookstores from June 16, 2023.
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