Live To Tell

I feel bad for Lisa Gardner's neighbors.

Can you imagine living right next door to a woman with known sociopathic tendencies? She seriously knows her stuff. I've read her books before and I was completely enthralled twice before.

Here are the main players of this book -

Danielle: As a latency age child, she was the lone survivor of the mass murder/suicide of her family. In horror, she hid in the corner of her bedroom as she heard the gunshots that killed her mother, her brother, her sister, and finally, she was face to face with a gun pointed at her head, her father's leering face behind it and his voice taunting her. Then a gunshot and he's dead. 

Fast forward 25 years and Danielle is working in an acute pediatric care unit for the severely emotionally disturbed. This is where the story really begins.

D.D.: Your regular Boston police detective; incredibly intelligent, way hot and beautiful and looking to solve the current crime as quickly as possible. She wears tight clothes and is often on the make.

Victoria: Exhausted mother who lives under the constant threat of death. She receives death threats multiple times a day and tolerates verbal, emotional, and physical abuse most of every day. She has locks on the inside of her doors and locks up all of her knives. Her antagonist is none other than her 8 year old son, a severely disturbed child who frequently tells her he will be successful in slicing into her right here and indicates between which ribs.

New crime: An entire family is murdered. At first blush, it appears it is the father who killed them but, based on the blood splatter expert, along with the medical examiner and ballistic expert, this may not be the case. Fortunately, the father is not dead. Yet.

Although the story sounds like a blood and guts crime story, the psychological understanding of the characters (as pointed out by D.D. and a few others) is astounding. 

Very quick read. Not one to read when you only have a half an hour here or a half an hour there. Set aside a couple of hours and be willing to forego sleep.

Thanks to Cheryl from Pump Up Your Books for providing me with a review copy. I am not obligated to write a favorable review.