STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE

5 stars out of 5

After I finished wonderful book, I learned that the author took a year off starting in 2021 to travel. She says she resisted any calls for writing - producing no book last year - but got many ideas for books to come. If this one is an example of what she churns out after a respite, I encourage her to get outta Dodge whenever the urge strikes.

Actually, this is the third in a series; I haven't read the others, but I had no trouble following this one and insofar as possible warming up to a the rather standoffish Frankie, who's a recovering alcoholic and ace finder of missing people. When Kaylee Pierson's attorney asks Frankie to meet with Kaylee - dubbed the Beautiful Butcher because she violently murdered 18 men - just 21 days before she's to be executed for her crimes, Frankie is skeptical. But Kaylee's pleas for Frankie to find her long-lost younger sister Leilani and the billionaire who "kidnapped" her touched a nerve, and Frankie agrees to give it a try (albeit reluctantly).

The trail leads to a remote atoll in the Hawaiian Islands owned by said billionaire, where she'll join a team of workers who are trying to make the island habitable while not disrupting the abundant flora and fauna including large killer crabs and (gulp!) arachnids with bodies bigger than a Sumo wrestler's fist. Those tasks are difficult enough, but it soon becomes clear that something else is afoot, making it hard for Frankie (and readers) to know who to trust. Communication with the outside world is quite limited in this remote place to begin with, and a violent storm that starts rolling in not long after the billionaire and his young lady friend arrive threatens to reduce it to zero and wreak havoc on everything and everyone in its path. But alas, the storm isn't the only danger threatening human life - and Frankie, assuming her decision of who to trust is spot on,  may be the only hope for survival.

All told, it's an exciting adventure with more than a few surprises along the way. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner (Grand Central Publishing, March 2024); 409 pp.