One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner @LisaGardnerBks @DuttonBooks @NetGalley

Kaceey’s Review:

Frankie Elkin has devoted her life to helping find people once the authorities have given up. She is rather broken but continues to forge ahead, putting others ahead before herself.  

When she hears about a search party that has gathered for the fifth anniversary of Tim, a missing hiker, she quickly hitches a ride to Wyoming to join the search/recovery party.  

A ragtag of a team including the hiker’s father – large and in charge, the local mountain guide, a large man who dedicates his time in search of Bigfoot (yup! Not a misprint…he is determined to find Bigfoot!) and the missing hikers 4 closest friends (who were hiking/camping with Tim when he vanished).

Only for some reason, they don’t seem to want her there.  Hmmm….. is someone hiding something? Frankie is determined to find out what exactly happened to this hiker.

Wow!  This was one frightening hike! There is definitely more going on in these mountains and it’s not long before they are in over their heads and may find themselves in the same predicament as Tim. Now it’s a fight for survival! 

So I’m not the most outdoorsy person around. (to say the least). Sitting in my backyard with a book and a cup of tea is as close to camping as I will get. And after reading this book! Yup! I am staying put!

My only drawback- I did have a few issues with some of the medical aspects of this book. When I read I try to put my nurse’s cap aside (no! I don’t really have one! Eeks!) But there were just too many times I shook my head with some of the inaccuracies.

A buddy read with Susanne that garnered a lot of discussions.

Susanne’s Review:

Love the storyline and the tension but this one didn’t quite do it for me – and I have a great reason.  It’s all about Frankie..

Hear me out Folks!

I’m a huge Lisa Gardner fan.  While I haven’t yet read all of her books, I’ve read most of them and will say that Flora Dane is my favorite character of Lisa Gardner’s so far. Having read the prior Frankie Elkin’s book, I admit to being a little disappointed. I didn’t quite feel the same adoration for her, so I went into this one with a bit of trepidation. (I admit, however, that it takes time to love a new character). That said, we all got to know who Frankie was, quite well, in Before She Disappeared. In that book, Frankie was a pretty tough gal, who was kind, yet strong and was a hard nut to crack.  

First, let me say that I really enjoyed the storyline in One Step Too Far, including Frankie, aiding in the search for Tim O’Day, who has been missing in the wilderness in Ramsey, Wyoming for over 5 years. Someone doesn’t want him found and they will do anything to stop that from happening. 

The tension here never lets up. Full of action, intrigue, and suspense, I was all in! (So was Kaceey!  Whoop!) 

My issue with this book is with the character of Frankie, herself. Here, Frankie seemed like an entirely different character than she did in Before She Disappeared. It’s true that Frankie was out of her element in the woods, having never really been hiking, camping, or rock climbing before, however, the core elements that made up her character in the prior book were missing here – she was neither mentally strong nor self-assured or even remotely confident in her persons, until the very end of the novel. Simply put, she seemed like an entirely different character altogether. If I ignored that aspect of the book, I enjoyed it immensely.  I chalked this up to this only being the second book in the series and the author, Lisa Gardner, not quite having her character fully fleshed out yet, which was unfortunate. I do however look forward to seeing what happens with Frankie Elkins as I think she has potential.  (That said, I personally hope Flora Dane’s story isn’t over yet!) 

A fantastic buddy read with Kaceey that gave us much to discuss.  Kaceey, thank you for listening to my thoughts on this one – especially all of my thoughts on the character of Frankie!  You’re the best! 

A big thank you to Penguin Group Dutton for the arc via NetGalley.

Published on Goodreads and Twitter.