Taken in the Cold by Roger Stelljes Blog Tour for Booktoure

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Taken in the Cold by Roger Stelljes Synopsis: "Make sure you wrap up warm for school, honey. A blizzard is on the way." Ten-year-old Teddy rolls his eyes at his mother. But then he hears a bang... By the time police arrive, Teddy's mother is dead. His open school backpack is strewn across the hallway. And Teddy is nowhere to be found.   When gunshots ring out from an exclusive family home on the edge of Northern Pine Lake,  Agent Tori Hunter  races through the gathering snowstorm to discover that  ten-year-old Teddy Marist has disappeared . His mother and her new boyfriend are dead in the family kitchen, breakfast still cooking on the stove. And racing to track down Teddy's father,  Tori finds he is missing too.   Local police are certain this is a simple case of a jealous ex-husband turned violent over his recent divorce. But interviewing everyone she can about Teddy's father, Tori's gut has her questioning if he would really kidnap his own child?  An...
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Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner (Publication Day: January 19, 2021)

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Title: Before She Disappeared
Author: Lisa Gardner
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Format: Kindle
No. of Pages: 395
Date of Publication: January 19, 2021


Description: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a propulsive thriller featuring an ordinary woman who will stop at nothing to find the missing people that the rest of the world has forgotten

Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will--searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.

A new case brings her to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier. Resistance from the Boston PD and the victim's wary family tells Frankie she's on her own--and she soon learns she's asking questions someone doesn't want answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to discover the truth, even if it means the next person to go missing could be her.

My Thoughts: Wow is what I have to say first about Before She Disappeared. It follows Frankie Elkin who finds missing people -- particularly minorities. Frankie is also an addict and has been sober for many years. Frankie has located 14 people so far and she is looking to bring him Angelique Lovelie Badeau (LiLi as she is known to her family and friends). 

I am a huge fan of Frankie as she is very relatable. As previously mentioned, she is an addict of alcohol and has been sober for many years. She does not have a job and moves from city/town searching for missing minorities whose case has gone cold. Frankie is not a minority herself, as she is white. Many people question her motives in the story, however, she simply wants to find people and bring them home. She wants to find those that others have forgotten or did not find important enough to utilize all of law enforcements resources in finding.

Angelique or LiLi is a Haitian teenage girl who disappeared 11 months ago. She has the ambition and goal to stay in America. She is on a temporary visa as she and her brother are originally from Haiti and immigrated to America after the earthquake like many others. 

All of the characters that Lisa Gardner has created for this book are extremely relatable and the story seems very realistic to me. As you learn more about LiLi and her disappearance and how the police handled her case as well as how Frankie is viewed in the city of Mattapan, which is a Haitian community, it is easy to draw some similarities to the world that we live in now.

The story moves at a nice pace and it is really hard to put the book down. LiLi's disappearance is not all what it seems to be which really helps keep you drawn into the book. Frankie continues to struggle with her addiction throughout the book which keeps her relatable and realistic. I absolutely loved how difficult it was to figure out what happened to LiLi as Lisa Gardner keeps you guessing until the very end.

Rating: 5 out of 5. If you are looking for a book that is a page turner and will keep you guessing until the very end than this is the book for you. It does not appear that Before She Disappeared is going to be a series but that of a stand alone book. However, I am hoping that we will see more of Frankie Elkin and she continues to search for more missing individuals as Before She Disappeared has left me wanting more.

Purchase book: Amazon
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About the Author: Lisa Gardner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty suspense novels, including The Neighbor, which won Thriller of the Year from the International Thriller Writers. An avid hiker, traveler and cribbage player, she lives in the mountains of New Hampshire with her family.

Many thanks to Dutton Books and Netgalley for this review copy. This is my honest opinion.

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