Lisa Gardner is one of my favorite female authors (and favorite authors in general). If you’re unfamiliar with her books, she has a few “series” with recurring characters. However, you DO NOT need to read all of the books in order to get the full value of the books. They can be read as standalone. It’s a detail here or there that may be missed. When I got my hands on her newest Frankie Elkin story, One Step Too Far, I was PUMPED. Thanks, Netgalley!

The Story

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a thrilling new novel that sends Frankie Elkin into the woods in search of a lost man–and the shocking truth about why he went missing in the first place.

Frankie Elkin, who readers first met in Before She Disappeared, learns of a young man who has gone missing in a national forest. Law enforcement has abandoned the search, but a crew of people led by the young man’s father are still looking. Sensing a father’s desperation, Frankie agrees to help–but soon sees that a missing person isn’t all that’s wrong here. And when more people start to vanish, Frankie realizes she’s up against something very dark–and she’s running out of time.

My Thoughts

For starters, One Step Too Far was a five star read for me. After I finished it, I just kept walking around my house saying, “Oh my gosh, that book was so good. Five star book.” (Yes, I realize this makes me sound like a nut to walk around my house talking to myself, but this book was seriously that good.) I finished it “so late” (AKA after 9:30PM) that none of my family was awake for me to talk to them about it.

When I started reading One Step Too Far, I feared that it would just turn into one big camping trip and feel repetitive the whole time. That is not at all the case.

I will say that the concept of Frankie as a whole seems a little bit far fetched. She’s this nomad who travels the nation following news stories to find long missing persons. In One Step Too Far, the most recent missing person went missing five years ago. I’m sure there are plenty of people who live a nomadic life like this, but one in which they predominantly find missing persons seems odd to me.

It seemed extra odd in this book though. Frankie was on her way to another missing person’s case when she picked up this one. She just happens to find a ride into town and immediately stumbles upon the crew looking for this one? It could have used just a little more exposition.

One of my favorite things about the Frankie Elkin stories is the relationships she builds with people. I was so INVESTED in the characters in One Step Too Far that I was in tears in the end. I was actively rooting for and hoping for these characters. It has been a while since I felt that kind of kinship with characters in a book. I know…here I am, sounding like a nut again.

Now, there’s a part of the book that I got hung up on. However, it’s a bit of a spoiler, so I’ll tuck it at the very end of this post.

I think there’s another Frankie Elkin story coming out in January, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. 2022 is supposed to be my year of not buying any books, but I actually gave in and purchased One Step Too Far for my shelves.

SPOILER AHEAD

I reached one point in the book where the SAR dog, Daisy, goes missing (along with her handler). I scoured the internet when I reached that part (at 40% or so) to see if there was any information about Daisy. I hate to leave a dog lost or hurt when I’m reading, but there was just too much left for me to read that evening.

Unfortunately, there were no answers online, so here is your answer. DAISY MAKES IT OUT ALIVE. I repeat, no harm comes to the dog in One Step Too Far.

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