I was definitely a slow paced book in the beginning but once the things started adding up it went by so fast. I’m so surprised who kidnapped Debbie. And how Harte figures it out. I loved reading it and I always hated reading.

I think I'm being quite generous with my 4-star rating. While the story lacked the expected twists and was occasionally dull, it's still within my favorite genre. The climactic action at the end was enjoyable enough to maintain my rating.

The book started off slow, however it slowly drew me in. As each chapter came to an end my interests advanced. Overall it offered an exciting thriller with a lovely closure! Glad to have kept turning the pg.

I love the detailed writing.

Page turner! Read the book within 24 hours…can’t wait to read more of the series.

The Next Girl details the story of a missing woman, kidnapped years prior and imprisoned since, whose case is finally solved due to the sudden appearance of an abandoned new born baby. Though a proactive premise, the story falls flat due to its slow pacing to a rushed delivery of more exciting moments leaving no pay off for the time the reader’s invested waiting for something interesting to happen. The story is told from 3 different perspectives, a device that I normally appreciate, but it was just not used effectively here. Rather than providing unique insight into the toll this tragedy is taking on each of the characters, very little is said about the characters’ emotions or thoughts and no unique perspective on the events occurring is provided. This merely leads to a lot of repeated information, contributing to the problematic pacing and making the story feel redundant, and therefore, unnecessarily long. Not only were similar events detailed by 3 different parties, but scenes, like Gina interrogating witnesses or checking on Debbie’s family, followed a similar format every single time. What’s more, these scenes rarely provided valuable information that could drive the plot forward and are ultimately unnecessary. The story’s redundancy, driven by repeated story structure and use of multiple perspectives, was only compounded by the author’s limited vocabulary as she recycled the same words again and again throughout the book. For example, “sob” or some conjugation was used 92 times in the novel. Overall, the idea showed promise but it was squallered by the execution. Had the story been told in 350 pages instead of 700, I think it would have been a real page turner and a much more enjoyable read.

The text and dialogue were juvenile and predictable. The constant mention of the head cold running through the station was, apparently, unnecessary as it had no bearing on the story. The whole premise of the book was not unique. Overall it felt like I was watching a very old rerun of Law and Order SVU. I would not recommend this author.

I found this book on accident, and I am so glad I did!!!! It’s so amazing, and it hooks you where you can’t put it down. I can’t wait to read the next ones!!!

Couldn’t stop reading this mystery with all the twists & turns! Finished in 2 days

It was a very good book that held my attention right up til the end!!