Release: 1-9-2018

I almost did not request this book as an ARC. I am not usually a fan of mysteries or thrillers. But it’s 2018 and I could stand to experience something new, so I took the chance on Louisa Luna’s new novel and I was not disappointed. This ARC was provided by Doubleday Books via Netgally and Edelweiss+ in return for an honest review.

Two girls are taken from a Kmart parking lot and their mother is frantically looking for them. There seem to be no leads and the overworked, understaffed police are at a standstill, when the grandmother calls in a famous face from California. Alex Vega has found every person she has ever searched for (although the condition they are in when she finds them varies) and is now being paid to work either with or around the police in order to find the children. In addition to a tech genius called “the Bastard,” Vega enlists the help of a local, disgraced cop, Cap, who is also very skilled at solving cases and is now retired from police work because he took the fall for another cop.

Something remarkable about this book is how it bends your expectations, especially in regards to gender. Our famous, tireless investigator Vega is female, and Cap is a single dad who maintains an excellent relationship with his daughter Nell, who is no slouch in the intelligence department herself. The characters in this story are very interesting and you will worry about and care for them as the story moves forward.

There is a very important reason I like to give all books with a relatively slow start until about 50% on the ol’ Kindle; often something goes down by that point that picks up the pace and begins the race to the end. And a seemingly out of place murder starts our investigators on a trail that will end even more disturbingly than you might imagine. I was absolutely on the edge of my seat right until the end and it was just perfect.

If you’re a lover of mysteries and crime novels, you should definitely pick up Two Girls Down, out today at a bookstore near you!