Book Review of Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner
I dipped back in time for this one. It’s book seven of the Quince and Rainy series by Ms. Gardner and was published in 2017. It hits all the buttons, justice, vengeance, and redemption. And I read the paperback form of it. First fiction paper book I’ve read in several years. My mother-in-law had a signed copy at the house.
This book is also the best book I’ve read since Waterkeeper by Charles Martin in early 2021. It has a little bit of everything you could want in a mystery. Former FBI profilers (Quince and Rainey), a retired police dog, foster kids, a small town (Bakersville, OR) woman sheriff with an interesting back story, even some mobsters. What else could you want?
One interesting aspect of this story is that the series characters, Quince and Rainey, are not really the main characters. I’d say Sharlah – their soon to be adopted foster kid, and her big brother Telly Ray Nash are the main characters. From Sharlah and Telly we get first person point of views. For Telly it’s past tense and for Sharlah it’s present tense. Other point of views include Quince, Rainey and Sheriff Atkins. The changes in POV and tense were neither jolting nor enhancing. Didn’t find them distracting or enlightening. Some might.
The story starts with a prologue of backstory of Telly and Sharlah. Then we’re into Sheriff’s Atkins’ point of view and the first murder scene, a convenience store / gas station in the middle of nowhere. And it’s not the last murder scene. The premise is a young boy on a shooting spree. I really can’t go into much of the story because I don’t want to give anything away. There are several plot twists. While I form some suspicions about halfway through, that things are not exactly as they seem, I’m not sure until things are revealed.
I don’t use tired statements like the book really grabbed me, but in this case, it did. And I enjoyed reading it and looked forward to the next time I could. The family dynamics of Quince, Rainey and Sharlah was fascinating. Good glimpse into the trials and tribulations of fostering, especially of older kids. Sharlah is thirteen and Telly is seventeen. The action was the appropriate level. The plot twists were well done. Only one thing that I thought should be different. Chapter 42 should have come before chapter 41. What is revealed in chapter 41 makes chapter 42 pretty much useless.
Some profanity. No sex. The violence isn’t over the top. Another interesting aspect for me was several mentions of having a hole in one’s heart and what can fill it. Being a Christian, my answer to that is Jesus. Unfortunately, this book never gets there.
Justice is served. Vengeance has a cost. A couple characters begin their path to redemption. Overall, a great read. It’s going to replace Win as number one for this year.
Book Rankings for 2022
- Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner
- Win by Harlen Coben
- Murder Board by Brian Shea
- The Man Burned by Winter by Pete Zacharias
- You Are Invited by Sarah A Denzil
- Girl, Alone by Blake Pierce
- One Night in Sedona by Carrie Latimer.
- Coffin Cove by Jackie Elliott
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