The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day

A special thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alice Fine was kidnapped when she was a child. But against all odds, her police officer father was able to find her and bring her home, she was the "lucky one." But Alice has never forgotten what happened to her. She spends her free time volunteering for a website called The Doe Pages in the hopes of finding other missing people.

When a familiar face shows up on her screen, Alice is stunned to realize that it is the same man who kidnapped her decades earlier. The post disappears as quickly as it appeared. She enlists help from her Doe friends—Alice must find her kidnapper before he strikes again. This is where she crosses paths with Merrily Cruz, who has been searching for her quasi-stepfather who has been reported missing.

The women's lives collide and secrets that have been buried for decades come to life.

Told from Alice and Merrily's perspectives, Rader-Day's latest is an incredibly slow burn. Unfortunately, this novel just didn't work for me. The first few chapters were all over the place. It was also too long with the plot bottoming out somewhere in the middle.

What I did like was that the women were not typical leading ladies with Rader-Day incorporating a (dare I say) more mature character. There were some interesting twists at the end, but I'm not sure that they were worth the investment.

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LORI RADER-DAY is a three-time Mary Higgins Clarke Award nominated author of Under a Dark Sky, The Day I Died, Little Pretty Things, and The Black Hour.

Rader-Day lives in Chicago.

Under a Dark Sky by Lori Rader-Day

A special thank you to Edelweiss and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Eden Wallace is a widow that is suffering not only with grief, but suffers from a phobia of the dark.  She is a shell of her former self—she doesn't work, has given up on photography, and experiences night terrors so severe that she cannot sleep unless all of the light are on.

In her late husband's effects, Eden finds paperwork for a reservation at a dark sky park.  She decides to face her fear of the dark and go on the anniversary trip he had planned for them.  But when she arrives at the cabin, instead of a private retreat, she finds herself among a group of friends that have gathered for a reunion.  Eden can't believe her bad luck and decides she will leave first thing the next morning.  In the middle of the night, a scream wakes the group, one of their friends has been murdered, and everyone is a suspect.

Eden must unpack her fears to learn who is lying, who is telling the truth, and to find out who is the killer.

I enjoyed The Day I Died and was thrilled to be among the first to read Under a Dark Sky. Rader-Day pens some interesting characters in an Agatha Christie type story.  Eden is a flawed character dealing with a traumatic event that has left her damaged and fragile.  Her complexity and fear, coupled with grief and vulnerability make her the perfect unreliable narrator.

The story unfolds and exposes secrets and lies about all of the characters—none of them are who they appear to be.  The narrative plays out with the blame and focus shifting from one person to the next.  Beyond the thriller/mystery aspects of the story, Rader-Day explores relationships, grief, loss, and how dangerous perception is.  

The Day I Died: A Novel by Lori Rader-Day

A special thank you to Edelweiss and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

We meet Anna Winger, a handwriting analyst with a messy past, who is called upon to use her talent on a high-profile case in the small town that she is currently living in.  As a handwriting expert, she is able to identify the writer's personality traits and psychological state.  Some believe in her craft and use her to profile individuals, while others consider her to be a charlatan.  For Anna, her profession allows her to keep people at arms-length and keep her anonymity while supporting her son.

She immerses herself into the case of a missing boy.  Unfortunately for her, the case awakens elements of her past, things she's tried to keep hidden, and she is unable to outrun it any longer.          

This is my first book by Rader-Day and it won't be my last.  I enjoyed this story and would like to read more about Anna.  She is a well-writen character with an interesting talent, this would make a great series.