Louisa Luna

Two Girls Down is a compelling mystery that grabbed me from the first page and never let go. Single mother Jamie Brandt is taking her girls to a birthday party, stops at a store to run in and pick up a present and comes out in minutes to find them gone. It’s every parents’ nightmare.

Luckily for Jamie, her aunt called in Alice Vega whose record on finding missing children is second to none. Vega has a preternatural sense of what to ask, how to make connections, and she also has the show more Bastard on retainer, the best hacker ever. Seeking local help, Vega connects with “Cap” Caplan, a local private investigator who mostly does divorce and skip trace jobs. He was a cop though, and she needs some connections with local police since Hollows, the cop in charge of the investigation is arrogant and refuses to work with her. Cap is skilled at reading people and putting them at ease and the two of them work together well. Not seamlessly, the push each other’s boundaries and jostle each other, but as a team they are effective.

Their investigation is coherent and systematic. There are no inexplicable leaps of logic. They read people well, they make connections, and while it seems almost magical how they get ahead of the police, it’s rooted in skills and research, not in something off the page. This has all the fairness of a good procedural. It is also very complex, particularly given that I intuited the guilty party one first meeting, though there was no reason to do so. It was a visceral dislike and their guilt was wish fulfillment, but I was happy to have my wish fulfilled.

Two Girls Down is more than a suspenseful thriller with a complex plot. The investigation may drive the pace of the story, fast and headlong, moving quickly and relentlessly, but the art is in the relationship between Vega and Cap, how they get to know each other and work together. There is also Cap and Nell, his daughter, and how they talk to each other with such love and integrity. It’s a beautiful relationship.

There’s so much compassion for people in this story, even for some of the miscreants and failures, the drug addicts, the lost souls. Cap, in particular, seems to find human connection with so many. Vega is more complicated, but while she’s bruised, she is not broken. There is a ruthlessness to her that I like when paired with Cap’s empathy. They balance each other. I picked Two Girls Down up just before going to bed, intending to read a couple pages, just to get me started, and a few hours later, the mother Jamie is frantic because a week has passed. I was shocked, how could a week pass? I was only going to read for a few minutes. That took me out of the book enough to finally go to sleep at 4 a.m. So, while I recommend this book highly, be sure you don’t start it when you have a deadline hanging fire, you will completely ignore it to follow Cap and Vega.

I received an e-galley of Two Girls Down from the publisher through NetGalley.

Two Girls Down at Knopf Doubleday | Penguin Random House
Louise Luna author info

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An unreliable narrator, a woman in captivity, a creepy villain who seems to suffer from multiple personality disorder - wow, that's a list of thriller tropes I really dislike.

But I really love the way Louisa Luna writes, so I had to read this book.

It's well-paced and thought-provoking, but the real star of it all is the irritating, complicated, and ultimately fascinating character of Dr. Caroline, the therapist who seems to mostly despise her patients (she gives them snide nicknames) and who show more thinks she's the smartest person in the room - certainly more capable than the police who wonder what she might have to do with a missing person, a journalist who put her on a clickbait listicle of the worst doctors in Brooklyn. Given the woman's cynical and self-aggrandizing personality, it's hard to blame the cops.

In the course of the story we get the perspective of the missing journalist in captivity (disturbing) and the viewpoint of the therapist's adult neighbor when she was a child in Wisconsin, where a terrible crime happened (even more disturbing). Seeing Dr. Caroline as a messed-up manipulative teen adds depth to an already complex character with a memorably snarky voice. It's all nicely plotted and if the bad guy is a bit of a loony cipher, all the other characters are vividly drawn, with distinctive personalities and voices.

Finding out who these characters are is a dark and delicious treat. show less

The scourge of human trafficking is the focus of this story of two missing unidentified girls : The Janes. No-nonsense and tenacious bounty hunter Alice Vega is recruited by law enforcement to crack the case. She, in turn, brings in her own guy, former cop Max Caplan. It is a reunion of sorts. The two of them had worked together on a missing persons case.

The blurb drew me in. Then her writing style, with its alternating perspectives, fleshed-out characters, and vivid detail kept my eyes show more glued to the page. All the action, together with the twists and turns, made for an unpredictable ride. Although there was a fair amount of profanity and graphic violence, it was warranted.

Overall, I liked the book. It was fast-paced and the ending was not one I could have anticipated. Despite not having read Two Girls Down(Alice Vega Book 1), I didn't feel lost. But, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it even more if I had read the series in sequence. show less

Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna is a very highly recommended mystery/thriller.

Jamie Brandt, a single mother, is running late while on her way to a birthday party where the whole family is invited. When she stops at Kmart to buy a gift, she leaves 10-year-old Kylie and 8-year-old Bailey in the car while she runs into the store. When she returns, the sisters are gone. After 48 hours with no lead, Jamie's Aunt Maggie Shambley, hires California bounty hunter Alice Vega to locate the girls. Vega is show more a no nonsense enigmatic investigator who has a well-publicized national reputation for finding abducted children.

The Denville, Pennsylvania police chief, in a pique of misplaced pride, immediately refuses to work with Vega to find the girls, despite the fact that after budget cuts, the department can barely keep up with the local oxycodone and meth epidemic. With help from "the Bastard," a computer hacker who assists her, Vega has access to resources and information the police don't. She also hires a local disgraced former cop, Max Caplan. Cap is currently working as a PI. Vega knows that he has inside contacts and a favor he could call in with the local police. Vega and Cap work together to uncover a complicated web of lies, false leads, and inconsistent statements to try and find the girls before it is too late.

I liked Vega and Cap, who are both flawed but well-developed characters. They work very well together. Cap's problems (and strengths) are presented upfront, but Vega's are hidden and very slowly revealed in small increments. Both of them are fully aware of the ticking clock and how every hour, every minute, the girls are not found is one minute closer to what may be their death. They are both keen observers of people and can pick out clues that the police are overlooking.

Luna uses a third-person narrative that allows us access to the main protagonists' thoughts and feelings. Their thoughts and motivations are so different and contrast starkly with each other. She also does a great job describing all of the supporting characters; they are all written as real people.

This is an excellent nail-biting complex thriller that moves at a steady pace, building up the tension incrementally with each new suspect and lead. The writing is exceptional; the plot is complex and carefully reveals each new piece of evidence. I was totally immersed in the drama. The final conclusion was a shocker and took me by surprise.

Well, Done, Louisa Luna! I am hoping that this signals the start of a series featuring Vega and Cap.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Doubleday via Netgalley.
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