P.D. Viner

This was decent. Told in a series of flashbacks from various times as well as current day when the cold case of Dani Lancing is being re-opened. Her disappearance and brutal murder at age 21 in 1989 have torn her parents lives apart; they are separated and haunted. The man who loved her is a cop, dedicated to solving violent crimes in Dani's memory. And so the stage is set. . .

I thought the dramatic tension and the prose was pretty good and the story engaging; definitely got the wheels in my show more mind turning and guessing. Some things were hokey and outlandish; for instance the ghost aspect - just didn't work for me. I felt the beginning and middle were pretty well done but as the reveals were rolling and the climax unfolding, there was something missing. That something that separates great, dare I say, literary thriller/mysteries from their plebeian counterparts. Some gravity, some surprise, some horror, some beauty, some je ne sais quoi I guess.

So, a passable beach or airplane read. I wonder if Viner is thinking about a series with the cop and the pathologist reuniting post-trauma. I think I would give it a go. show less

This is an ambitious book. It is simply the solving of the murder of Dani Lancing. But the author tries to do so many other things. The characters of Dani and her parents, Patricia and Jim are detailed. Many other characters fill the pages and are drawn in some detail. I would have to say that the book is a bit unsatisfying because although many characters are presented as possibilities, the true murderer is fairly random. I think the author has a good feel for the pace of a mystery but will show more distill more information next time so that the book isn't so long. show less

The book is the story of how a young woman's brutal murder affected her mother, father and childhood sweetheart. It follows the three main characters as they react to the murder and the case being reopened in a variety of ways. It's a fairly fast moving plot that bounces among those three characters and among a variety of time periods. That timeline device was mostly effective, though I did find that I had to check dates carefully (a little more carefully than I would have liked) to ensure I show more could follow where I was in the story - ok, this is before X, but after Y.

It's difficult to write this review and express a few of the issues I had with this book without giving away the plot. I originally gave it 3.5 stars, but I thought about it overnight and decided that I'd felt a little misled by certain elements, so I knocked off another half a star. The resolution was probably where I had the biggest problem. And it left at least one thread hanging that felt unnecessary. show less

Well I finished reading this one at 3am - could not go to sleep until it was done. The story starts of with the poignant tale of the untimely death of Danielle Lancing. The author sweeps you up in the grief and pain of her loved ones as they each in their own way deal with her loss. 20 years on their lives are fractured and consumed by their loss. A father who lives alone with the ghost of his beloved daughter, a mother chasing demons and twisted with the bitterness of those last words show more spoken, and a childhood friend who has lost the not so secret love of his life. But this story very quickly it turns into a tale of revenge and murder with a twist in the plot you wont expect. Oh you will think you have it pegged, but wait no. The story will grip you with suspense and the need to know - who killed Danielle Lancing. If you only read one book this year, make it this one. show less