Lisa Gardner rarely disappoints, so whenever I see one of her novels at the bookstore, I pick it up. This one had been on my shelf waiting to be read, and my only regret is that I hadn’t grabbed it sooner. What a thrill! Right Behind You is #7 in the Quincy and Rainie series, but the story stands alone. I have not read the entire series, nor have I read it in any particular order, but Gardner does a great job of developing the characters while also “re-introducing” them throughout the story.
As young children growing up in an abusive, toxic household, Sharlah May Nash and Telly Ray Nash depend on each other. One night, their drunk father beats their mother and then turns on his children. To protect himself and his sister, Telly beats his father to death with a baseball bat. Now, eight years later, Sharlah is about to be adopted by retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner. Things seem to be going well, until a call comes in about a double murder at a nearby gas station. Quincy and Pierce are often called to help with cases, but this one is different. The shooter is believed to be Telly, and it seems his killing spree has only begun.
Not only did Right Behind You keep me on the edge of my seat, but I fell in love with the characters. Reading this book immediately following Something in the Water was unfortunate for the latter, because it revealed just how much the writing lacked in quality and depth. When you buy a book from the bookstore off of a hunch, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. This one was most certainly a win!
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