Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Publication Date: January 9, 2018
Date Read: December 29, 2017
Length: 320 pages
Source: First to Read
★★★★☆
When two young sisters disappear from a strip mall parking lot in a small Pennsylvania town, their devastated mother hires an enigmatic bounty hunter, Alice Vega, to help find the girls. Immediately shut out by a local police department already stretched thin by budget cuts and the growing OxyContin and meth epidemic, Vega enlists the help of a disgraced former cop, Max Caplan. Cap is a man trying to put the scandal of his past behind him and move on, but Vega needs his help to find the girls, and she will not be denied.
With little to go on, Vega and Cap will go to extraordinary lengths to untangle a dangerous web of lies, false leads, and complex relationships to find the girls before time runs out, and they are gone forever.
This was really good! I went into this book rather blindly having never read the author before and not seeing much about the book. I thought it looked like a rather good mystery so I jumped in and started reading. I didn’t stop reading until I had reached the end of the book. It has been a long time since I wanted to read a whole book in a single sitting but that is exactly what I ended up doing with this story. I am so happy to have stumbled upon this wonderfully written mystery.
This book grabbed me right away. You know from the very start that something bad is going to happen to Jamie’s kids. When they disappear in the parking of the local Kmart, there aren’t a lot of clues as to where they might may be. Jamie’s aunt hires a private investigator who has a reputation for finding lost people, Alice Vega.
Vega is determined to find the girls and will do what it takes to find them quickly. She enlists the help of a former cop turned private investigator, Cap. Vega and Cap have very different styles of investigating but they soon form a great team. Together they sort through clues and piece a trail back to the girls.
I liked the characters in this story. Vega and Cap were both really interesting characters that ended up in their jobs for very different reasons. Vega was more than willing to cross over the line if that is what is was going to take to bring the girls home. She was tough and worked tirelessly. Cap seemed more like your normal good guy. He is a really good guy who puts his teen daughter first in his life. They were both really smart and have a lot of great instincts.
There was a lot of excitement in this story. I was actually pretty nervous about what would happen a time or two in this story. I couldn’t figure out how things would work out and just had to go along with Vega and Cap to find out. I didn’t expect to have an emotional reaction to this story but as I read to the end of the story, I found myself with a broken heart.
I would recommend this book to others. This was a very fast paced novel that was almost impossible to put down. I will definitely be reading more for this talented author in the future.
I received an advanced reader edition of this book from Doubleday Books via First to Read.
About the AuthorLouisa Luna is the author of the young adult novels Brave New Girl and Crooked. She lives in Brooklyn.
Author Links: Goodreads
Nice review! Sounds like you really liked this one.
It was really well done. I am hopeful that it will become a series.
This one is new to me but love the sound of it. Great review!!
I really had a good time with it.
I really liked this one too!
I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it.
Sounds like a good mystery. Great review.
It was really good, Nadene!
it's great when you don't know what to expect and that you finally have a great time!
It really is.
Sounds good to me as I am all for thrillers now
This is a really well done thriller!
Glad you went with your instincts and grabbed this one. It sounds great and I hadn't heard of it.
It was one of those books that was really hard to put down.
I picked this for my NOrM pick this month and now I'm waiting not so patiently waiting for it to get here. I'm glad to hear it is so good! ☺
I am not sure what NOrM is? I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. It really grabbed me from the beginning.
I just posted my review a few minutes ago and stopped to check out your blog and here it is! I really enjoyed this one as well and thought Cap and Vega worked awesomely together. Seems like this was a great read for both of us.
I am so happy to hear that you liked it as well. I have my fingers crossed that we might see more of Cap and Vega!
Oh this looks good! I love the sound of Vega and Cap and I really want to get more thrillers in this year. Adding to my list!
I hope you enjoy this one, Katherine!
Oh my goodness. I had never heard of this author before your review of this book, but this sounds so good! Have you read Cry No More by Linda Howard?
I did enjoy Cry No More. I am a big Linda Howard fan.
This is the kind of book I seem to be gravitating toward right now–fast-paced thrillers. I am glad you enjoyed this one, Carole! I am adding it to my wish list.
I hope you enjoy this one, Wendy!