FLASHBACK FRIDAY- Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna - Feature and Review

ABOUT THE BOOK:

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.


LISTEN TO AN EXCERPT:





MY REVIEW:

Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna is a 2018 Doubleday publication.

Taut Suspense- Impossible to put down!

Two young girls go missing from a local mall. However, the small-town police force is overwhelmed and ill equipped to handle the case, so the family hires bounty hunter, Alice Vega to find the missing girls.

From there, Alice hires a local guy, Max Caplan, a former member of law enforcement, who left the force under dubious circumstances.

In a taut race against the clock, Alice and Max forge a partnership, each bringing their own special skills to the investigation. Although the pair are not traditional detectives, the story works a lot like a procedural, but the plot is complex, dark, gritty, murky, fast-paced, and very smart.

Anytime I read a book with the missing child trope, it seems to have a sharper edge to it. But this story has two missing girls, a distraught single mother, and not much to go on, which creates a greater feeling of doom.

Vega and Caplan each had a unique style, and initially they had to make a few adjustments, but their partnership developed nicely. They both had a fierce drive, focus, and determination to bring those two little girls back to their mother.

I found myself immersed in the story, which held my rapt attention from start to finish. I can’t believe I forgot I had this book on my Kindle! Thanks to my GR friend, Betsy, for reminding me of this book, which also led to the realization that this author has already released the second book in the series! I can’t wait to read it!

Overall, this is a superb thriller, very well done!

*Content warnings:

I listened to small portions of this book on audio while I was working around the house. (I wasn’t very impressed with the audio version and can’t recommend it.) However, one thing about listening to books, as opposed to reading, is that I tend to notice the language a lot more. While some of the language was in context and fit the characterizations, some of it was over the top and unnecessary- in my opinion. Does everyone talk like that? My husband says that, yes, they do, and it’s not 'bleeping' attractive. LOL!

 
GRAB A COPY HERE:

https://www.amazon.com/Two-Girls-Down-Louisa-Luna-ebook/dp/B071HCW3V8/

https://www.amazon.com/Two-Girls-Down-A-Novel/dp/B077VRYMXR/

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/two-girls-down-louisa-luna/1126311109



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Louisa Luna is the author of the novels Brave New Girl, Crooked, and Serious As A Heart Attack. She was born and raised in the city of San Francisco and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daught