Boston PD Sergeant Detective D. D. Warren is on restricted duty following a recent injury when she is sent to supervise a crime scene with a most unusual kidnap victim, one who seems to have beaten her abductor at his own game. Flora Dane was once a happy, outgoing girl and college coed, but 472 days of captivity with a vicious psychopath drained everything from her. After her release, she had to relearn how to live and interact with people, especially her family.

During the past five years of dealing with survivor's guilt, Flora has made self-defense and criminal behavior her specialty. Yes, she is a survivor, but has she also become an avenger? When Flora is missing again, it looks like her abduction might be connected to other missing women in Boston. Will D. D. and her team be able to put all the pieces together in time to rescue Flora and the others?

FIND HER by Lisa Gardner is a powerfully written thriller that delves into the abysmal crime of abduction and its atrocious consequences. I was astounded by Gardner's unbelievably intense and considerate insight into the world of kidnap victims, what they go through and what their families endure. Interspersing flashbacks to the details of Flora's ordeal while a captive along with the first-person account of her current day life and D. D.'s police investigation, I was so transfixed I did not put FIND HER down until I finished late into the night. Though I am not squeamish, I was glad Gardner did not go into lengthy detailed accounts of the brutality Flora suffered at the hands of her first abductor. Left to the imagination, I felt it added even more depth to the storyline. Again, Lisa Gardner proves herself a writer with incomparable talent and true understanding of her subject matter. She is one of my favorite authors, and I have never been disappointed in any of her thrillers.

Book Summary

Flora Dane is a victim. 

Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure.

Flora Dane is a survivor.

Miraculously alive after her ordeal, Flora has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life, working with her FBI victim advocate, Samuel Keynes. She has a mother who’s never stopped loving her, a brother who is scared of the person she’s become, and a bedroom wall covered with photos of other girls who’ve never made it home.

Flora Dane is reckless. 

. . . or is she? When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the scene of a crime—a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him—she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante? And with her firsthand knowledge of criminal behavior, could she hold the key to rescuing a missing college student whose abduction has rocked Boston? When Flora herself disappears, D.D. realizes a far more sinister predator is out there. One who’s determined that this time, Flora Dane will never escape. And now it is all up to D. D. Warren to find her.