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littlem0use's review against another edition
5.0
I received an arc from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Louisa Luna's Two Girls Down was the perfect mystery/thriller. Such a well written story that kept me on my toes.
This book starts off with a single mother, Jamie Brandt and her two daughters, Kylie and Bailey. On the way to a birthday party, Jamie and the girls stop at a mall to pick up a gift. She leaves the children in the car seeing as she will only be a few minutes (which I find crazy) and knows letting the girls come into the store will only lead to chaos. When she comes out, her car is there but the girls are missing. With the police force stretched thin due to budget cuts, Jamie's family hires Alice Vega, a private investigator who specializes in finding missing children. The police are not too keen on welcoming Alice Vega so she then starts working with ex-cop Cap. Which by the way I love these two characters together.
From the moment I started this book I was sucked right in. The whole time I kept going “OMG HE TOOK THE GIRLS, OH NO WAIT MAYBE IT WAS HIM”. Kept me guessing and intrigued the whole way through. I would definitely read another novel by this author.
PLEASE PICK THIS BOOK UP WHEN YOU CAN, SUCH A GREAT READ!
Louisa Luna's Two Girls Down was the perfect mystery/thriller. Such a well written story that kept me on my toes.
This book starts off with a single mother, Jamie Brandt and her two daughters, Kylie and Bailey. On the way to a birthday party, Jamie and the girls stop at a mall to pick up a gift. She leaves the children in the car seeing as she will only be a few minutes (which I find crazy) and knows letting the girls come into the store will only lead to chaos. When she comes out, her car is there but the girls are missing. With the police force stretched thin due to budget cuts, Jamie's family hires Alice Vega, a private investigator who specializes in finding missing children. The police are not too keen on welcoming Alice Vega so she then starts working with ex-cop Cap. Which by the way I love these two characters together.
From the moment I started this book I was sucked right in. The whole time I kept going “OMG HE TOOK THE GIRLS, OH NO WAIT MAYBE IT WAS HIM”. Kept me guessing and intrigued the whole way through. I would definitely read another novel by this author.
PLEASE PICK THIS BOOK UP WHEN YOU CAN, SUCH A GREAT READ!
brookann77's review
4.0
The writing style didn't annoy me as much as I initially thought it would.
It was definitely a page-turner and I couldn't help myself from continuously falling in love with both Alice Vega and Cap. Two of my favorite main characters to have ever read about.
It was definitely a page-turner and I couldn't help myself from continuously falling in love with both Alice Vega and Cap. Two of my favorite main characters to have ever read about.
emilyreadsitall's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
books_and_bawoos's review
4.0
Two Girls Down
By: Louisa Luna
Published By: Doubleday
Rating: 📖📖📖.5/5
Two Girls Down is a kidnap/mystery story about the two Brandt girls, Kylie and Bailey, who disappear from a strip mall while their mother makes a quick stop in a K-Mart. In the town on Denville, Pennsylvania the police are overwhelmed and undermanned. A Brandt family member reaches out to Alice Vega a private investigator known for finding missing children. Vega enlists the help of a former cop named Max Caplan who knows the area and the local police force. The two discover just how twisted the story is behind the girls' disappearance and learn that even small towns hold big secrets.
I must say that this story sounded oh-too-familiar when I found out it took place in Pennsylvania. A town that is riddled with drug problems? Seems to be par for the course in Pennsylvania these days. When Luna mentions places like Lebanon and Hershey, I couldn't help but laugh as those areas are so familiar to me. It's nice to read a book and actually be able to visualize the area in your head and how the story could fit in there.
The story itself was decent. You have the slightly off investigator (Vega) who is eerily similar to Salander of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fame and the rejected cop who end up being the heroes. The writing is good if missing a little detail. I did want to be sucked in a bit more. There are definitely moments where I couldn't put the book down, but at the end I didn't feel satisfied. I didn't really want to know how the family turned out or if Cap and Vega ever work together again in the future. When I read a book I want to feel like I lost a friend. I just didn't feel that with this book. But overall, it was still a good read!
I would recommend this book to the mystery buff for a quick, easy read!
By: Louisa Luna
Published By: Doubleday
Rating: 📖📖📖.5/5
Two Girls Down is a kidnap/mystery story about the two Brandt girls, Kylie and Bailey, who disappear from a strip mall while their mother makes a quick stop in a K-Mart. In the town on Denville, Pennsylvania the police are overwhelmed and undermanned. A Brandt family member reaches out to Alice Vega a private investigator known for finding missing children. Vega enlists the help of a former cop named Max Caplan who knows the area and the local police force. The two discover just how twisted the story is behind the girls' disappearance and learn that even small towns hold big secrets.
I must say that this story sounded oh-too-familiar when I found out it took place in Pennsylvania. A town that is riddled with drug problems? Seems to be par for the course in Pennsylvania these days. When Luna mentions places like Lebanon and Hershey, I couldn't help but laugh as those areas are so familiar to me. It's nice to read a book and actually be able to visualize the area in your head and how the story could fit in there.
The story itself was decent. You have the slightly off investigator (Vega) who is eerily similar to Salander of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fame and the rejected cop who end up being the heroes. The writing is good if missing a little detail. I did want to be sucked in a bit more. There are definitely moments where I couldn't put the book down, but at the end I didn't feel satisfied. I didn't really want to know how the family turned out or if Cap and Vega ever work together again in the future. When I read a book I want to feel like I lost a friend. I just didn't feel that with this book. But overall, it was still a good read!
I would recommend this book to the mystery buff for a quick, easy read!
bettinab's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
The first book of a procedural crime series. I liked the protagonists Alice and Cap and there's a good amount (but not too much) backstory to make them very real and relatable in a sense.
The story starts off fast, the first half moves quickly, but slows down around the halfway mark. There are some hiccups here and there and I struggled on occasion with the writing style. But the book kept me engaged.
There are some twists, though the eventual resolution wasn't particularly surprising or original. It also felt a little vague, the motives a bit ambiguous and underexplored.
Overall a promising start!
The story starts off fast, the first half moves quickly, but slows down around the halfway mark. There are some hiccups here and there and I struggled on occasion with the writing style. But the book kept me engaged.
There are some twists, though the eventual resolution wasn't particularly surprising or original. It also felt a little vague, the motives a bit ambiguous and underexplored.
Overall a promising start!
crummeyforthewin's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
lunaseline's review against another edition
3.0
Jag blir faktiskt lite ledsen. Den här boken är välskriven, med bra karaktärer och en rätt snygg plot. Och jag älskar deckare; avkopplingen, underhållningen, början-mitt-slut-grejen som allt för ofta saknas i nutida narrativ. Men nuförtiden kan jag nästan aldrig ge den här typen av böcker högre än en trea.
Kanske handlar det om den suspension-of-belief som ändå alltid krävs i genren (i den här boken är det mesta trovärdigt fram till slutklämmen, som är riktigt störd - men det är ju mänskligheten också). Kanske handlar det om att de riktigt kreativa litterära höjderna aldrig riktig nås (Luna skriver bra, men mer "det flyter på utan att jag stör mig på det" än "wow".) Kanske handlar det om de ständigt stereotypa karaktärerna (här har vi den skilda PI-killen; men han verkar vara en god far, den taskiga polisen; men han verkar kunna ändra på sig; FBI-agenten som vill klampa in; men gör det ändå utan storebrorattityd; den kvinnliga bountyhuntern som nästan är övermänsklig; men hon har känslor etc.)
Eller så är jag bara överläst.
Nåja. Som parenteserna antyder är det här ändå en bra bok, som jag uppskattade i princip rakt igenom. Karaktärerna är som sagt finjusterade och jag uppskattar speciellt fader-dotter-relationen som skrivs fram trovärdigt. Det som stör mest är att den kvinnliga huvudpersonen måste vara så jäkla tuff och smart och klara sig utan mat och sömn (hon yogar istället igång hjärnan varje morgon... snark!). Var vi inte klara med Lisbeth Salander-typer...? Fast jag gillar Vega betydligt mer än de flesta likar, så det känns ändå godtagbart.
Det är ingen fyra i hjärnan, men en stark 3 i hjärtat. Typ.
Kanske handlar det om den suspension-of-belief som ändå alltid krävs i genren (i den här boken är det mesta trovärdigt fram till slutklämmen, som är riktigt störd - men det är ju mänskligheten också). Kanske handlar det om att de riktigt kreativa litterära höjderna aldrig riktig nås (Luna skriver bra, men mer "det flyter på utan att jag stör mig på det" än "wow".) Kanske handlar det om de ständigt stereotypa karaktärerna (här har vi den skilda PI-killen; men han verkar vara en god far, den taskiga polisen; men han verkar kunna ändra på sig; FBI-agenten som vill klampa in; men gör det ändå utan storebrorattityd; den kvinnliga bountyhuntern som nästan är övermänsklig; men hon har känslor etc.)
Eller så är jag bara överläst.
Nåja. Som parenteserna antyder är det här ändå en bra bok, som jag uppskattade i princip rakt igenom. Karaktärerna är som sagt finjusterade och jag uppskattar speciellt fader-dotter-relationen som skrivs fram trovärdigt. Det som stör mest är att den kvinnliga huvudpersonen måste vara så jäkla tuff och smart och klara sig utan mat och sömn (hon yogar istället igång hjärnan varje morgon... snark!). Var vi inte klara med Lisbeth Salander-typer...? Fast jag gillar Vega betydligt mer än de flesta likar, så det känns ändå godtagbart.
Det är ingen fyra i hjärnan, men en stark 3 i hjärtat. Typ.