Find Her (Detective D.D. Warren, 8)
Lisa Gardner, 2016
Penguin Publishing
416 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780525954576
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. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• AKA—Alicia Scott
• Birth—ca. 1971-72
• Where—Hillsboro, Oregon, USA
• Education—University of Pennsylvania
• Awards—Best Hardcove (Int'l. Thriller Writers); France's Grand Prix des lectrices
de Elle, prix du policie; Daphne du Maurier Award (Romances Writers of America)
• Currently—lives in New Hampshire
Lisa Gardner is an American author of fiction. She is the author of 30 some novels, including thriller-suspense works such as The Killing Hour, The Next Accident, Catch Me, and most recently Find Her. She also has written romance novels using the pseudonym Alicia Scott. With over 22 million books in print, Lisa is published in 30 countries. Four of her novels have been adapted as TV movies.
Her work as a research analyst for a consulting firm spurred her interest in police procedure, cutting edge forensics and twisted plots—a fascination she parlayed into more than 16 bestselling suspense novels.
Raised in Hillsboro, Oregon, she graduated from the city's Glencoe High School. As of 2007, Gardner lives in New Hampshire. (Author bio adapted from Wikipedia and the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Lisa Gardner is the master of the psychological thriller…The world of the FBI, the terror of abduction and victim advocates blend into this tense…thriller.
Associated Press
You'll read Find Her for its adrenaline-charged plot. You'll remember it for its insights into trauma and forgiveness.
Oprah.com
The line between mysteries and thrillers and so-called literary fiction has always been a thin one, but contemporary writers like Lisa Gardner make that sort of arbitrary distinction seem especially foolish…. Find Her...is a taut, brilliantly constructed look at the same sort of horrific situation that powered Emma Donoghue’s Room.
Connecticut Post
Gardner is known for creating complex, fascinating characters...This is an incredible story
Romance Times Book Reviews
When it comes to author Lisa Gardner, the tales she writes are always extreme gems in the literary world, and this is no exception.
Suspense Magazine
[C]ompelling.... [T]he reader is treated to fascinating insights into the psychology of sadistic sexual predators, trauma bonding, and the effects violent crime have on victims and loved ones.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) Gardner doesn't disappoint. Longtime fans as well as those new to the series (there is no need to have read the other books in the series to enjoy this one) will delight in this suspenseful offering. —Cynthia Price, Francis Marion Univ. Lib., Florence, SC
Library Journal
Gardner alternates between Warren's investigation into Flora's disappearance and Flora's present-day hell..., but the implausibility of the sheer number of kidnappings, among other things, strains credulity. A gritty, complicated heroine like Flora Dane deserves a better plot than this needlessly complicated story.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. When Flora is trapped in Devon’s garage, she muses that "people saw what they wanted to see." Devon was more than just a bartender and Flora more than just another victim. Discuss how their social ruses both helped and hindered them.
2. Why do you think the author chose a fox as a recurring symbol throughout the novel? What do you think it symbolizes?
3. In her childhood, Flora’s mother tells her "Every creature must learn to make it on its own. Encouraging dependence doesn’t do anyone any favors." Why do you think such a mantra made an impression on Flora in her later life, and in what ways do you think she adopted it?
4. Discuss the role of victim advocates from the information provided in the book. What do you think their main function is, and who do you think they benefit the most?
5. Discuss the symbol of DR. Keynes’s shoes. Flora and Dr. Keynes call them a "symbol of civilization…a note of beauty and culture and care." What other interpretations can be made as to why Flora was so preoccupied with them when she first awoke in the hospital? How does clothing play into self-image and our perception of others?
6. How does D. D. Warren balance being a full time detective, a mother, and a wife? What would you say are her greatest strengths and weaknesses in both her professional and personal life?
7. Discuss Flora’s relationship with her mother. How do you think it will improve or degrade after the events of the book? What about her relationship with her brother?
8. When Stacey Summers’s father calls Detective D. D. Warren, she tries not to give him too much information. When Flora is missing the first time, her mother is also not privy to the investigation. Despite the risks involved, do you agree with how missing person’s cases are handled in this book? Where should there be boundaries in notifying family members of details in the investigation?
9. At times Flora imagines Jacob laughing or mocking her from beyond the grave. Why do you think he’s become such a large part of her conscience so many years after she was rescued? Discuss the relationship dynamics between victims and their captors.
10. What is the significance of Flora giving up her father’s name to Jacob? Why do you think this was one of the final straws in Flora giving up her identity?
11. Do you think Flora is justified in becoming a vigilante given everything she has gone through?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)