Catch Me
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

*Starred Review* It's hard to imagine Boston detective D. D. Warren slowing down, but back to work after a blissful, eight-week maternity leave, she's determined to strike some sort of balance in her life. Her first case, however, renders that an impossibility. An alleged serial killer is targeting pedophiles. While D. D. and her crew may sympathize with this vigilante murderer's motives, they're hell-bent on handling justice the right way and catching the killer. Meanwhile, D. D. is contacted by Charlie, a young woman who claims that she will be killed on January 21, just as her two former best friends were murdered on that date in the two consecutive years prior. While D. D. would like to dismiss Charlie as crazy, the facts are there to support her assertion. As the two investigations develop, it becomes apparent that they could be linked. Gardner really pulls you in the middle of the drama, alternating Charlie's first-person retelling of the horrible circumstances of her life with the third-person narration of D. D.'s investigations. The creepy meter is off the charts though not sensationalized with children the target of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse at the hands of both strangers and parents. And, somehow, miraculously without any contrivance, Gardner's conclusion delivers a welcome glimmer of hope. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Last year, Gardner had three titles on different New York Times bestseller lists; her latest D. D. Warren novel will launch a new streak for 2012.--Wilkens, Mary Frances Copyright 2010 Booklist

The well-wrought suspense offsets the shaky plot of bestseller Gardner's sixth novel featuring Boston Sgt. Det. D.D. Warren (after 2011's Love You More). Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant, a 28-year-old police dispatch officer with a horrific childhood, expects to be murdered on January 21. One of her two best friends was strangled at home on January 21 two years earlier; exactly a year later, her other best friend suffered the same fate. On January 17, Grant seeks out Warren at a crime scene and asks the homicide detective to investigate her expected murder. Meanwhile, Warren is looking into the execution-style slayings of two pedophiles. Rookie sex crime detective Ellen O brings her expertise to this second case. Gardner skillfully tacks back and forth from Grant's childhood traumas to her preparations to face a killer as it becomes increasingly murky whether Grant is victim, predator, or both. Fans should enjoy the numerous cameos by characters from other Gardner novels. Author tour. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

D.D. Warren has returned from maternity leave and is back on the job just in time to investigate a crime spree in which the victims are also child predators. She's soon contacted by a young woman named Charlie Grant, who announces that she expects to be killed in several days and asks D.D. to investigate her murder. As D.D. copes with personal issues while working with her old team (plus a new face in Detective O) to piece together this crime puzzle, the two seemingly unconnected cases begin to show signs of overlapping. The clues all point in one direction, prompting D.D. to rethink and reevaluate the evidence in the race to put that final piece in place. Verdict New York Times best-selling author Gardner (Love You More; Live To Tell; Alone) always plays in the big leagues, but this scare-your-socks-off thriller is a grand slam, packed with enigmatic characters (some good, some crazily evil), expert procedural detail, and superb storytelling. Readers will be guessing who done it until the final pages-and the author's fans will love all the name-dropping from previous works. Fans of Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben will delight in Gardner's scare-fest.-Debbie Haupt, St. Charles City-Cty. P.L., St. Peters, MO (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Love You More, 2011, etc.), Boston PD Det. Sgt. D.D. Warren's sixth subordinates her to another woman just as strong as she is, and a lot more interesting. Back in high school, Randi Menke, Jackie Knowles and Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant were the Three Musketeers, inseparable buddies who'd do anything for each other. Now Randi and Jackie are dead, strangled a year apart on Jan. 21. So as this Jan. 21 approaches, Charlie is naturally terrified that her turn is coming. Accosting D.D. at a crime scene, she announces that she's marked for death, describes how she's gone on the run from her job as a small-town police dispatcher and begs her to solve her murder, still several days away. Underlining her peril is a note left at the scene: "Everyone has to die sometime. Be brave." But something about Charlie's story doesn't add up. If she's so scared that she's pulled up stakes and high-tailed it to the big city, why hasn't she changed her name? Instead of being a victim, could she be the vigilante killer of pedophiles D.D.'s squad has been hunting? Or is she both killer and victim? Alternating between the third-person narration of D.D.'s investigation and Charlie's feverish first-person narrative, and throwing in more subplots showing abused women fighting their abusers, Gardner brings the ingredients to a rolling boil until she's finally cut Charlie off from her police defenders, disarmed her and backed her into a corner awaiting her killer. Irresistible high-wire melodrama, though it's easy to see why D.D. observes, "I think we just fell into a Lifetime movie."]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* It's hard to imagine Boston detective D. D. Warren slowing down, but back to work after a blissful, eight-week maternity leave, she's determined to strike some sort of balance in her life. Her first case, however, renders that an impossibility. An alleged serial killer is targeting pedophiles. While D. D. and her crew may sympathize with this vigilante murderer's motives, they're hell-bent on handling justice the right way and catching the killer. Meanwhile, D. D. is contacted by Charlie, a young woman who claims that she will be killed on January 21, just as her two former best friends were murdered on that date in the two consecutive years prior. While D. D. would like to dismiss Charlie as crazy, the facts are there to support her assertion. As the two investigations develop, it becomes apparent that they could be linked. Gardner really pulls you in the middle of the drama, alternating Charlie's first-person retelling of the horrible circumstances of her life with the third-person narration of D. D.'s investigations. The creepy meter is off the charts—though not sensationalized—with children the target of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse at the hands of both strangers and parents. And, somehow, miraculously without any contrivance, Gardner's conclusion delivers a welcome glimmer of hope. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Last year, Gardner had three titles on different New York Times bestseller lists; her latest D. D. Warren novel will launch a new streak for 2012. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

A woman approaches Det. D.D. Warren with a bizarre request to solve her upcoming murder. The skillful point-of-view switch between Warren and the soon-to-be victim only intensifies the puzzling mystery and scare-your-socks-off suspense. (Xpress Reviews, 1/13/12) (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

D.D. Warren has returned from maternity leave and is back on the job just in time to investigate a crime spree in which the victims are also child predators. She's soon contacted by a young woman named Charlie Grant, who announces that she expects to be killed in several days and asks D.D. to investigate her murder. As D.D. copes with personal issues while working with her old team (plus a new face in Detective O) to piece together this crime puzzle, the two seemingly unconnected cases begin to show signs of overlapping. The clues all point in one direction, prompting D.D. to rethink and reevaluate the evidence in the race to put that final piece in place. Verdict New York Times best-selling author Gardner (Love You More; Live To Tell; Alone) always plays in the big leagues, but this scare-your-socks-off thriller is a grand slam, packed with enigmatic characters (some good, some crazily evil), expert procedural detail, and superb storytelling. Readers will be guessing who done it until the final pages-and the author's fans will love all the name-dropping from previous works. Fans of Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben will delight in Gardner's scare-fest.-Debbie Haupt, St. Charles City-Cty. P.L., St. Peters, MO (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The well-wrought suspense offsets the shaky plot of bestseller Gardner's sixth novel featuring Boston Sgt. Det. D.D. Warren (after 2011's Love You More). Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant, a 28-year-old police dispatch officer with a horrific childhood, expects to be murdered on January 21. One of her two best friends was strangled at home on January 21 two years earlier; exactly a year later, her other best friend suffered the same fate. On January 17, Grant seeks out Warren at a crime scene and asks the homicide detective to investigate her expected murder. Meanwhile, Warren is looking into the execution-style slayings of two pedophiles. Rookie sex crime detective Ellen O brings her expertise to this second case. Gardner skillfully tacks back and forth from Grant's childhood traumas to her preparations to face a killer as it becomes increasingly murky whether Grant is victim, predator, or both. Fans should enjoy the numerous cameos by characters from other Gardner novels. Author tour. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Feb.)