Book Review: Girl Last Seen

Girl Last Seen

By: Nina Laurin

Published By: Grand Central Publishing

Publication Date: June 20, 2017

Page Count: 352

Buy it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound

Source: ARC Kindly Provided by Publisher via NetGalley

Adult - Thriller

Girl Last Seen is a great thriller and filled with twists and turns that I never saw coming! I thought I knew who to suspect, but Girl Last Seen had me guessing until the very end. 

 Ella, now Lainey - or Laine, as she prefers, was kidnapped thirteen years ago. She has suffered physically, mentally, and emotionally. As a young adult, she has panic attacks, finds it hard to keep a job, and is addicted to drugs to help her keep the demons at bay. 

 However, one day when she arrives at work at her day job, she finds out a young girl has been kidnapped. It turns out Laine and this new girl, Olivia, have a special connection. Olivia is the daughter Laine was pregnant with when she escaped her kidnapper 13 years ago. 

 Suddenly, Laine is unwillingly drawn back into the spotlight with the same detective who found her 13 years ago and Olivia's adoptive parents. Due to her current lifestyle, she may also be a suspect in Olivia's disappearance. 

 It's awfully sad to read about the tremendous amount of self-loathing Laine feels for herself throughout the book. Obviously, I have no idea what she would be feeling, but it's heartbreaking to see how the system can fail a child so miserably. And she is incredibly self destructive for most of the book. You can see why the police see her as a suspect in her daughter's kidnapping. 

 I appreciated Olivia's adoptive mother's affection for Laine. Jacqueline Shaw seems to see beyond Laine's gruff exterior and tries to see the hurt teenage girl she was underneath. Laine doesn't do well with Jacqueline's efforts, but she does seem to grown to understand her somewhat. 

 The ending was a huge surprise for me and I'll admit - I stayed up late to finish the book because I had to see how it ended! It was certainly a shock for me. In the end, I was satisfied to see how everything was resolved. I can't always say that for a thriller! 

 Content: Language

Summary:

Two missing girls. Thirteen years apart. 

 Olivia Shaw has been missing since last Tuesday. She was last seen outside the entrance of her elementary school in Hunts Point wearing a white spring jacket, blue jeans, and pink boots. I force myself to look at the face in the photo, into her slightly smudged features, and I can't bring myself to move. Olivia Shaw could be my mirror image, rewound to thirteen years ago. If you have any knowledge of Olivia Shaw's whereabouts or any relevant information, please contact... I've spent a long time peering into the faces of girls on missing posters, wondering which one replaced me in that basement. But they were never quite the right age, the right look, the right circumstances. Until Olivia Shaw, missing for one week tomorrow. Whoever stole me was never found. But since I was taken, there hasn't been another girl. And now there is.