Although this suspense novel is a few years old, I had never heard of it. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Lisa Gardner although she has written over a dozen books, many of them best-sellers. It was actually recommended to me by my Kindle! So I downloaded it and 30 seconds later I began reading. And I kept on reading.
Alone begins as a Massachusetts state trooper named Bobby Dodge finishes a very long shift. Before he can make it home, he is called back to duty. In addition to his regular patrol duties, Bobby is a sniper for the State Police STOP team. He is the first one of his team on the scene, and takes up a position with a view of a Boston townhouse. He sees a man holding a gun on a woman and child. When he believes the man is about to shoot the woman, he fires his weapon, killing the man.
What ensues after the shooting is the crux of this novel. The dead man is from a wealthy and influential family. His wife, whom Bobby believed he saved, was a victim of a horrible crime as a child. Their four-year old son has been ill and weak since birth. Nobody is really who they seem. As Bobby finds that his career is on the line, he starts his own investigation into the incident, and begins to fight for himself.
Alone is one in Lisa Gardner’s series of D.D. Warren novels. Warren is a Boston Police detective whose character is not really fleshed out in this novel (the first in the series). But she is an old friend of Bobby Dodge, and quite a character herself.
Alone has some interesting twists and turns, and was a quick fun read. I’ll definitely be looking for more of Lisa Gardner’s novels.
In USA:
Published in hardcover-Bantam-2005
Softcover edition-Bantam-2005
La Bibliofille 