When she realizes that the unidentified woman who heroically pulled a teenage boy from the subway tracks could be her close friend who mysteriously disappeared without a trace ten years earlier, magazine journalist McKenna Wright sets out to solve the mystery once and for all.
HARPERCOLL
If You Were Here is a thrilling novel of suspense from Alafair Burke, the author Dennis Lehane calls “one of the finest young crime writers working today.”
Manhattan journalist McKenna Jordan is chasing the story of an unidentified woman who heroically pulled a teenaged boy from the subway tracks. When she locates a video that captures part of the incident, she thinks she has an edge on the competition scrambling to identify the mystery heroine, but is shocked to discover that the woman in the video bears a strong resemblance to Susan Hauptmann, a close friend who disappeared without a trace a decade earlier.
What would have been a short-lived metro story sends McKenna on a dangerous search for the missing woman—a search that will force her to unearth long-buried truths much closer to home…
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Add a CommentI've been binge reading Alafair's books, and I've enjoyed nine so far. She nearly always
throws an unexpected twist at the very end.
I feel this one is her best. Fast pacing all the way through a clever story, and , again, a surprise
at the end.
I enjoyed the story line. Alafair Burke is a great writer. I really wanted to know what happened to Susan. There are so many characters in the book but you remember them all for the most part.
A finely woven tale of suspense to be commended for letting readers into the heads of multiple characters more than most novels in this genre. Not to say this is an entry into fine literature by any means. Just a well written book in a suspense genre that brings in some fresh plot ideas to keep the readers' interest till the end. The personal backgrounds of the author and her husband on which the fictional characters are based on (not the plot or the events) help to provide a unique context and setting for the plot with some credibility. However, the rather superficial attempt in the book to explore the couple relationship between the protagonist and her husband seems tangential and very tentative perhaps due to the sensitivity involved in having loosely based the fictional characters on her own situation. A minor undeveloped sour note in an otherwise well-brewed tale. Good book for lazy summer reading.
Disappointing. Starts great, ends up in a mess of family friction.
This book weaves an interesting story of devotion, intrigue and suspense. Although the characters were numerous, it was easy to distinguish who was who and follow their intertwining lives once the plot unfolded. A great summer read.
out of town, will return July 26
Please, please order this book on CD. Thanks.