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abookwormwithwine's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED this book. Mystery on mystery on mystery it kept me guessing until the very end. There were a couple editing things in the last half of the book, but not near as bad as some I have read and didn't really bother me. I cannot wait to read more by this author.
yetanothersusan's review against another edition
4.0
"A life built upon an unthinkable lie." That part is the big stumbling block for me. Because when the lie comes out, I do not like how our heroine Angie handles it. But it comes towards the end of the book and I've already determined that I do enjoy the book and am starting to wonder if this might actually become a series based on Angie and her investigations and think that wouldn't be a bad thing. Because Angie is a good guy. She specializes in tracking down kids, whether kidnapped or run away. She is surrounded by some interesting people and it would all make for a nifty continuing story. That being said, I will warn you that if the world of sex trafficking is a hot button for you, this may not be the book for you. While all the story summaries focus on Angie and her own personal mystery, the case she works over the course of the book involves a run away and sex trafficking.
A preview copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Kensington Books in exchange for an objective review.
A preview copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Kensington Books in exchange for an objective review.
nickieandremus's review against another edition
5.0
*** I received an advanced e-copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review
Angie is a successful private investigator who specializes in runaways. The current case she is working on is looking for a girl named Nadine, who ran away weeks ago from her divorced parents, an alcoholic mother and an absentee father who was more interested in living his new life than remembering he had a daughter. This quest sends Angie to Boston, where she uncovers a prostitution ring. This book is action-packed and will keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters, especially Angie and Nadine are realistic and likeable and you will be in there corner rooting for them. Definitely a must-read for all the suspense lovers out there.
Angie is a successful private investigator who specializes in runaways. The current case she is working on is looking for a girl named Nadine, who ran away weeks ago from her divorced parents, an alcoholic mother and an absentee father who was more interested in living his new life than remembering he had a daughter. This quest sends Angie to Boston, where she uncovers a prostitution ring. This book is action-packed and will keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters, especially Angie and Nadine are realistic and likeable and you will be in there corner rooting for them. Definitely a must-read for all the suspense lovers out there.
booksuperpower's review against another edition
4.0
Forgive Me by Daniel Palmer is a 2016 Kensington publication.
Angie DeRose is a dedicated PI, who has devoted her life to helping find runaway and missing children. When Nadine, a teenager with a troubled home life runs away, her mother hires Angie to find her.
But things become more complicated than usual when Angie’s mother dies suddenly and she discovers an old photograph her mother had hidden away. The photo is of a young girl with a deformity, with “May God Forgive Me’ written on the back in her mother’s handwriting, along with a what appears to be a code of some kind.
The picture haunts Angie and prompts her to investigate, never imagining the secrets she would unearth or the danger she would awaken in the process.
Based on the synopsis, I get the impression that of the two separate threads, the story concerning Angie’s mother was supposed to be the predominant story line. However, I could have taken or left this part of the story, as it didn’t provoke the same sense of dread that Nadine’s story did, nor did it evoke an emotional response from me, other than one of incredulity. It was just a bit too over the top in terms of plausibility and the last minute addition of characters muddied the waters, with the entire thread more or less falling to pieces, and then clumsily and hastily pasted back together.
This vivid portrait of a runaway who falls prey to sex trafficking and slavery is so tense and at times difficult to read, as it is told with such authenticity and realism, it's almost as if I going through the experience with Nadine.
This story would have been terrific if it had simply focused on the runaway angle, which was the saving grace of the novel.
The gritty details of being held prisoner, the slow degradation, the devaluing of human life, and the sad and mind blowing statistics involving the underground sex trade and slavery was written exceptionally well and if for no other reason, makes this novel worth your time.
Overall, both storylines were ambitious, and both could have been the main focus of a novel, with just a bit more fleshing out, but put together in one story, one outshines the other, thus creating an imbalance, but the one plotline was so well done, I still recommend this book to anyone looking for a taut crime story.
3.5 stars
Angie DeRose is a dedicated PI, who has devoted her life to helping find runaway and missing children. When Nadine, a teenager with a troubled home life runs away, her mother hires Angie to find her.
But things become more complicated than usual when Angie’s mother dies suddenly and she discovers an old photograph her mother had hidden away. The photo is of a young girl with a deformity, with “May God Forgive Me’ written on the back in her mother’s handwriting, along with a what appears to be a code of some kind.
The picture haunts Angie and prompts her to investigate, never imagining the secrets she would unearth or the danger she would awaken in the process.
Based on the synopsis, I get the impression that of the two separate threads, the story concerning Angie’s mother was supposed to be the predominant story line. However, I could have taken or left this part of the story, as it didn’t provoke the same sense of dread that Nadine’s story did, nor did it evoke an emotional response from me, other than one of incredulity. It was just a bit too over the top in terms of plausibility and the last minute addition of characters muddied the waters, with the entire thread more or less falling to pieces, and then clumsily and hastily pasted back together.
This vivid portrait of a runaway who falls prey to sex trafficking and slavery is so tense and at times difficult to read, as it is told with such authenticity and realism, it's almost as if I going through the experience with Nadine.
This story would have been terrific if it had simply focused on the runaway angle, which was the saving grace of the novel.
The gritty details of being held prisoner, the slow degradation, the devaluing of human life, and the sad and mind blowing statistics involving the underground sex trade and slavery was written exceptionally well and if for no other reason, makes this novel worth your time.
Overall, both storylines were ambitious, and both could have been the main focus of a novel, with just a bit more fleshing out, but put together in one story, one outshines the other, thus creating an imbalance, but the one plotline was so well done, I still recommend this book to anyone looking for a taut crime story.
3.5 stars
stephsbookramblings's review against another edition
3.0
Angie DeRose lost one of her best friends, who was never found when she was in her early twenties. This event helped Angie to decide to dedicate her life to helping others look for their lost children. Her new agency is starting to really take off and with part time help from other investigators she is able to, just barely, tread water.
After getting a call from a desperate mother looking for her runaway, sixteen year old daughter, Angie is plunged into a world of sexual slavery and kidnapping. On top of a personal tragedy and questions that pop up making her question her past, Angie is extremely busy and wondering how she can handle it all.
Intrigued by the two storylines and how they would both be resolved but the route getting there was some times a bit slow paced and filled with just too much information. Found myself getting confused with some of the characters and not remembering who they were at first. I am a visual person and like to have a bit of a description of the characters physical appearance as well as their character-we don’t get much of that here so that may have led to my confusion here.
I enjoyed this story but felt that at times the technical bits sometimes get too technical and dragged out. Many pages were wasted explaining details that could have been summed up in half a page. I also got a little confused as to what the main story was supposed to be. At first, I thought the runaway storyline was the main and Angie’s personal family crisis was the subplot but as the book went on it suddenly reversed.
I think this would make a great first book in a series about Angie and her agency looking for and helping runaways as it has a lot of potential. I do feel that some tweaking and streamlining is needed though. In total, it is a well written thriller with a good, strong female lead that I would like to read and learn more about.
http://stephsbookramblings.blogspot.com/
After getting a call from a desperate mother looking for her runaway, sixteen year old daughter, Angie is plunged into a world of sexual slavery and kidnapping. On top of a personal tragedy and questions that pop up making her question her past, Angie is extremely busy and wondering how she can handle it all.
Intrigued by the two storylines and how they would both be resolved but the route getting there was some times a bit slow paced and filled with just too much information. Found myself getting confused with some of the characters and not remembering who they were at first. I am a visual person and like to have a bit of a description of the characters physical appearance as well as their character-we don’t get much of that here so that may have led to my confusion here.
I enjoyed this story but felt that at times the technical bits sometimes get too technical and dragged out. Many pages were wasted explaining details that could have been summed up in half a page. I also got a little confused as to what the main story was supposed to be. At first, I thought the runaway storyline was the main and Angie’s personal family crisis was the subplot but as the book went on it suddenly reversed.
I think this would make a great first book in a series about Angie and her agency looking for and helping runaways as it has a lot of potential. I do feel that some tweaking and streamlining is needed though. In total, it is a well written thriller with a good, strong female lead that I would like to read and learn more about.
http://stephsbookramblings.blogspot.com/
biblio_beth's review against another edition
4.0
I was provided an ARC by NetGalley.
Good, solid read. While there seemed to be lots of several overlapping stories wrapped up in one book, they did finally come together. I can definitely see Angie becoming a recurring character in future books.
Good, solid read. While there seemed to be lots of several overlapping stories wrapped up in one book, they did finally come together. I can definitely see Angie becoming a recurring character in future books.
caidyn's review
2.0
2.5
I have no clue why everyone's raving about this book.
Up until about 75% through this, I thought I was going to write a glowing review for this book. Honestly, I did. The writing was pretty good; not excellent, but good enough that it knew how to show and not tell. The characters were amazing. I even had quotes picked out to show how I loved the relationships, the banter, how they reacted. I mean, seriously, they were great. Mike was probably my favorite; he was funny, but serious. Bao was great. Even the damn characters had great relationships between each other. That is spectacularly rare to have a main character who gets along well with others AND is not fucked up. So rare.
Even the case was good. While Nadine got on my nerves, it was just because she was a teenage girl and I've never understood teenage girls, at least the stereotypical ones. I loved how her story was told, through diary entries so we knew what happened to her in her own words rather than changing POV.
Then, it all changed.
A story that I hoped was going to stay in the background came up front. It was all about Angie and her family. Something her mom did. I mean, it just was completely out of place. Since this is the first book in what I assume is a series, why didn't Palmer split it up? There was a great opening to find out what happened to Sarah Winters, her best friend who disappeared without a trace, yet Palmer chose to go waaayyy off course from sex trafficking to freaking witness protection program.
It just didn't work. At all. I got bored and didn't care enough to actually read the ending. I just skimmed from 90% on. It literally took a turn that made absolutely no sense, even though it was led up to throughout the book. The two plots did not come together at all, and I simply don't understand why anyone thought they would go together.
If it had just been Nadine's story, maybe with a mix of Sarah Winter, this would have gotten a solid four stars.
I have no clue why everyone's raving about this book.
Up until about 75% through this, I thought I was going to write a glowing review for this book. Honestly, I did. The writing was pretty good; not excellent, but good enough that it knew how to show and not tell. The characters were amazing. I even had quotes picked out to show how I loved the relationships, the banter, how they reacted. I mean, seriously, they were great. Mike was probably my favorite; he was funny, but serious. Bao was great. Even the damn characters had great relationships between each other. That is spectacularly rare to have a main character who gets along well with others AND is not fucked up. So rare.
Even the case was good. While Nadine got on my nerves, it was just because she was a teenage girl and I've never understood teenage girls, at least the stereotypical ones. I loved how her story was told, through diary entries so we knew what happened to her in her own words rather than changing POV.
Then, it all changed.
A story that I hoped was going to stay in the background came up front. It was all about Angie and her family. Something her mom did. I mean, it just was completely out of place. Since this is the first book in what I assume is a series, why didn't Palmer split it up? There was a great opening to find out what happened to Sarah Winters, her best friend who disappeared without a trace, yet Palmer chose to go waaayyy off course from sex trafficking to freaking witness protection program.
It just didn't work. At all. I got bored and didn't care enough to actually read the ending. I just skimmed from 90% on. It literally took a turn that made absolutely no sense, even though it was led up to throughout the book. The two plots did not come together at all, and I simply don't understand why anyone thought they would go together.
If it had just been Nadine's story, maybe with a mix of Sarah Winter, this would have gotten a solid four stars.
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