book review one step too far

Down the Book Jar

Working my way through my growing TBR, one book at a time.

Book Reviews

One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

Lisa Gardner is one of my favorite female authors (and favorite authors in general). If you’re unfamiliar with her books, she has a few “series” with recurring characters. However, you DO NOT need to read all of the books in order to get the full value of the books. They can be read as standalone. It’s a detail here or there that may be missed. When I got my hands on her newest Frankie Elkin story, One Step Too Far , I was PUMPED. Thanks, Netgalley!

one step too far lisa gardner on kindle paperwhite

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a thrilling new novel that sends Frankie Elkin into the woods in search of a lost man–and the shocking truth about why he went missing in the first place.

Frankie Elkin, who readers first met in Before She Disappeared , learns of a young man who has gone missing in a national forest. Law enforcement has abandoned the search, but a crew of people led by the young man’s father are still looking. Sensing a father’s desperation, Frankie agrees to help–but soon sees that a missing person isn’t all that’s wrong here. And when more people start to vanish, Frankie realizes she’s up against something very dark–and she’s running out of time.

My Thoughts

For starters, One Step Too Far was a five star read for me. After I finished it, I just kept walking around my house saying, “Oh my gosh, that book was so good. Five star book.” (Yes, I realize this makes me sound like a nut to walk around my house talking to myself, but this book was seriously that good.) I finished it “so late” (AKA after 9:30PM) that none of my family was awake for me to talk to them about it.

When I started reading One Step Too Far , I feared that it would just turn into one big camping trip and feel repetitive the whole time. That is not at all the case.

I will say that the concept of Frankie as a whole seems a little bit far fetched. She’s this nomad who travels the nation following news stories to find long missing persons. In One Step Too Far , the most recent missing person went missing five years ago. I’m sure there are plenty of people who live a nomadic life like this, but one in which they predominantly find missing persons seems odd to me.

It seemed extra odd in this book though. Frankie was on her way to another missing person’s case when she picked up this one. She just happens to find a ride into town and immediately stumbles upon the crew looking for this one? It could have used just a little more exposition.

One of my favorite things about the Frankie Elkin stories is the relationships she builds with people. I was so INVESTED in the characters in One Step Too Far that I was in tears in the end. I was actively rooting for and hoping for these characters. It has been a while since I felt that kind of kinship with characters in a book. I know…here I am, sounding like a nut again.

Now, there’s a part of the book that I got hung up on. However, it’s a bit of a spoiler, so I’ll tuck it at the very end of this post.

I think there’s another Frankie Elkin story coming out in January, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. 2022 is supposed to be my year of not buying any books, but I actually gave in and purchased One Step Too Far for my shelves.

SPOILER AHEAD

I reached one point in the book where the SAR dog, Daisy, goes missing (along with her handler). I scoured the internet when I reached that part (at 40% or so) to see if there was any information about Daisy. I hate to leave a dog lost or hurt when I’m reading, but there was just too much left for me to read that evening.

Unfortunately, there were no answers online, so here is your answer. DAISY MAKES IT OUT ALIVE. I repeat, no harm comes to the dog in One Step Too Far .

Note: This post contains affiliate links, so I may receive a small commission from sales generated.

ITW Spotlight: Missing Persons Case Takes “One Step Too Far” Into the Wyoming Wilderness

One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner is back with another gripping thriller featuring her newest amateur detective, Frankie Elkin. Greeted by starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist before its release, One Step Too Far ( Random House ) is the enthralling follow-up to last year’s Before She Disappeared ( BookTrib’s coverage ).

This time, Frankie is investigating the disappearance of Tim O’Day, a golden boy who vanished in the Wyoming woods during an alcohol-soaked bachelor party/camping trip with his four best friends. Five years later, Tim’s father, Martin, is going back into the woods with those same friends for what has become his annual search for his son. After five years of fruitless searches, Martin thinks this time will be different. He doesn’t know how horrifically right he is.

Gardner was kind enough to sit down with The Big Thrill after an amazing trip to Antarctica. (“The penguins! They’re just as cute as you ever thought they would be!”) She shares her love of hiking, the meaning of friendship and thrilling news about what’s next for Frankie Elkin.

FRANKIE’S OUT OF HER ELEMENT IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

After the events of Before She Disappeared, Frankie leaves Boston — and the tentative sprouts of a relationship with Detective Dan Lotham — and finds herself on the road again, looking for her next missing person to find. When she reads about Martin O’Day’s newest effort to find his son Tim, Frankie knows she was meant to help. She muscles her way into joining Martin, their guide Nemeth, Tim’s bachelor party friends, Bob the Bigfoot Hunter, and the team of Luciana and her cadaver dog Daisy for her first-ever foray into the woods. Frankie’s almost exclusively a city-dweller, and she quickly realizes the deep Popo Agie Wilderness in Wyoming is far outside her normal habitat.

“What I loved about this book for Frankie, is that we’re taking her as a loner, and we’re putting her into a pretty complicated group with seven other people who, in her mind, is a group that’s not a group. You have three subgroups: the leaders, the bachelor buddies, and the two other professionals. And then you take someone like Frankie, who’s such a loner, and now she’s got to master [hiking] quite quickly and find a place in a very complex group dynamic.”

It’s so much fun to see Frankie’s bravado and confidence in her abilities as a finder of missing persons devolve into panic as the realization of how unprepared she is for life in the wilds of nature begins to hit her (and that’s before strange and unsettling things begin to happen). She can barely make it through the seven-hour hike, and then she’s faced with all the duties and requirements still needing to be done before she’s finished for the day. But she sucks it up. She has a job to do — finding Tim O’Day and becoming a member of this group, which goes against her nature as a professional outsider.

“One of the things I love about Frankie,” Gardner says, “is that I feel she represents us. She’s very down-to-earth. She’s hiked all day and then she’s supposed to help set up a camp, and she has no idea what to do. I’ve been on hikes like that with much more experienced hikers. Sometimes fake it ’til you make it is the best that we can do.”

GARDNER’S LOVE OF HIKING INSPIRED FRANKIE’S LATEST PLOT

Gardner’s descriptions of the Popo Agie Wilderness are rich and vivid, in part because she is an avid hiker herself. “I live in the mountains of New Hampshire, and the mountains are a lifestyle here. In recent years, I started to do more aggressive hikes with a group of friends, and we decided we should probably learn some wilderness survival training.”

That survival training and her love of hiking inspired the plot and setting for One Step Too Far . “We took a [wilderness survival] class, an all-day class, and it was just amazing. And you know how it is as a writer. I took wilderness survival for me, but by the time I was done, I had a book to write.”

While she wanted to sink herself into the setting of her book, that wasn’t in the cards thanks to COVID-19. “Normally, my process for writing is to go to a place and spend time there. Partly because I think if you want a setting to come alive, you can’t just be saying what it looks like. It’s what does it sound like, smell like? What distracts you in a random moment? So the fact I couldn’t go out to Wyoming killed me.” Thankfully, her own hiking practice and copious brochures for the Popo Agie Wilderness helped her create a setting so vivid you can smell the pinesap.

FRIENDSHIP, FORGIVENESS AND FRANKIE’S “ANTI-LIFE”

Central to this mystery is the theme of friendship — what friends will do for each other and to each other and how they always forgive each other in the end. But this time, there wasn’t time for forgiveness. “We make mistakes along the way, and we forgive each other along the way. Here a terrible tragedy happens before they can complete the process, and that lack of closure haunts all of them.”

As Frankie witnesses the bonds between these friends, she reflects on her time in Boston and her own nomadic life. “Frankie’s a person who leads an anti-life,” Gardner says. “She doesn’t have the house, the kids, the job, the marriage. She’s rootless. She wanders. And she’s obsessed with solving other people’s problems.”

It’s not like Frankie doesn’t have problems of her own to work on. She’s a recovering alcoholic still weighted with the guilt of what her disease cost the others around her. Frankie’s solution to handling the guilt has been to find the long-lost loved ones of others. “It’s always easier to fix someone else’s life,” Gardner wisely says.

While Frankie lives in a world of things left emotionally unfinished, she is driven to provide the emotional closure she can’t have to others. “One of the things that’s important when you write about missing persons cases is just how insidious that feeling can be for that family left behind to never have those answers. To never be able to finish that last conversation or to have reconciliation after that last fight. That’s what makes this work so powerful and necessary. It’s what keeps Frankie going. It’s not just finding the missing; it’s bringing peace to the families.”

GARDNER’S COMMUNITY AND FRANKIE ON THE BIG SCREEN

Gardner isn’t just the author of almost 30 novels — she’s also the vice president of author services for the International Thriller Writers, a role she says she cherishes. “I love the International Thriller Writers. It has given me a sense of community. I have made some of my best friends through meeting other authors at conferences, and I feel the writing process is lonely, so forming your tribe, finding your people along the way is one of those ways we survive as artists.”

One initiative she’s particularly proud of is ITW’s Debut Author Program, which offers new authors resources and activities that will boost their book release and give their careers a solid launch. “There are some authors in the very beginning of my career — Tess Gerritsen being one of them — who were so incredibly kind and generous helping with my debut thriller. You want to give back. You want to pay it forward.”

Most exciting of all, Frankie Elkin will be appearing in the flesh on a screen near you. Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Hilary Swank has signed on to be the executive producer and star of a limited series based on Gardner’s compelling character.

We can’t wait to meet her!

This story appears through BookTrib’s partnership with the International Thriller Writers. It first appeared in The Big Thrill .

Never Tell Q&A with Lisa Gardner

Look for Me Q&A with Lisa Gardner: Part I ,

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About Lisa Gardner :

Lisa Gardner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 20 suspense novels, including The Neighbor , which won Thriller of the Year from the International Thriller Writers. An avid hiker, traveler and cribbage player, she lives in the mountains of New Hampshire with her family.

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Mindy Carlson

Mindy Carlson, M.S.O.D., grew up as an animal- and mystery-loving girl in Iowa before heading to California to see what she could make of her life. Now she lives in Maryland and is a successful parenting author, with pieces appearing in The Washington Post , Big Life Journal , and AFineParent.com. Her Dying Day is her debut novel. She blogs about parenting, cooking, and travel as the Swiss Family Carlson at mindycarlson.com

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Book review: Frankie Elkin back on the trail in wilderness thriller

"One Step Too Far"

Author: Lisa Gardner

Dutton, 416 pages, $27

In best-selling thriller writer Lisa Gardner’s sequel to “Before She Disappeared,” Frankie Elkin, a self-described “average, middle-aged white woman, short on belongings, long on regret,” is back on the trail of another person who has been lost. This time Elkin is literally on a trail searching for a missing hiker in Wyoming’s Shoshone National Forest, some of the roughest outdoors in the land.

“One Step Too Far” has Elkin joining up with a group led by the missing hiker’s father. He has been searching for his son for five years and is attempting one more time because his now dying wife wants to be buried next to her son. The group he has organized for this trip includes a local guide and former forest ranger, a Sasquatch hunter, a cadaver dog named Daisy and her search and rescue handler, and the four friends of his son who were with him when he went missing. Fanatic Frankie soon finagles her way onto the team taking the spot and the gear of one of the friends who is sick.

Despite her lack of skill with the outdoors, Elkin is a determined fast learner.

“They seem to know what they’re doing, so I follow their lead, stepping out of the van, dumping my gear on the ground, then, belatedly, digging out the insect repellent. The others are spraying it on heavily. Even Daisy is subject to some minty-smelling, canine-friendly mosquito napalm. Once that’s completed, everyone pulls on their packs. Again Daisy fits right in, adorned in a red vest with bulging pouches and a single water bottle.

“If a dog can do this, I tell myself, then I can, too.

“Of course, the dog has had way more training.”

As with the previous Elkin adventure, author Gardner, an avid outdoorswoman, has done her homework researching the locale, giving us a real feel for this rough-and-tumble portion of Americana. And, as is her trademark, the thrills grow and the storyline gets more complex as the group goes farther into the wilderness.

Gardner has another winning series to keep us up at night.

Tim O’Connell lives in Ponte Vedra Beach.

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By the Book

Lisa Gardner, the Thriller Writer Who Loves Historical Romance

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“Witty dialogue, great characters, steamy sex,” says the novelist Lisa Gardner, whose latest thriller is “One Step Too Far”: “What’s not to like?”

What books are on your night stand?

“Razorblade Tears,” by S. A. Cosby, and Gregg Hurwitz’s new Orphan X thriller, “Dark Horse.” Cosby is a new author for me who, given all the buzz, I can’t wait to discover. Hurwitz is one of my must-reads. I like to switch up between fresh voices and fan favorites.

What’s the last great book you read?

“Iron Widow,” by Xiran Jay Zhao, a Y.A. title I technically bought as a Christmas gift for my daughter, then couldn’t resist reading before wrapping. Umm, oops? Except I really loved it and stayed up till 3 a.m. to finish. Now my daughter is under orders to read it immediately because I’m desperate to talk about the story. Welcome to Christmas in our house.

Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).

Curled up on my sofa, with a fire crackling in the fireplace, blanket on my lap, and two dogs snuggled up for additional warmth. Then I have the entire day to crack open a long-awaited novel and read from beginning to end. I currently have Kristin Hannah’s “The Four Winds” set aside for such a luxurious experience.

What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?

One of the huge perks of being a New York Times best-selling author is being sent copies by debut authors to review and (hopefully) recommend. Receiving so many books, I have a system of flipping through the first chapter to see if the novel will grab my interest. Many are nice, some intriguing and then there are the explosive few that rock my world. As in, an hour later, I’m still standing in the middle of my entryway reading. Chevy Stevens’s “Still Missing,” Riley Sager’s “Final Girls” and Karen Dionne’s “The Marsh King’s Daughter” all stopped me in my tracks. In the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of discovering “Never Saw Me Coming,” by Vera Kurian (a female psychopath goes to college), and “The Family Tree,” by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry (good news, you’re related to a serial killer). For a true reader, there’s nothing like the joy of discovering a new author, so get out there and pick up some debuts!

Which writers — novelists, playwrights, critics, journalists, poets — working today do you admire most ?

Oh my, that’s quite a list. Stephen King, Ken Follett, Nora Roberts, Amanda Gorman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Shonda Rhimes. I’m drawn to the range of their work, the height of their creativity and the depth of their words.

What book, if any, most influenced your decision to become a writer?

“The Far Pavilions,” by M. M. Kaye. I read the historical saga for the first time when I was 12 and was totally transfixed. That kind of narrative power, the ability to transport a young girl from boring suburbia to 19th-century India, left me awed. I thought, Someday, I want to be able to do this!

What do you read when you’re working on a book? And what kind of reading do you avoid while writing?

I know some authors say they can’t read novels while they’re working on their own, but I’m not one of them. I read anything at any time. While researching a novel, I may read more nonfiction on various topics, including true crime (love Ann Rule and Gregg Olsen). Otherwise, my only real quirk is that I like to switch up genres. For example, after reading a bunch of thrillers in a row, I might then read some historicals or women’s fiction titles, then maybe fantasy or Y.A. To me, books are like ice cream and you always want ice cream, it’s just a question of which flavor you’re craving at the moment.

What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?

Jon Billman’s “The Cold Vanish,” which delves into the approximately 1,600 people missing on national public lands and the lack of dedicated resources for finding them, shocked and terrified me. I’m an avid hiker, so the real-life stories of everything that can, and has, gone wrong struck close to home. Things that scare me eventually wind up in my novels. Hence my January thriller, “One Step Too Far,” which features the missing persons expert Frankie Elkin heading into a remote wilderness area as part of a search team. Bad things happen from there. I think of the book as “And Then There Were None” goes hiking. Thank you Jon Billman and Agatha Christie.

What moves you most in a work of literature?

I read for character, character and character. I’m looking to see the world through someone else’s eyes and in doing so, having my own eyes opened to fresh experiences, issues and ideas. So the what, where and when aren’t nearly as important to me as the who when it comes to picking novels.

Who’s your favorite fictional detective? And the best villain?

I love Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series, where the acclaimed detective Sherlock Holmes is actually a front for the very female, very brilliant Charlotte Holmes, who must solve crimes while battling the sexist mores of Victorian-era England. Best villain for me will always be Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter. Not sure anyone will ever top that, though Anne Rice’s Lestat would be my second pick. I feel like we’re going through this phase of trying to make villains relatable by explaining their actions through some terribly tragic back story. Let’s just say, Lecter and Lestat are not looking to be understood. They glory in their violent nature. To me, that’s what makes them compelling, as some small part of each of us wishes we could just let go, and be who we truly are. Not that we’re all secretly vicious killers, but you get my point. There’s a certain triumph in being unapologetically yourself, and Lecter and Lestat are unapologetically themselves. Which is why, I think, decades later readers remain fascinated by them.

What makes for a good thriller?

The best thrillers excel at combining compelling characters with breakneck pacing. You’re heavily invested in the main characters while abandoning all household chores, missing your subway stop and staying up way too late as you race from chapter to chapter to find out what happens next. When readers tell me they ignored their children and showed up late to work just to finish one of my novels, I feel good about myself.

How do you organize your books?

By author. Is that boring? Though I suppose that applies to the books in my library. Like any good reader, I have TBR piles all around my house. Those are organized in the order I plan on reading them. Except, of course, new books keep appearing, meaning no matter how much I read, the stacks never grow shorter. I consider this a good problem to have.

What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?

I love historical romances. Witty dialogue, great characters, steamy sex. What’s not to like? Favorite authors include Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Tessa Dare, Amanda Quick and Lisa Kleypas. I think it’s wonderful Shonda Rhimes has brought worldwide attention to the brilliant escapism that is the “Bridgerton” series, and hope many more adaptations will follow.

What’s the best book you’ve ever received as a gift?

That’s a tie between “The House in the Cerulean Sea,” by T. J. Klune, and “The Midnight Library,” by Matt Haig. Both gifts from my daughter, who clearly has excellent taste.

What kind of reader were you as a child? Which childhood books and authors stick with you most?

As a child, I read anything and everything, from the Bible stories my grandmother extolled to the G.I. Joe comic books my cousin loved to the Nancy Drew series promoted by my local librarian. I would check out books by the dozen and race through them as fast I could. Needless to say, I earned many scratch-and-sniff stickers during the summer reading programs.

How have your reading tastes changed over time?

My new favorite genre is Y.A., which interestingly enough, I don’t remember reading as a young adult. I don’t know if that’s because the genre has exploded that much, or I finally figured out what I was missing. Either way I’m grateful to have discovered such authors as Sarah J. Maas, Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir. I rarely reread books as I have so many new novels awaiting me, but I’ll confess, I’ve read the entire “Throne of Glass” series by Maas three times. I cry each and every time, then contemplate starting again.

You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?

Agatha Christie, Maya Angelou and Fredrik Backman. I grew up reading Agatha Christie, of course; she and Stephen King remain the strongest literary influences on my own work. The chance to talk to Christie about being the female mystery author of her day would be amazing! Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” was one of those definitive works that pierced my heart and opened my eyes. Her words are so beautiful; I would love to just sit and listen to her speak. And Fredrik Backman is one of my new fave authors from “A Man Called Ove” to “Anxious People.” His sense of humor, but more importantly, his uncanny knack for capturing human nature in all its imperfect glory, captivates me. The three of them at a table — I’d record the entire event, but never share on social media. I’d just hold it tight to my chest, a secret treasure I could bring out and review when the blank page seems too daunting.

What do you plan to read next?

“Dava Shastri’s Last Day,” by Kirthana Ramisetti, which my daughter gave me for Christmas. She would like the record to show she didn’t read it before wrapping it. Where she got such self-control, I’ll never know. I’ll definitely share “Dava Shastri” with her once I’m done, as the next best thing to reading a novel is getting to talk about it with a fellow book lover. I think of it as the literary life cycle. Read a book. Share a book. Get a recommendation for a new book. And all is well with the universe.

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#BlogTour #BookReview One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner @LisaGardnerBks @centurybooksuk #OneStepTooFar #LisaGardner

Frankie Elkin has dedicated her life to doing what no one else will: searching for missing people the world has forgotten.

When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking. She has found fourteen victims to date, but none yet alive. Traveling from city to city with more regrets than belongings, Frankie is drawn to a new case in Boston, and to a neighbourhood with a rough reputation.

Angelique Badeau, a local teenager and Haitian immigrant, vanished eleven months ago in the middle of the day from her high school. No scrap of surveillance footage, no cell phone tracking; Angelique simply disappeared.

Despite resistance from the Boston PD and the victim’s wary family, Frankie starts to unpick the truth of Angelique’s disappearance and starts to discover there are those that don’t want these questions answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to find Angelique and bring her home, even if it means the next person to go missing will be herself …

Twisty, tight, and incredibly atmospheric!

One Step Too Far is an engrossing, sinister thrill ride that takes us back on the road to solve the unsolved with Frankie Elkin, a middle-aged wanderer who now finds herself in the rugged Wyoming countryside and completely out of her element when she joins a search party, including the victim’s father, three of his friends, and three search and rescue specialists heading into the Shoshone National Forest wilderness to once and for all discover what happened to Timothy O’Day five years ago when he stepped away from his campsite never to be seen again.

The writing is brisk and sharp. The characters are tormented, scarred, and vulnerable. And the plot is tense, action-packed and full of suspicious personalities, unreliable characters, unexpected twists, nefarious motivations, mayhem, survival, violence, and murder.

Overall, One Step Too Far is an unpredictable, tortuous, gripping tale by Gardner, that like all her previous novels, kept me guessing from the very first page and left me unsettled, highly entertained, and certainly eager for more.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following links.

Thank you to Penguin Random House UK – Century Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

About Lisa Gardner

New York Times bestselling crime novelist Lisa Gardner began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has parlayed her interest in police procedure, cutting edge forensics and twisted plots into a streak of eleven bestselling suspense novels.

Lisa lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with her family, as well as two highly spoiled dogs and one extremely neurotic three-legged cat. Lisa graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in international relations.

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One Step Too Far: A Novel (A Frankie Elkin Novel)

“One Step Too Far takes us on a harrowing journey into the dark wilderness of the human heart . . .”

Frankie Elkin finds lost people. It’s what she does.

A transient with nothing more to her name than a carry-on suitcase and an old flip phone, she’s a recovered alcoholic who searches for missing children, lost drug addicts, and victims of violence. She’s not an ex-cop, she has no training, and she isn’t paid for what she does. She’s an outsider who’s always out of her depth and always uncomfortable.

Five years ago, Tim O’Day disappeared while hiking with friends in the Popo Agie Wilderness near Ramsey, Wyoming. Something about the case compels Frankie to join in a new search conducted by Tim’s father, who’s obsessed with finding his son’s remains.

An arduous hike into the wilderness quickly becomes a nightmare as Frankie and the team find their lives endangered not only by the harsh conditions but also by a human predator intent on concealing years of horrible carnage.

One Step Too Far is Lisa Gardner’s second thriller featuring Frankie Elkin, following up on Before She Disappeared (2021). A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Gardner has written numerous thrillers including the award-winning novel The Neighbor (2009). She’s also the author of more than a dozen romance novels under the name Alicia Scott.

This particular story is compelling for several reasons. As the narrator explains at the beginning, at least 1,600 people have disappeared and remain missing on national public lands, and the fact that Frankie impulsively volunteers to hike for a week in the wilderness with no experience, no training, and no physical attributes that would ensure her survival is cause for concern that she may quickly join that number.

As well, the palpable tensions among the search team—including the friends who accompanied Tim five years ago, the obsessive father, a dog handler and her cadaver dog, a Bigfoot enthusiast, and a local who knows the area—immediately generate a revolving list of suspects. Frankie senses that everyone knows more than they’re admitting, and one of them is likely a threat to all their lives.

Gardner has a very confident approach to storytelling. She carefully portions out the answers to all of Frankie’s (and our) questions, one or two at a time, chapter by chapter, cliffhanger after cliffhanger, maximizing the suspense while stretching our patience close to the breaking point.

Close but not quite there, because we keep reading on, obsessed with the mystery.

This is the secret of the bestselling page turner, friends: unrelenting suspense fueled by a stingy author parceling out the clues one by one, bit by bit, knowing the hook is set and all she needs to do is keep reeling us in, a few inches at a time.

An experienced hiking enthusiast and animal rescue worker, Gardner does an excellent job with her manipulation of the setting and the challenges it poses to Frankie and the others, as well as her use of Daisy the cadaver dog, whom we’d love to be able to give just one great big hug.

The author also earns extra credit for her depiction of alcoholism, in the ongoing struggle Frankie must deal with on a daily basis and in Frankie’s sad memories of her alcoholic father. Gardner treats this subject with compassion and understanding, adding an extra dimension to her protagonist’s intriguing personality while also exploring a subject that needs to be better understood.

Gardner falters, however, when she wraps up her tale. The ultimate solution to the mystery of Tim’s disappearance and the ongoing threat to the party, once it’s finally revealed to us, is rather anti-climatic—a far cry from the whiz-bang conclusion you’d expect from a nerve-wracking thriller. Gardner seems much more interested in coyly stringing out the mystery to the bitter end than in smacking us between the eyes with a shocking finale.

As well, the epilogue tacked on to tie up all the various loose ends is drawn out and a little sappy, more appropriate to one of her romance novels than a suspense thriller. It could have been chopped, or at least drastically trimmed, and the novel would have been better for it.

Nevertheless, One Step Too Far takes us on a harrowing journey into the dark wilderness of the human heart, where fear and desperation reveal exactly who we are. It’s definitely worth your time.

Michael J. McCann’s novel Sorrow Lake was a finalist for the Hammett Prize for literary excellence in North American crime fiction. His latest novel is A Death in Winter, the fifth March and Walker Crime Novel.

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One Step Too Far

By lisa gardner, part of a frankie elkin novel, category: suspense & thriller | crime fiction.

Jul 19, 2022 | ISBN 9780593185438 | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 --> | ISBN 9780593185438 --> Buy

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About One Step Too Far

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a chilling thriller about a young man gone missing in the wilderness of Wyoming…and the secrets uncovered by the desperate effort to find him Timothy O’Day knew the woods. Yet when he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip, he didn’t leave a trace. What he did leave behind were two heartbroken parents, a crew of guilt-ridden groomsmen, and a pile of clues that don’t add up. Frankie Elkin doesn’t know the woods, but she knows how to find people. So when she reads that Timothy’s father is organizing one last search, she heads to the mountains of Wyoming to join the rescue team. But as they head into the wild, it becomes clear that someone out there is willing to do anything to stop them. Soon, they’re running out of time and up against the worst man and nature have to offer, discovering the evil that awaits those who go one step too far…

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a chilling thriller about a young man gone missing in the wilderness of Wyoming…and the secrets uncovered by the desperate effort to find him Timothy O’Day knew the woods. Yet he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip without a trace, breaking his parents’ hearts, driving the other groomsmen mad with guilt, and leaving behind a pile of clues that won’t add up. Frankie Elkin doesn’t know the woods, but she does know how to find people. When Timothy’s father organizes one last search, she heads to the mountains of Wyoming to join the rescue team, only to find that someone out there is willing to do anything to stop them. Soon, they’re running out of time and up against the worst man and nature have to offer, discovering the evil that awaits those who go one step too far…

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a chilling thriller about a young man gone missing in the wilderness of Wyoming . . . and the secrets uncovered by the desperate effort to find him Timothy O’Day knew the woods. Yet when he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip with his best friends in the world, he didn’t leave a trace. What he did leave behind were two heartbroken parents, a crew of guilt-ridden groomsmen, and a pile of clues that don’t add up. Frankie Elkin doesn’t know the woods, but she knows how to find people. So when she reads that Timothy’s father is organizing one last search, she heads to Wyoming. Despite the rescue team’s reluctance, she joins them. But as they hike into the mountains, it becomes clear that there’s something dangerous at work in the woods . . . or someone who is willing to do anything to stop them from going any farther. Running out of time and up against the worst man and nature have to offer, Frankie and the search party will discover what evil awaits those who go one step too far . . .

Also in A Frankie Elkin Novel

Also by Lisa Gardner

About Lisa Gardner

Lisa Gardner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty suspense novels, including The Neighbor, which won Thriller of the Year from the International Thriller Writers. An avid hiker, traveler, and cribbage player, she lives in the mountains… More about Lisa Gardner

Product Details

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Praise for One Step Too Far “It’s not often that a thriller so deeply casts us into the darkness of both nature and the human heart. . . . Terrifying, primal, and very, very tense. Read it with your heart in your throat—but read it.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Gardner’s latest series continues to excel; instinctual, tragedy-driven Frankie is one of crime fiction’s most intriguing new sleuths.” — Booklist (starred review) “The appeal of Lisa Gardner’s second Frankie Elkin mystery lies mainly with the meticulously researched science and lore on surviving in the wilderness–and with the endearingly strange Frankie herself.” —The Washington Post “Gardner’s gripping sequel to 2021’s Before She Disappeared . . . winds toward a surprising conclusion.” —Publishers Weekly “An authentic Wyoming setting, a tantalizing mystery, and a Labrador named Daisy. What’s not to like?” —C. J. Box, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dark Sky “Master storyteller and avid hiker Lisa Gardner has written the book she was meant to write, an immersive, propulsive, utterly chilling, and yet deeply moving wilderness thriller in which her intimate knowledge of and love for the rugged Wyoming backcountry shines through on every terrifying page. Without a doubt, the best book I’ve read all year.” —Karen Dionne, author of The Marsh King’s Daughter “Visceral, unpredictable, and terrifying. You’ll never hike into the woods again without thinking of Lisa Gardner’s One Step Too Far .” —Robert Dugoni, #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite series “Propulsive, adrenaline-fueled, terrifyingly real.” —Clare Mackintosh, bestselling author of Hostage “ And Then There Were None meets Deliverance . Gardner’s latest will have you flipping pages at breakneck speed, guessing and gasping.” —Linwood Barclay, author of Find You First “You’ll root for Frankie (and for a diligent cadaver dog named Daisy) on every page of this tense, crackling read.” — People “A hybrid combination of C. J. Box and Nevada Barr at their level best . . . this is thriller writing of the absolute highest order, as great a novel as it is a page-turner.” — Providence Journal “Gardner can be counted on to send a shiver down the spine, but this one exceeds even her high standards.” — Daily Mail “Beyond brilliant . . . A mix of beautiful prose and ingenious, intense, edgy dialogue . . . Perfect for fans of unputdownable, gritty cat-and-mouse mysteries, compassionate underdog protagonists with self-deprecating senses of humor, ruthless killers, and ‘didn’t see it coming, OMG’ endings.” — Library Journal (starred review) “A tour de force in suspense and red herrings with a twist ending I did not even begin to anticipate.” — Bookpage (starred review) “Riveting. I enjoyed every bit of One Step Too Far .” — The St. Louis Post-Dispatch “As is her trademark, the thrills grow and the storyline gets more complex as the group goes farther into the wilderness. Gardner has another winning series to keep us up at night.” —The Florida Times-Union “Everything you could ask for in a great mystery: secrets, suspense, excellent pace, and great characters.” — Mystery and Suspense “ One Step Too Far takes us on a harrowing journey into the dark wilderness of the human heart, where fear and desperation reveal exactly who we are.” — New York Journal of Books “ One Step Too Far builds atmosphere and tension subtly and skillfully, drawing us further into the adventure even as we start wanting to pull back and get everyone home.” — Fresh Fiction “A page turner from the beginning . . . This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it.” —The Buzz Magazine “I didn’t want it to end.” — The Book Review Crew “Phenomenal . . . If you are a living, breathing human, you should read this book.” — Nerd Problems “ One Step Too Far is a fascinating, engrossing, thrilling, and chilling mystery that will keep you reading late into the wee hours.” — All About Romance “This dark, tense, terrifying book will have you on the edge of your seat.” — Napa Valley Register

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ONE STEP TOO FAR

by Lisa Gardner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 18, 2022

Terrifying, primal, and very, very tense. Read it with your heart in your throat—but read it.

Frankie Elkin, a miraculous finder of missing persons, seeks a man who wandered into the wilderness and was never seen again.

Last seen rescuing a missing teenager from the gritty streets of Boston, Frankie embarks from a bus in Ramsey, Wyoming, drawn in by the story of hiker Timothy O’Day, who's been missing for five years, and the last-gasp efforts of his father, Martin, to search for his remains. Frankie has some regrets about leaving Boston, but she's called to find those others have given up on. She manages to finagle her way on to the search party, which in addition to Martin includes a local guide; a search-and-rescue dog and her handler; a Bigfoot expert; and Tim’s friends, who were in the woods with him when he went missing. In the years since, they’ve moved on with their lives, but they are carrying guilt and secrets about the night Tim disappeared. As they all head into the unforgiving wilderness, it quickly becomes apparent that someone is deeply threatened by this effort to find Tim’s body. As she endeavors to draw the truth from each member of the search party, Frankie can tell that she's in over her head, and not only because she’s an inexperienced outdoorswoman. Could Tim still be alive and looking for revenge, or is there a more dangerous secret that someone would kill to protect? Gardner is incredibly skilled at developing tension and suspense; she’s equally skilled at slowly revealing complex characters and their secrets. Both gifts reinforce each other in this novel. If Frankie is out of her element, so are we: It’s not often that a thriller so deeply casts us into the darkness of both nature and the human heart.

Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-18541-4

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021

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More by Lisa Gardner

BOOK REVIEW

by Lisa Gardner

A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection , 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

More by Kathy Reichs

by Kathy Reichs

THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE

by Riley Sager ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2022

A weird, wild ride.

Celebrity scandal and a haunted lake drive the narrative in this bestselling author’s latest serving of subtly ironic suspense.

Sager’s debut, Final Girls (2017), was fun and beautifully crafted. His most recent novels— Home Before Dark (2020) and Survive the Night (2021) —have been fun and a bit rickety. His new novel fits that mold. Narrator Casey Fletcher grew up watching her mother dazzle audiences, and then she became an actor herself. While she never achieves the “America’s sweetheart” status her mother enjoyed, Casey makes a career out of bit parts in movies and on TV and meatier parts onstage. Then the death of her husband sends her into an alcoholic spiral that ends with her getting fired from a Broadway play. When paparazzi document her substance abuse, her mother exiles her to the family retreat in Vermont. Casey has a dry, droll perspective that persists until circumstances overwhelm her, and if you’re getting a Carrie Fisher vibe from Casey Fletcher, that is almost certainly not an accident. Once in Vermont, she passes the time drinking bourbon and watching the former supermodel and the tech mogul who live across the lake through a pair of binoculars. Casey befriends Katherine Royce after rescuing her when she almost drowns and soon concludes that all is not well in Katherine and Tom’s marriage. Then Katherine disappears….It would be unfair to say too much about what happens next, but creepy coincidences start piling up, and eventually, Casey has to face the possibility that maybe some of the eerie legends about Lake Greene might have some truth to them. Sager certainly delivers a lot of twists, and he ventures into what is, for him, new territory. Are there some things that don’t quite add up at the end? Maybe, but asking that question does nothing but spoil a highly entertaining read.

Pub Date: June 21, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-593-18319-9

Page Count: 368

Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022

More by Riley Sager

by Riley Sager

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Book Review: One Step Too Far

Frankie Elkin, a woman who will stop at nothing to find the missing people that the rest of the world has forgotten, returns in One Step Too Far .

Timothy O’Day knew the woods. Yet he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip with his best friends. He didn’t leave a trace. But what he did leave behind were two heartbroken parents, a crew of guilt-ridden groomsmen . . . and a pile of clues that don’t add up.

Frankie Elkin doesn’t know the woods at all. But she knows how to find people.

So when she reads that Timothy’s father is organizing one last search for his son five years after he disappeared, she heads to Wyoming. Despite the rescue team’s reluctance, she convinces them to let her join them.

But as they hike into the mountains, it becomes evident that there’s something dangerous at work in the woods . . . or someone. And he or she is willing to do anything to stop them from going any farther and learning the truth.

Running out of time and up against the worst man and nature have to offer, Frankie and the search party discover what evil awaits those who go one step too far . . .

Frankie Elkin, the ordinary but strong woman with a troubled past and a mission to find missing persons, was introduced by bestselling author Lisa Gardner in Before She Disappeared . Gardner was inspired to create the character when she happened upon an article about Lissa Yellowbird-Chase, a woman who gave up everything in order to pursue cold cases because of her belief that too many missing children of color are forgotten and the mysteries surrounding their disappearances never solved. Gardner found Yellowbird-Chase’s work “inspiring” and “a bit mesmerizing.” She wondered, “What would that look like?” and decided to explore the question via Frankie’s fictional journeys.

“I tried real life once. There was a house, a job, even a man who loved me enough to hold my hand as I fought my way to sober,” Frankie explains. But there is no longer a place Frankie calls home. Ten years ago, a woman in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting shared that the police showed little interest in her daughter’s disappearance. “I became intrigued, started asking questions, and the next thing I knew, I’d found the daughter.” In the years since, Frankie has traveled wherever the cases lead her, volunteering her services. She learns about missing persons in online forums and chat rooms by using computers in local libraries. She decides which cases to pursue solely by gut instinct. Frankie is searching for missing people, as well as something else. Gardner believes Frankie is “searching for herself. She’s obsessed. She’s looking for the why of it.” Frankie confesses, “I don’t always know why I choose the cases I do.” But “it works” for Frankie, who is an addict and an outsider wherever she goes.

In One Step Too Far , she pursues the case of Timothy O’Day, who went missing five years ago, in large part because Tim’s mother is dying and “just wants to be buried next to her son.” Frankie planned to go to Idaho to help search for an eight-year-old boy who vanished sixteen months ago. But when she learned that Tim’s father has been organizing annual expeditions to search for his son’s remains and has planned one final attempt to locate and bring his boy’s body home in order to grant his wife’s dying wish, Frankie just knows that she has to be part of the search team despite the fact that she is not ready for the harsh conditions she will encounter in the Popo Agie Wilderness. For one thing, she lacks the requisite clothing, equipment, and supplies, as well as the funds to purchase the items she will need. She is not an experienced hiker. And when she arrives, the members of the team are assembling and strategizing, but they do not readily welcome the outsider into their midst.

None of them expect to miraculously find Tim alive. Rather, the searchers will be accompanied by a cadaver dog because, if they are lucky, they will retrieve Tim’s bones so they can be buried next to his mother. Frankie knows well that the kind of search on which she and the other members of the team are about to embark is about “gaining closure.” Perhaps his parents can find some peace by finding tangible remnants such as bones or personal effects. Perhaps it will help them to simply understand, at long last, what exactly happened to Tim and caused his demise.

Tim was an experienced hiker and outdoorsman, having been taught by his father to survive in the wilderness. So he was the acknowledged leader of the group of five young college friends who decided a camping trip would be the perfect way to celebrate Tim’s upcoming nuptials. It was to be their last weekend get-away before the end of Tim’s bachelorhood. Tim, Scott, Neil, Josh, and Miguel set up camp. But after an evening of heavy drinking, Scott disappeared in the middle of the night and Tim ventured out to find him. Unfortunately, he never returned. He disappeared without a trace. Although hundreds of volunteers combed the woods for weeks after he vanished, none of his equipment (backpack, headlamp, clothing, etc.) was even found. Scott resurfaced, claiming to have no memory of what happened on that fateful night.

My life is filled with ghosts. Images and stories of people I never knew and, in most cases, never will. They haunt me. And yet I keep coming back for more, collecting memories that aren’t even my memories and clutching them tight to my chest. If you hoard other people’s tragedies, does that make your own easier to bear? I’m still waiting to find out. ~~ Frankie Elkin

Eventually, Frankie convinces the group to let her join them, and she, along with an experienced resident, Tim’s grief-hardened father, Tim’s four friends, a Bigfoot hunter, and a search-dog handler all head up the mountain. Frankie is well aware that the greatest danger “comes from the eight humans who just hiked” into the wilderness, and although she does not yet understand why it ultimately matters, she knows that she must get to know her companions.

In Before She Disappeared , Gardner established Frankie as an endearingly complicated and puzzling protagonist who must constantly safeguard her sobriety. Gardner revealed part of Frankie’s troubled history and permitted her to develop feelings for Dan Lotham, the lead detective on the case she worked in Boston. She was tempted to remain there and attempt to maintain a stable relationship with him but knew herself well enough to know that she had to continue her quest to find the missing. Gardner evocatively depicts Frankie’s longing for love and desire to run back to Boston and let herself fall into Lotham’s strong arms. “Except then it will be morning. There’s always morning.” Gardner says Frankie has to keep moving because if she stays in one place, she will drink.

Gardner ramps up the dramatic tension as Frankie learns about the histories of the other members of the search party. Details about their relationships, long-held secrets, and resentments come to light. Gardner surrounds Frankie with a compelling cast of supporting characters which includes her setting. The vastly beautiful but perilous wilderness area in which the search is being conducted serves as an additional character, providing context and heightening the intrigue. Gardner injects the tale with authenticity, in part because she is an avid hiker who lives in the mountains of New Hampshire. She relates that penning the book was one of her most enjoyable writing endeavors because hiking is an integral part of her writing process. When she finds herself stuck or in need of inspiration, she goes out on a trek. She spent more time in the outdoors when the world shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking longer and more adventurous hikes in areas beyond cell phone coverage or the reach of rescuers. She describes it as “isolating, exhilarating, terrifying.”

Gardner understands perfectly why Frankie has “struck a chord” with readers. “She is empathetic. . . . Frankie is not a crack investigator, she is not a hacker, she does not have superpowers. However, she is an excellent listener. And she cares. She’s an alcoholic and has done all sorts of bad things. Her family was imperfect. She does not judge. She is genuinely interested in people, in hearing their stories, and in providing that kind of balm she inevitably gets the information necessary to bring things together. I think she’s both fascinating and vulnerable, but soothing in a world where everyone wants to be hurt but nobody cares to listen anymore.”

Still, Gardner finds it challenging to write Frankie’s first-person narrative. “I am her and she is us. She is a proxy for the everyday, average person.” What sets her apart is her obsession with finding people who have gone missing. Frankie is adept at asking questions and the key to her success is the fact that she is an outsider rather than a trained member of law enforcement She can ask questions and employ techniques that are unavailable to professionals.

But in this story, Frankie is in the wild, isolated with a group of people she quickly discovers are not really a cohesive group at all, but they will have to rely on each other in order to survive. Frankie can’t simply pursue interviews with neighbors and friends of the missing person. She has access only to the members of the search party who Gardner gradually reveals to be untrustworthy. Equipment and supplies go missing. There is a strong sense of being watched. Soon bodies begin piling up. Someone is intent on sabotaging the expedition. But who? And why? Frankie soon regrets her decision to pursue the case as the group proceeds further into the wild and her lack of survival skills becomes increasingly apparent and potentially lethal. She has to figure out her companions’ alliances, as well as their motivations for revenge and the bases for their efforts prevent the truth from finally coming to light. If she fails to carry out her mission, she may not emerge from the woods at all. So Frankie has to bring something unique “to the table” in order to solve the case. “Her superpower is people – listening, learning, adapting.” Gardner poses the question of whether the result will be survival of the fittest or the most adaptable. Gardner propels the story forward at an unrelenting pace as Frankie, who “is not the fittest,” proves how adaptable she is. Adaptability is a skill that many people had to acquire during the pandemic, Gardner observes. And it proves to be the key to Frankie’s ability to solve the case and live to relate to readers how she accomplishes her goal.

One Step Too Far is yet another engrossing, propulsive, cleverly-plotted, and unpredictable mystery from a master storyteller who again demonstrates that she is at the top of her form with this series. Gardner says, “I read for character, character and character. I’m looking to see the world through someone else’s eyes and in doing so, having my own eyes opened to fresh experiences, issues and ideas.” The series succeeds because it is, at its core, an intriguing exploration of Frankie’s psyche. In her second outing, Frankie’s quest to discover what happened to Tim is an emotionally resonant examination of the grief of loss, guilt, and the tenuous bonds of friendship. Readers will find themselves further enamored with the irascible, stubborn, but compassionate woman who is compelled to keeping moving from place to place, and clamoring for the next volume, anxious to see what case Frankie next pursues . . . and if she will find what she is looking for.

Excerpt from One Step Too Far

The first three men came stumbling into town shortly after ten a.m., babbling of dark shapes and eerie screams and their missing buddy Scott and their other buddy Tim, who set out from their campsite before dawn to get help.

“Bear, bear, bear,” first guy moaned.

“Mountain lion!” second guy insisted.

Third guy vomited.

Maybe, maybe not, Marge Santi thought, as she sidestepped the spew of liquid. Marge situated the young men in a corner booth of her diner, then got on the phone and summoned Nemeth. To be polite, Marge also contacted Sheriff Jim Kelley, likeable guy, respected by the locals, but an officer with a whole county to tend and the drive to prove it. For immediate action, Nemeth it was. Nemeth, former Shoshone National Forest district ranger, now local guide, knew what he was doing. First, he plied the three men with coffee. To judge by the rank odor of fear and booze leaking out of their pores, they didn’t need anything else. Two cups later, he had most of the story.

Five guys set out into the woods for a bachelor party weekend.

All friends since college, all with some experience camping, though the trio agreed future groom Tim was The Man. Had been back?country hiking with his father since he was six. He was the reason they were camping. The other four wouldn’t have minded a golf weekend or quality time at a casino/resort. But for Tim, the woods were his happy place, so into the mountains they’d gone. Fully equipped, packs, tents, sleeping bags, two-burner propane camp stove, cans of beans and franks, and yeah, as much beer and Maker’s Mark as five fit young men could carry. Which was to say, a lot.

But they weren’t total idiots. Again, Tim knew his shit and oversaw their packing himself.

They’d hiked in seven miles yesterday, looking for the perfect camping spot in one of the deep canyons, near a broad river. Once they found it, they’d unloaded packs, pitched tents, and popped open the first sixpack, leaving the other four to chill in the ice-cold water.

Dusk came fast this time of year. But all was good. They built up a fire, roasted hot dogs, and ate baked beans straight out of the can. Many fart jokes ensued.

More beer, followed by whiskey chasers. How much booze can five young healthy men drink? Plenty. But no place to be, no cars to drive, no nagging cell phones to answer given the lack of reception.

Just them and the starlit sky. They killed off the first bottle of Maker’s Mark, started in on the second. Tim sat next to the fire and scratched away on a piece of paper. Working on his wedding vows, writing a letter to his beloved? They teased, but he refused to fess up.

Hour grew late. How late, no one knew and it hardly mattered.

They finally turned in for the night, two men each in two tents, Tim, the future groom, in a single shell all by himself. One of his last nights on earth sleeping alone. Should enjoy it while he could, they teased.

A sharp keening wail. Crashing in the trees around them.

“Grizzly,” Neil said now, sitting in the diner.

“Mountain lion,” Josh insisted.

Miggy, short for Miguel, crawled out of the booth and vomited some more.

Maybe, maybe not, Nemeth thought. Marge got a mop.

At the camp, the men had burst from their tents, flashlights bobbing, nerves strung tight, trying to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. Build up the fire, Tim demanded. Make noise of their own.

Double-check the food stash they’d strung up in the trees away from their campsite. Which is why it took a few minutes, maybe as long as five or ten, before they realized their party of five had become four. Where the hell was Scott?

Miggy had been sharing his tent and Miggy had no idea.

“No . . . fucking idea,” Miggy clarified for Nemeth, in between bouts of dry heaving.

Tim, future groom, got serious. Scott could’ve wandered off to pee. Scott could’ve just plain wandered off, drunk and disoriented.

But given the cold temps, dangerous terrain, and carnivorous local wildlife, they needed to find him.

Arranging their group into two pairs, Tim directed the first duo to start searching north of the campfire, while the other would cover the woods to the south. Whoever found Scott first would blow their emergency signal whistle.

Except they didn’t find him. Up and down the water, bush?whacking deeper and deeper into the forest. No Scott. But they did find trampled brush. Broken tree limbs. Possibly blood.

“Grizzly bear,” Neil moaned.

“Mountain lion,” Josh ventured.

“Fuck me,” Miggy whispered.

That, Nemeth agreed with.

As the most experienced — and sober — member of their party, he grabbed his pack, clicked on his trusty headlamp, and set out for civilization.

Young men, fit and now semi-sober, they were on a mission to get the hell out of there as fast as humanly possible.

Still tough going. They half ran, half stumbled their way up and down steep terrain, clambering over boulders, careening through brush, splashing across streams. Till they came to the trailhead and their rented ATVs. All five of them. Shouldn’t there be only four?

Which is when they started to get worried about Tim.

ATVs to town. Town to diner. And now . . . help. Nemeth. Sheriff. Cavalry. Hunters with big guns. Any kind of assistance, all kinds of assistance. Help.

Nemeth unfolded a topographical map, had the men walk him their journey. They knew their initial path, which, like a lot of backcountry trails, started out marked before hitting rugged, less traversed terrain. Definitely not for the faint at heart. But the men could guess where along the river they’d camped. From there, Nemeth ran his finger along various geological features, thinking, thinking, thinking. Marge worked the phone, brewed more coffee.

Being a mountain town, they had a local team of fifteen volunteer search and rescuers. Given the circumstances, however, this would be all hands on deck. Neighbors contacted neighbors, people started pouring in, and Nemeth did what he did best: organized the efforts.

First up, hasty team. He wanted his best searchers dispersed along key perimeter areas encircling the PLS — point last seen – of their two missing hikers. Taking into account the average distance a person could travel an hour in that terrain, Nemeth drew a massive ring around the site, identifying their prime search area. Hasty teams would hike, ATV, or horseback into various points along this ring, conducting a down-and-dirty search of the trail and surrounding areas as they swept toward the center. They’d look for the men, but also look for signs of human passage, which might provide additional data on where Tim the experienced hiker and Scott the drunk buddy could’ve gone.

Ramsey, a town of four thousand situated at the edge of the Popo Agie Wilderness, was filled with experienced outdoorspeople.

The mountains were both a lifestyle and a professional calling. Nemeth was a veteran general working with expert foot soldiers.

Which made it very hard for the family to accept what happened next. The first eight hours of the search, which turned up Scott, wandering blindly along the rocky banks of the river. Still clad in his long underwear, face covered in scratches, fingernails caked with dirt. Clearly disoriented and shellshocked.

“Grizzly,” Neil whispered.

“Mountain lion,” Josh repeated.

“Shit . . .” Miggy moaned.

Even sobered up, Scott couldn’t provide any details about where he’d been or what he’d done. He remembered drinking with his buddies around the campfire and teasing Tim for working on his wedding vows. Scott went to bed and . . . Daylight. Cold. So cold.

Wandering in nothing but his stocking feet, till he found his way back to the river and followed it. Eventually, people appeared, and a shrill whistle blew and now he was here and hey, where was Tim anyway?

Timothy O’Day. Thirty-three years old, first member of his family to go to college, graduating from Oregon State University with a degree in mechanical engineering. Described by his family and friends as a regular MacGyver. Engaged to be married to Latisha Gibbons, whom he’d met three years ago through his college buddy Neil. Latisha hailed from Atlanta, worked in marketing, and spent her weekends in a state of perpetual motion, hiking, biking, skiing, every bit as crazy as her future husband.

Everyone said they looked beautiful together. The ultimate, modern-day L.L.Bean couple. They’d buy a house, adopt a Lab, and produce 2.2 gorgeous children to chase along trails, down mountains, across streams.

Theirs was to be a wonderful, magnificent life lived out loud.

Until hours stretched into days stretched into weeks.

Tim’s family arrived on?site. His father, Martin, driving from Oregon to Wyoming with his mountaineering equipment piled in the back. Marty was a lean, nut-brown professional carpenter and experienced outdoorsman ready to take up the charge. In contrast, Tim’s mother, Patrice, appeared nearly translucent. Cancer survivor, the locals learned. Fifteen years ago, multiple bouts, barely made it.

Marge made it her mission to serve the woman coffee above?board and administer a little medicinal assistance on the down low.

Martin conferred with Nemeth and Sheriff Kelley, who’d taken charge of the search efforts. In the beginning, Martin would nod, approve, express his gratitude. By day five, he questioned and stewed. Day seven he headed into the woods himself, snarling under his breath when both Nemeth and Sheriff Kelley tried to hold him back.

The hasty teams stopped being hasty. Search efforts slowed, grew more methodical, no longer hoping for an easy victory, but now settling in to scour the wilderness foot by foot, trail by trail, grid by grid. Choppers scanned with infrared. Air-scenting dogs tracked areas of interest. Couple of psychics called in with hot tips, most involving flowing rivers or dark caves.

More volunteers showed up. The National Guard arrived to assist. Until twenty-three long, arduous, exhausting days later, as the temperatures plummeted and snow blanketed the upper elevations . . .

The searchers faded back to their real lives. The canine teams went home. The choppers were redirected to new missions. And only family and friends remained.

Martin O’Day fought the good fight the longest. He had a life?time of experience and the advantage of being the one who’d trained his son. He headed back into the mountains, expedition after expedition, while Patrice held press conferences with her future daughter?in?law by her side. Twin advertisements for grief and desperation.

The college friends, Neil, Josh, Miggy, and Scott, did their best to assist, while having to accommodate the demands of jobs, family, obligations of their own.

Martin O’Day searched for his son. Then he searched for signs of his son. And then he searched for his son’s body.

“Grizzly bear,” Neil whispered.

“Mountain lion,” Josh argued.

“Goddammit,” Miggy said.

As for the real answer, the woods never said. As seasons turned into years and Timothy O’Day became one more missing hiker, vanished without a trace.

Here are things most folks don’t know: At least sixteen hundred people, if not many more times that number, remain missing on national public lands. Hikers, day-trippers, children on family camping trips. One moment they were with us, the next they’re gone.

There’s no national database to track such cases. No centralized training for search and rescue or, in many cases, even clear jurisdictional lines to identify who’s in charge of such operations. There’s also little in the way of designated funding. A large-scale search effort can cost upwards of three hundred thousand dollars a day.

For many county sheriffs, that’s their annual budget.

Meaning when the volunteers go away, so do rescue efforts.

Leaving behind a family with little hope and no closure. Most will continue on their own for as long as they can. Some, such as Martin O’Day, continue the hunt every year, assisted by friends, funded by online campaigns, and advised by various experts.

According to the article I’m reading in a small, local paper, Martin’s been at it for five years. This August will be his final attempt.

His wife Patrice is now dying from the same cancer that tried to kill her before. She wants to see her son one last time. She wants her body to be buried next to his.

I sit in a diner not so dissimilar to the one Tim O’Day’s hiking buddies must’ve rushed into the morning after. I’ve spent the past twelve hours on a bus and am now catching my breath, somewhere west of Cheyenne and south of Jackson, Wyoming. I don’t particularly know, and I’m enjoying a sense of freedom — life on the road — as I read the article again, then again. Something about the story has sunk into my skin, refusing to let go.

My name is Frankie Elkin and finding missing people is what I do. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never bothered to care, I start looking. For no money, no recognition, and most of the time, with no help.

I have no professional training. I’m not a former detective or registered PI or ex-anything special. I’m only me. An average, middle-aged white woman, short on belongings, long on regret.

I tried real life once. There was a house, a job, even a man who loved me enough to hold my hand as I fought my way to sober.

In the end, the walls closed in; the relentless sameness drowned me. And the man who loved me . . .

One day, a woman in my AA meeting talked about her daughter who’d disappeared and the police’s lack of interest in finding a young woman with a troubled past. I became intrigued, started asking questions, and the next thing I knew, I’d found the daughter.

Unfortunately, the daughter’s fucked?up boyfriend chose to blow off her head and abandon her body in a crack house rather than let her go. But despite the case not having a happy ending, or maybe because of that, one search became another, which became another.

Ten years later, this is now my life. I travel from place to place, armed with only my good intentions. Currently, I’ve been traveling by bus to Idaho to take up the case of Eugene Santiago, an eight-year-old boy now missing sixteen months. I read about Eugene’s disappearance in one of the various online cold case forums I frequent. Something about his soulful dark eyes, his very serious smile.

I don’t always know why I choose the cases I do. There are so many of them out there. But I spot a headline, I read an article, and then I just know.

Kind of like now, I think, setting down the local paper. I haven’t done a woodland search in forever. Mostly I work small rural communities or dense urban neighborhoods. I gravitate more toward kids than adults, minorities more than Caucasians. But my mission is to help the underserved, and as the families of those sixteen hundred people vanished in public parks will tell you, they are so underserved.

Mostly, I keep thinking of Timothy O’Day’s mother, who just wants to be buried next to her son.

Eugene Santiago has been missing for nearly a year and half. A few more weeks won’t matter. And while there may be no chance of finding Timothy O’Day alive, I know from experience that finally bringing home a body still makes a difference.

I pick up the bus schedule and plot my new destination.

Also by lisa gardner:.

Frankie Elkin Series

Detective D.D. Warren Series

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one electronic copy of One Step Too Far free of charge from the author via Net Galley . I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own. This disclosure complies with 16 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Book Review: Before She Disappeared

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

Book Review: The Overnight Guest

Book review: everyone is watching, book review: take two, birdie maxwell, book review: after annie.

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, one step too far.

You may have heard of ONE STEP TOO FAR. It is part of what one might call a Cinderella story for author Tina Seskis, who published her novel independently and watched it ultimately become an international bestseller. It is just now being released in the United States, where it undoubtedly will replicate the success it has enjoyed elsewhere. Seskis is not a literary author, but the book is master storytelling. Anyone who has experienced tragedy, or has thought for more than a fleeting moment about disappearing from their life and starting another somewhere far away, will find much to love here.

"ONE STEP TOO FAR is perfectly paced and wonderfully plotted. There is no good place to stop reading, even if you wanted to do so (you won’t)."

It is Emily Coleman who is the runaway here, and, for a good portion of ONE STEP TOO FAR, it is hard to be certain why she is doing what she is doing. Emily is a corporate attorney with a loving husband who is everything that her birth family is not: steady, dependable and (as opposed to her twin sister, Caroline) unconditionally loving. We meet Emily on the morning that she leaves everything behind, closing the door on her comfortable and loving home in Manchester and losing herself in London. Little is revealed to the reader, at least at first; all that is known is that Emily has done something for which she can never forgive herself.

She finds lodging in a house one step above (maybe a half-step above) a hovel, populated by a rather motley group of housemates. Her saving grace is Angel, who becomes her almost-instant new best friend. It is Angel who supports Emily --- now known as “Cat” --- and buoys her spirits, navigating her through the personalities of the housemates, while being indirectly instrumental in connecting her with gainful employment as a receptionist in an advertising agency. To the surprise of everyone, most of all herself, Cat thrives in her job and moves up the ranks over the course of several months.

Her success and new life are occasionally overshadowed by her thoughts of guilt for having so suddenly left Ben and her home. Ben is devastated by his wife’s abrupt though obviously voluntary disappearance, and quickly sinks into a morass, barely keeping his head above water and the household together. It is not until circumstances conspire to reveal Cat’s whereabouts to him that the first steps toward revelation take place.

There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot, some of which are created by the author’s subtle misdirection, before the full truth of what occurred during a tragic moment on a fateful day is ultimately revealed. But that is hardly the end of the story, which continues to unfold almost until the book’s final page.

ONE STEP TOO FAR is perfectly paced and wonderfully plotted. There is no good place to stop reading, even if you wanted to do so (you won’t). In the brief, understated and poignant Author’s Note that closes the novel, Seskis tells how the story came to be, a revelation that echoes backward through the pages. Save some time to read this book twice; you will want to give in to the temptation.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub on January 30, 2015

One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis

Publication Date: December 1, 2015
Genres: Fiction , Psychological Suspense , Psychological Thriller , Suspense , Thriller
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
ISBN-10: 0062340093
ISBN-13: 9780062340092

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Thrillers & Suspense

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One Step Too Far: A Novel (A Frankie Elkin Novel)

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One Step Too Far: A Novel (A Frankie Elkin Novel) Hardcover – January 18, 2022

Purchase options and add-ons.

Book 2 of 3 Frankie Elkin
Print length 416 pages
Language English
Publisher Dutton
Publication date January 18, 2022
Dimensions 6.23 x 1.34 x 9.27 inches
ISBN-10 0593185412
ISBN-13 978-0593185414
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Before She Disappeared: A Novel (A Frankie Elkin Novel)

From the Publisher

The Biggest Danger isn't the Wilderness. It's the eight humans who just hiked into it.

Editorial Reviews

"Bear, bear, bear," first guy moaned.

"Mountain lion!" second guy insisted.

Third guy vomited.

Maybe, maybe not, Marge Santi thought as she sidestepped the spew of liquid. Marge situated the young men in a corner booth of her diner, then got on the phone and summoned Nemeth. To be polite, Marge also contacted Sheriff Jim Kelley, likeable guy, respected by the locals, but an officer with a whole county to tend and the drive to prove it. For immediate action, Nemeth it was.

Nemeth, former Shoshone National Forest district ranger, now local guide, knew what he was doing. First, he plied the three men with coffee. To judge by the rank odor of fear and booze leaking out of their pores, they didn't need anything else. Two cups later, he had most of the story.

Five guys set out into the woods for a bachelor party weekend. All friends since college, all with some experience camping, though the trio agreed future groom Tim was The Man. Had been backcountry hiking with his father since he was six. He was the reason they were camping. The other four wouldn't have minded a golf weekend or quality time at a casino/resort. But for Tim, the woods were his happy place, so into the mountains they'd gone. Fully equipped, packs, tents, sleeping bags, two-burner propane camp stove, cans of beans and franks, and yeah, as much beer and Maker's Mark as five fit young men could carry. Which was to say, a lot. But they weren't total idiots. Again, Tim knew his shit and oversaw their packing himself.

They'd hiked in seven miles yesterday, looking for the perfect camping spot in one of the deep canyons, near a broad river. Once they found it, they unloaded packs, pitched tents, and popped open the first six-pack, leaving the other four to chill in the ice-cold water.

Dusk came fast this time of year. But all was good. They built up a fire, roasted hot dogs, and ate baked beans straight out of the can. Many fart jokes ensued.

More beer, followed by whiskey chasers. How much booze can five young healthy men drink? Plenty. But no place to be, no cars to drive, no nagging cell phones to answer given the lack of reception.

Just them and the starlit sky. They killed off the first bottle of Maker's Mark, started in on the second. Tim sat next to the fire and scratched away on a piece of paper. Working on his wedding vows, writing a letter to his beloved? They teased, but he refused to fess up.

Hour grew late. How late, no one knew and it hardly mattered. They finally turned in for the night, two men each in two tents, Tim, the future groom, in a single shell all by himself. One of his last nights on earth sleeping alone. Should enjoy it while he could, they teased.

A sharp keening wail. Crashing in the trees around them.

"Grizzly," Neil said now, sitting in the diner.

"Mountain lion," Josh insisted.

Miggy, short for Miguel, crawled out of the booth and vomited some more.

Maybe, maybe not, Nemeth thought. Marge got a mop.

At the camp, the men had burst from their tents, flashlights bobbing, nerves strung tight, trying to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. Build up the fire, Tim demanded. Make noise of their own. Double-check the food stash they'd strung up in the trees away from their campsite.

Which is why it took a few minutes, maybe as long as five or ten, before they realized their party of five had become four. Where the hell was Scott?

Miggy had been sharing his tent and Miggy had no idea.

"No . . . fucking idea," Miggy clarified for Nemeth, in between bouts of dry heaving.

Tim, future groom, got serious. Scott could've wandered off to pee. Scott could've just plain wandered off, drunk and disoriented. But given the cold temps, dangerous terrain, and carnivorous local wildlife, they needed to find him.

Except they didn't find him. Up and down the water, bushwhacking deeper and deeper into the forest. No Scott. But they did find trampled brush. Broken tree limbs. Possibly blood.

"Grizzly bear," Neil moaned.

"Mountain lion," Josh ventured.

"Fuck me," Miggy whispered.

That, Nemeth agreed with.

Four a.m., the fall air brutally crisp, the clear night relentlessly dark, Tim made the decision: They needed help, and given the total lack of cell reception, hiking back out was the only way to get it. As the most experienced-and sober-member of their party, he grabbed his pack, clicked on his trusty headlamp, and set out for civilization.

Neil, Josh, and Miggy huddled around the fire for another three hours, pounding water and working themselves into a terrified frenzy. First glimpse of daylight, they refilled their canteens and hit the trail. Left everything behind. Tents, sleeping bags, food. Young men, fit and now semi-sober, they were on a mission to get the hell out of there as fast as humanly possible.

Which is when they started to get worried about Tim.

ATVs to town. Town to diner. And now . . . help. Nemeth. Sheriff. Cavalry. Hunters with big guns. Any kind of assistance, all kinds of assistance. Help.

Nemeth unfolded a topographical map, had the men walk him through their journey. They knew their initial path, which, like a lot of backcountry trails, started out marked before hitting rugged, less traversed terrain. Definitely not for the faint of heart. But the men could guess where along the river they'd camped. From there, Nemeth ran his finger along various geological features, thinking, thinking, thinking. Marge worked the phone, brewed more coffee.

First up, hasty team. He wanted his best searchers dispersed along key perimeter areas encircling the PLS-point last seen-of their two missing hikers. Taking into account the average distance a person could travel an hour in that terrain, Nemeth drew a massive ring around the site, identifying their prime search area. Hasty teams would hike, ATV, or horseback into various points along this ring, conducting a down-and-dirty search of the trail and surrounding areas as they swept toward the center. They'd look for the men, but also look for signs of human passage, which might provide additional data on where Tim the experienced hiker and Scott the drunk buddy could've gone.

Ramsey, a town of four thousand situated at the edge of the Popo Agie Wilderness, was filled with experienced outsdoorspeople. The mountains were both a lifestyle and a professional calling. Nemeth was a veteran general working with expert foot soldiers.

Which made it very hard for the family to accept what happened next. The first eight hours of the search, when Scott turned up wandering blindly along the rocky banks of the river. Still clad in his long underwear, face covered in scratches, fingernails caked with dirt. Clearly disoriented and shell-shocked.

"Grizzly," Neil whispered.

"Mountain lion," Josh repeated.

"Shit . . ." Miggy moaned.

Even sobered up, Scott couldn't provide any details about where he'd been or what he'd done. He remembered drinking with his buddies around the campfire and teasing Tim for working on his wedding vows. Scott went to bed and . . . Daylight. Cold. So cold. Wandering in nothing but his stocking feet, till he found his way back to the river and followed it. Eventually, people appeared and a shrill whistle blew and now he was here and hey, where was Tim, anyway?

Timothy O'Day. Thirty-three years old, first member of his family to go to college, graduating from Oregon State University with a degree in mechanical engineering. Described by his family and friends as a regular MacGyver. Engaged to be married to Latisha Gibbons, whom he'd met three years ago through his college buddy Neil. Latisha hailed from Atlanta, worked in marketing, and spent her weekends in a state of perpetual motion, hiking, biking, skiing, every bit as crazy as her future husband.

Everyone said they looked beautiful together. The ultimate, modern-day L.L.Bean couple. They'd buy a house, adopt a Lab, and produce 2.2 gorgeous children to chase along trails, down mountains, across streams.

Theirs was to be a wonderful, magnificent life lived out loud.

Until hours stretched into days stretched into weeks.

Tim's parents arrived on-site. His father, Martin, driving from Oregon to Wyoming with his mountaineering equipment piled in the back. Marty was a lean, nut-brown professional carpenter and experienced outdoorsman ready to take up the charge. In contrast, Tim's mother, Patrice, appeared nearly translucent. Cancer survivor, the locals learned. Fifteen years ago, multiple bouts, barely made it.

Marge made it her mission to serve the woman coffee aboveboard and administer a little medicinal assistance on the down low.

Martin conferred with Nemeth and Sheriff Kelley, who'd taken charge of the search efforts. In the beginning, Martin would nod, approve, express his gratitude. By day five, he questioned and stewed. Day seven he headed into the woods himself, snarling under his breath when both Nemeth and Sheriff Kelley tried to hold him back.

More volunteers showed up. The National Guard arrived to assist. Until twenty-three long, arduous, exhausting days later, as the temperatures plummeted and snow blanketed the upper elevations . . .

The searchers faded back to their real lives. The canine teams went home. The choppers were redirected to new missions. And only family and friends remained.

Martin O'Day fought the good fight the longest. He had a lifetime of experience and the advantage of being the one who'd trained his son. He headed back into the mountains, expedition after expedition, while Patrice held press conferences with her future daughter-in-law by her side. Twin advertisements for grief and desperation. The college friends, Neil, Josh, Miggy, and Scott, did their best to assist while having to accommodate the demands of jobs, family, obligations of their own.

Martin O'Day searched for his son. Then he searched for signs of his son. And then he searched for his son's body.

"Grizzly bear," Neil whispered.

"Mountain lion," Josh argued.

"Goddammit," Miggy said.

As for the real answer, the woods never said. Seasons turned into years and Timothy O'Day became one more missing hiker, vanished without a trace.

Here are things most folks donÕt know: At least sixteen hundred people, if not many more times that number, remain missing on national public lands. Hikers, day-trippers, children on family camping trips. One moment they were with us, the next theyÕre gone.

There's no national database to track such cases. No centralized training for search and rescue or, in many cases, even clear jurisdictional lines to identify who's in charge of such operations. There's also little in the way of designated funding. A large-scale search effort can cost upwards of three hundred thousand dollars a day. For many county sheriffs, that's their annual budget.

Meaning when the volunteers go away, so do rescue efforts. Leaving behind a family with little hope and no closure. Most will continue on their own for as long as they can. Some, such as Martin O'Day, continue the hunt every year, assisted by friends, funded by online campaigns, and advised by various experts.

According to the article I'm reading in a small, local paper, Martin's been at it for five years. This August will be his final attempt. His wife, Patrice, is now dying from the same cancer that tried to kill her before. She wants to see her son one last time. She wants her body to be buried next to his.

I sit in a diner not so dissimilar to the one Tim O'Day's hiking buddies must've rushed into the morning after. I've spent the past twelve hours on a bus and am now catching my breath, somewhere west of Cheyenne and south of Jackson, Wyoming. I don't particularly know, and I'm enjoying a sense of freedom-life on the road-as I read the article again, then again. Something about the story has sunk into my skin, refusing to let go.

I have no professional training. I'm not a former detective or registered PI or ex-anything special. I'm only me. An average, middle-aged white woman, short on belongings, long on regret. I tried real life once. There was a house, a job, even a man who loved me enough to hold my hand as I fought my way to sober.

In the end, the walls closed in; the relentless sameness drowned me. And the man who loved me . . .

One day, a woman in my AA meeting talked about her daughter who'd disappeared and the police's lack of interest in finding a young woman with a troubled past. I became intrigued, started asking questions, and the next thing I knew, I'd found the daughter. Unfortunately, the daughter's fucked-up boyfriend had chosen to blow off her head and abandon her body in a crack house rather than let her go. But despite the case not having a happy ending, or maybe because of that, one search became another, which became another.

Ten years later, this is now my life. I travel from place to place, armed with only my good intentions. Currently, I've been traveling by bus to Idaho to take up the case of Eugene Santiago, an eight-year-old boy now missing sixteen months. I read about Eugene's disappearance in one of the various online cold case forums I frequent. Something about his soulful dark eyes, his very serious smile. I don't always know why I choose the cases I do. There are so many of them out there. But I spot a headline, I read an article, and then I just know. Kind of like now, I think, setting down the local paper. I haven’t done a woodland search in forever. Mostly I work small rural communities or dense urban neighborhoods. I gravitate more toward kids than adults, minorities more than Caucasians. But my mission is to help the underserved, and as the families of those sixteen hundred people vanished in public parks will tell you, they are so underserved. Mostly, I keep thinking of Timothy O’Day’s mother who just wants to be buried next to her son. Eugene Santiago has been missing for nearly a year and half. A few more weeks won’t matter. And while there may be no chance of finding Timothy O’Day alive, I know from experience that finally bringing home a body still makes a difference. I pick up the bus schedule, and plot my new destination.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dutton; First Edition (January 18, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593185412
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593185414
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.23 x 1.34 x 9.27 inches
#2,575 in Murder Thrillers
#3,135 in Police Procedurals (Books)
#9,111 in Suspense Thrillers

About the author

Lisa gardner.

A self-described research junkie, #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner has parlayed her interest in police procedure, criminal minds and twisted plots into a streak of internationally recognized novels. Her 2010 novel, THE NEIGHBOR, won Best Thriller from the International Thriller Writers. Most recently, she was honored with the Silver Bullet Award for her work with at-risk kids and rescue animals.

Lisa's latest series features Frankie Elkin, an everyday average woman who specializes in finding missing people. When the locals have given up, when the media has never bothered to care, Frankie takes on the challenge from finding a disappeared Haitian teen in Mattapan (BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED), to a vanished hiker in the wilds of Wyoming (ONE STEP TOO FAR), to a possibly kidnapped younger sister of a serial killer on a remote island in the Pacific (STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE).

Her other series include the FBI Profilers, Detective D.D. Warren and PI Tessa Leoni. When not writing, Lisa loves to hike, travel the world, and yes, read, read, read!

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COMMENTS

One Step Too Far (Frankie Elkin, #2) by Lisa Gardner
44,285 ratings3,792 reviews. From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a thrilling new novel that sends Frankie Elkin into the woods in search of a lost man--and the shocking truth about why he went missing in the first place. Frankie Elkin, who readers first met in Before She Disappeared, learns of a young man who has gone ...
ONE STEP TOO FAR
Franchise fans will appreciate new details about Joe's complicated family, the obligatory high-country landscapes, and yet another corrupt law enforcer. A tale that's hard to believe but easy to swallow in a single gulp. Share your opinion of this book. Frankie Elkin, a miraculous finder of missing persons, seeks a man who wandered into the ...
One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner
The Story. From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a thrilling new novel that sends Frankie Elkin into the woods in search of a lost man-and the shocking truth about why he went missing in the first place. Frankie Elkin, who readers first met in Before She Disappeared, learns of a young man who has gone missing in a national ...
One Step Too Far
One Step Too Far. by Lisa Gardner. Publication Date: July 19, 2022. Mystery Suspense. Paperback: 416 pages. Timothy O'Day knew the woods. Yet when he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip, he didn't leave a trace. What he did leave behind were two heartbroken parents, a crew of guilt-ridden groomsmen and a pile of ...
Book Review
One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner. New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner is back with another gripping thriller featuring her newest amateur detective, Frankie Elkin. Greeted by starred reviews from Kirkus and Booklist before its release, One Step Too Far ( Random House) is the enthralling follow-up to last year's Before She ...
"One Step Too Far" by Lisa Gardner
Frankie Elkin is, in her own words, a scrawny, middle-aged white woman. She is a drifter, an excellent bartender, and an alcoholic. For the past decade, Frankie has been sober and devoting her life to finding missing persons. Usually people who are minorities, whose cases have gone cold. She has found many of these people, though not all of ...
Lisa Gardner's 'One Step Too Far' Is an Emotional Tour De Force [REVIEW
ONE STEP TOO FAR. By Lisa Gardner. 416 pp. Dutton Books. $27. Purchase One Step Too Far direct from Jathan & Heather Books or from one of these other fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, Hudson Booksellers, IndieBound, Powell's, Target, or Walmart.
One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner
One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner. A Frankie Elkin novel, book 2. Publisher: Dutton. Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Action/Adventure. Rating: 4 stars. Reviewed by Ginger. Timothy O'Day knew the woods. Yet when he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip with his best friends in the world, he didn't ...
Book review: 'One Step Too Far' by Lisa Gardner
Book review: Frankie Elkin back on the trail in wilderness thriller. Tim O'Connell. For the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union USA TODAY NETWORK. 0:00. 1:48. "One Step Too Far". Author: Lisa Gardner ...
One Step Too Far
ONE STEP TOO FAR sends missing persons expert Frankie Elkin into a national forest in Wyoming looking for a young man who disappeared without a trace. But when the search team encounters immediate threats to their survival, Frankie realizes she's up against something very dark --- and she's running out of time.
Lisa Gardner, the Thriller Writer Who Loves Historical Romance
Hence my January thriller, "One Step Too Far," which features the missing persons expert Frankie Elkin heading into a remote wilderness area as part of a search team. Bad things happen from there.
Blog Tour & Book Review: One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner
Review: Twisty, tight, and incredibly atmospheric! One Step Too Far is an engrossing, sinister thrill ride that takes us back on the road to solve the unsolved with Frankie Elkin, a middle-aged wanderer who now finds herself in the rugged Wyoming countryside and completely out of her element when she joins a search party, including the victim's father, three of his friends, and three search ...
a book review by Michael J. McCann: One Step Too Far: A Novel (A
One Step Too Far is Lisa Gardner's second thriller featuring Frankie Elkin, following up on Before She Disappeared (2021). A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Gardner has written numerous thrillers including the award-winning novel The Neighbor (2009). She's also the author of more than a dozen romance novels under the name Alicia Scott.
One Step Too Far: A Novel (A Frankie Elkin Novel Book 2) Kindle Edition
Praise for One Step Too Far "It's not often that a thriller so deeply casts us into the darkness of both nature and the human heart. . . . Terrifying, primal, and very, very tense. Read it with your heart in your throat—but read it." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Gardner's latest series continues to excel; instinctual, tragedy-driven Frankie is one of crime fiction's most ...
One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner: 9780593185438
About One Step Too Far. From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a chilling thriller about a young man gone missing in the wilderness of Wyoming…and the secrets uncovered by the desperate effort to find him Timothy O'Day knew the woods. Yet he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip without a trace ...
ONE STEP TOO FAR
Frankie Elkin, a miraculous finder of missing persons, seeks a man who wandered into the wilderness and was never seen again. Last seen rescuing a missing teenager from the gritty streets of Boston, Frankie embarks from a bus in Ramsey, Wyoming, drawn in by the story of hiker Timothy O'Day, who's been missing for five years, and the last-gasp efforts of his father, Martin, to search for his ...
One Step Too Far
One Step Too Far. Get Your Copy. Timothy O'Day knew the woods. Yet when he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip with his best friends in the world, he didn't leave a trace. What he did leave behind were two heartbroken parents, a crew of guilt-ridden groomsmen, and a pile of clues that don't add up.
Book Review: One Step Too Far
Book Review: One Step Too Far. Frankie Elkin, a woman who will stop at nothing to find the missing people that the rest of the world has forgotten, returns in One Step Too Far. Timothy O'Day knew the woods. Yet he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip with his best friends.
One Step Too Far: A Novel (A Frankie Elkin Novel)
— The Book Review Crew "Phenomenal . . . If you are a living, breathing human, you should read this book." — Nerd Problems " One Step Too Far is a fascinating, engrossing, thrilling, and chilling mystery that will keep you reading late into the wee hours."
Micro review: 'One Step Too Far' by Lisa Gardner
New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner 's new thriller ' One Step Too Far ' released on January 20, 2022 and the book has already topped the bestsellers' charts. 'One Step Too Far' is the ...
One Step Too Far
Seskis is not a literary author, but the book is master storytelling. Anyone who has experienced tragedy, or has thought for more than a fleeting moment about disappearing from their life and starting another somewhere far away, will find much to love here. "ONE STEP TOO FAR is perfectly paced and wonderfully plotted.
One Step Too Far: A Novel (A Frankie Elkin Novel)
Hardcover - January 18, 2022. by Lisa Gardner (Author) 4.6 15,581 ratings. Book 2 of 3: Frankie Elkin. Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. See all formats and editions. From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a chilling thriller about a young man gone missing in the wilderness of Wyoming . . . and the secrets ...

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One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

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ITW Spotlight: Missing Persons Case Takes “One Step Too Far” Into the Wyoming Wilderness

One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

FRANKIE’S OUT OF HER ELEMENT IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

GARDNER’S LOVE OF HIKING INSPIRED FRANKIE’S LATEST PLOT

FRIENDSHIP, FORGIVENESS AND FRANKIE’S “ANTI-LIFE”

GARDNER’S COMMUNITY AND FRANKIE ON THE BIG SCREEN

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Book review: Frankie Elkin back on the trail in wilderness thriller

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One Step Too Far: A Novel (A Frankie Elkin Novel)

One Step Too Far

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When You See Me

What Happened to the Bennetts

Local Gone Missing

Two Girls Down

Murder at Sunrise Lake

The Other Guest

Right Behind You

ONE STEP TOO FAR

A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

THE HOUSE ACROSS THE LAKE

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Book Review: One Step Too Far

Excerpt from One Step Too Far

Excerpted from One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner. Copyright © 2022 by Lisa Gardner. Excerpted by permission of Penguin Group Dutton. All rights reserved.

Book Review: Before She Disappeared

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Micro review: 'One Step Too Far' by Lisa Gardner

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