Karen Ellis (2)

Ach! Present tense narrative. Just don’t like it, sorry. For me, personally, it’s awkward and a bit distracting. However, that’s just me, and I’m probably in the minority with this aversion. My rating is in no way influenced by that. But, if anyone else shares my dislike…this is a heads-up!

More importantly, this was a very sophisticated thriller. The writing is excellent: insightful and intelligent and intense. It’s a story packed with mystery and suspense.

FBI agent Elsa Myers searches for missing people: a distressing task when the victims are young teenagers. And when they’re found, they are sometimes corpses. So when young Ruby goes missing, Elsa is determined to find her before she ends up like the latter. But she has to juggle her job at the same time as dealing with her terminally ill father. The father who, ambiguously, failed her in her childhood, but at the same time shares her devastating secret.

The story rolls along at a good pace; it’s compelling and well written: no unnecessary padding, but at the same time no detail is overlooked.

Without doubt, an author to look out for.… (mehr)

Valedictorian of his high school class, Titus "Crisp" Crespo has a bright future. He's heading to Princeton in the fall and looks forward to college life. A series of bad decisions on one fateful day lead Crisp down a path he never expected to follow, where he will face a father he's never known and decisions he wanted to avoid ever facing. When Crisp's mother reports him missing, Detective Lex Cole has to unravel the events of Crisp's day to locate the youth, and his companion, Glynnie, after their disappearance.

This is a story that hits many of the big social concerns: racism. inequality, targeting of minorities by police, injustice, addiction, abuse, murder, etc. One bad decision leads into more like the domino effect for Crisp. One bad day might completely derail his life.

Last Night is the second book in The Searchers series. In the first book, Detective Lex Cole was mostly in a support position for FBI Agent Elsa Myers. This time, Lex is in the forefront with his partner, Saki Finley. Lex has a lot going on in his personal life, as he worries over his boyfriend possibly seeing someone else. He pushes those feelings to the side and hits this case hard, searching for two teenagers who are making some very poor, and possibly life-threatening, decisions. Elsa shows up a couple times in passing during the story, but she really doesn't figure into the plot in this second book. In fact, this second book really could be read as a standalone story. It isn't necessary to have read A Map of the Dark first to enjoy this story. While I was happy to see Lex become a more developed character and to see what a great detective he is, this story didn't grab my attention quite as quickly as the first book in the series. This story develops a little more slowly, and focuses more on social justice than detective work. It caught me a bit by surprise. I was expecting more of the same vibe from the first book. The difference in pace and style surprised me a bit....but once I got into the plot and realized this was going to be totally different than A Map of the Dark, I got sucked into the story.

I'm very interested to see where this series goes from here. I will definitely read more! Very curious to see who the main character will be in the next book. Will the series jump around, switching up each time? Or will it settle into focusing on Lex....Elsa....someone else? Each story so far has been well-written with complex and flawed characters. It makes for an interesting read....a different experience than other crime novels with more formula main characters.

Karen Ellis is a pen name for Author Katia Lief. The Searchers is my first experience with her writing. I've added her Karin Schaffer series to my TBR list.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Mulholland Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**… (mehr)

FBI Special Agent Elsa Myers is very good at her job, but she doesn't know how to deal with her father slowly dying from cancer and demons from her past. She could take time off from work to spend more time with her dad at the hospital, but she knows working is the only way she can cope. It keeps her from dwelling on her memories. She is called to assist on a case. A teenage girl is missing. Elsa pushes her personal life to the side, intent on finding the missing girl before it's too late.

At first, I had a hard time identifying with, or liking, Elsa Myers. Elsa is an excellent investigator and she's driven to solve cases, especially those involving children. But she has some deep emotional scars and is pretty much emotionally unavailable. The story flips from the current investigation to flashbacks about Elsa's childhood frequently. At first, I found the flashbacks a bit annoying. But by the end of the book, those flashes of insight into her past helped me understand the character better. By the end of the book, I liked Elsa as a main character. The development of her character over the course of the story is quite complex. I liked how little bits and pieces about Elsa were revealed as she discovered and followed up on clues in the missing person investigation.

A Map of the Dark is the first book in The Searchers series. Book 2, Last Night, turns its focus to Lex Cole, Elsa's temporary partner in A Map of the Dark.

Karen Ellis is a pseudonym for crime thriller author Katia Lief. A Map of the Dark is the first book by this author that I've read. I'm definitely going to read more! I liked the character development and slow-build pacing. I saw one aspect of the ending coming...but wasn't quite sure how it would work in with the story. All in all, a very enjoyable crime thriller. It kept my attention from start to finish. I binge read this entire book in one afternoon. I couldn't stop reading!

I am looking forward to book 2. Lex Cole was a bit of a background character in book 1 because it focused mainly on Elsa and her past. I'm so curious about how his story will develop in the second book!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Mulholland Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**… (mehr)

4.5 stars.

The first installment in The Searchers series, A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis is a spellbinding mystery about an abducted teen.

FBI Agent Elsa Myers is in the midst of a heartrending family situation when her boss calls her in to aid Queens Detective Alexei "Lex" Cole with an urgent case with a missing teenager . Seventeen year old Ruby Haverstack disappeared one night after work and has not been seen since. She is not a troubled teen nor is it likely she ran away which makes her disappearance all the more suspicious. Elsa quickly discovers the case has not been handled quite as carefully as it should have been and valuable time has been lost in those crucial first hours of the investigation. Elsa is well aware she has a tendency to be a little too controlling but she finds it difficult to trust that Lex can handle the investigation since this is his first major case since transferring from Vice.  Despite her doubts, she and Lex work well together but will they find Ruby before it is too late?

Elsa is a veteran agent with several investigations under her belt but with everything going in her personal life, she is having a very hard time maintaining her objectivity and focus. She is a complex character who has not quite come to terms with her dysfunctional childhood which is front and center in her thoughts as works on Ruby's case. Elsa is her own worst critic as she castigates herself for missing clues that no one, not even she, could have recognized without the information that is uncovered later in the investigation.

Once Elsa and Lex know the kidnapper's identity, their investigation really gains traction. Although they quickly uncover other possible victims, they are at a loss as to  a motive for the crimes.  When an unexpected discovery provides a viable place to look for the Ruby, the case takes a shockingly personal turn for Elsa. With even more urgency to locate the victims, she, Lex and the other members of the investigative team feverishly search for the kidnapper's lair.

With the chapters weaving back and forth in time between events from Elsa's past and the hunt for Ruby, A Map of the Dark is a compelling police procedural.  Elsa is a deeply flawed but incredibly sympathetic lead protagonist who, when partnered with Lex,  finds someone who rather unnervingly slips past her formidable defenses. This first installment in Karen Ellis's The Searchers series is a multi-layered crime drama that I highly recommend to fans of the genre.… (mehr)