Fast-paced suspense thriller set in present day Denville, Pennsylvania, USA.

Alice Vega is a bounty hunter who specializes in finding kidnapped and missing children. When two young sisters go missing from a strip mall parking lot, she's called in by the girls' aunt to find them. The local police department is understaffed and aren't interested in Alice's "help", so she tracks down a disgraced former detective turned private investigator (Max Caplan) to help her with the search.

Bailey is 8 and Kylie is 10, according to their mother Jamie Brandt, who was just inside a store for a few minutes before returning to the empty car where she'd left the girls. Witnesses report seeing the girls get into a car, but other details are sketchy or missing. It's up to Vega and Cap to figure out what happened. The narrative moves along quickly alternating between the points of view of Vega and Cap. The Feds are called in and the police also get involved as different veins of the investigation proceed and more is discovered -- could be that this nabbing is related to the cases of two other missing girls.

The characters are what makes this book so interesting. Lots of flaws and personality quirks, some great dialogue and a hint of backstory. Makes the reader want to get to know the parties better. Cap's daughter, Nell, was very three dimensional teen and seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Alice is self-contained and sensitive though she's as tough as nails while getting the job done. Cap is solid as both man, father and cop. Although there is a hint that Vega and Cap could deepen their relationship beyond their professional partnership, romance is not in bloom ...yet(I so appreciate that). I'm wondering if this is the first in a new series. I'll definitely look for a sequel!

I enjoyed this and look forward to reading other books by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Penguin Random House for this e-book ARC to read and review.

I could not put this book down! I read this book over the course of one day. Brilliant. Two Girls Down is a page turner with well developed characters, an intriguing and well written plot, suspense and a feeling of dread.

Jamie is a single Mother to two young daughters, 10 year old Kylie and 8 year old Bailey. She is running errands and goes into a Kmart ALONE (R U f'ing kidding me? Who leaves kids alone in a car?)to buy a birthday present. While she is in the Kmart picking out a gift, her daughters get out of the car and are not seen again. Later they are seen on camera walking around, going into an ice cream shop, and then walk out of the camera's frame. Gone. Missing. Abducted. It doesn't help that eye witness accounts vary and not all eye witnesses are viewed as reliable.

Jamie's family calls in a tough as nails bounty hunter named Alice Vega to help find the girls. Vega has a reputation for finding people that the police cannot. While in town Vega hires Max Caplan, a private detective who was once a police officer who resigned after a scandal. The local police are also on the case but they are stretched thin and the family wants answers as the clock is ticking. The police are not happy that Vega and Cap are also investigating which adds some angst to this story. Every second counts in child abduction and even the feds are eventually called in to find the missing girls

Initially there is not much to go on but Vega has the assistance of an unknown Computer hacker/whiz called "the Bastard". As their computer whiz begins digging up info, Vega and Cap have information to go and start the process of eliminating suspects. Along the way they get leads, some of which pan out, some of which don't really seem to go anywhere. I appreciated seeing them investigate false leads as not all police investigations are cut and dry. This gave the book a very realistic feel. As the clock ticks the duo follow every lead hoping to find the girls.

As I previously stated, I read this book in one day. It was a real page turner for me. I really enjoyed both Vega and Cap. I thought they had good chemistry together. Both were tough in their own ways, they both were driven to find the girls and each had a no-back-down attitude. I also liked that even though there were hints of attraction, and not so subtle hints between the two, this did not become a romance. Throughout the book, there was a feeling of dread as the two young girls are missing and there are seemingly very little clues. Will they be found alive? Will they be harmed? Could they have been taken by a child molester? Were they sold? Will there be a ransom? Are they dead? There are so many questions about the girls besides just their whereabouts and who may have taken them.

Another mystery in this book was bounty hunter Alice Vega. We know more about Cap and his life. But Vega is also a little bit of a mystery. She reveals very little about herself in this book. She opens up some to Cap but overall, she herself is a mystery to the reader. Which made her character even more interesting to me.

I loved that the plot was fast paced which helped keep the pages turning but added more suspense and anxiety as the girls lives are at stake. I could almost feel the anxiety that the characters in this book must be feeling while trying to track down the girls and their abductor/abductors. This book was brilliantly paced, well written and had a great story. This was my first book by Louisa Luna but it will not be my last.

Thank you to Doubleday Books and NetGalley who provided me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent story! I loved reading this book. The author definitely captured my attention in the very beginning and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. I had never read this author before and I’m looking forward to reading more books in the future.

Rating: 3/5

Genre: Mystery

Recommended Age: 16+ (language, violence, sexual lingo)

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinons are my own.

As addictive, cinematic, and binge-worthy a narrative as The Wire and The Killing, Two Girls Down introduces Louisa Luna as a thriller writer of immense talent and verve.
When two young sisters disappear from a strip mall parking lot in a small Pennsylvania town, their devastated mother hires an enigmatic bounty hunter, Alice Vega, to help find the girls. Immediately shut out by a local police department already stretched thin by budget cuts and the growing OxyContin and meth epidemic, Vega enlists the help of a disgraced former cop, Max Caplan. Cap is a man trying to put the scandal of his past behind him and move on, but Vega needs his help to find the girls, and she will not be denied.
With little to go on, Vega and Cap will go to extraordinary lengths to untangle a dangerous web of lies, false leads, and complex relationships to find the girls before time runs out, and they are gone forever. - Amazon.com

I've had a mystery kick for the past few months, so I picked this book up when I saw it on Netgalley. For the most part I thought this book was really good! It was a good mystery with a twist I didn't see coming. The plot was wonderfully well done and thought out and for the most part the main characters were very well developed. I really think that this book would do well in a series as apart of an ongoing mystery, Scooby-Doo type crime solving gang. However, I did have a bit of issues of with this book.

I really thought that while the main characters were developed, they felt a little awkward around each other, especially in how one character talks to another. I also felt that there were too many characters in the story who were not pertiant to the story. There were also a lot of loose ends that weren't solved by the end of the book and the book had some lull periods where it felt like the author went off on tangents.

Verdict: Awesome mystery, but lots of loose ends. I like my mysteries to wrap up completely at the end and for everything to be eventually connected and I'm a little disappointed that this one wasn't. It's a preference though and some readers might not care. It definitely was a good mystery novel and it comes out on January 9th! Make sure to grab your copy if your a mystery lover!

Thanks again for letting me have a copy of this,.

Louisa Luna's Two Girls Down was the perfect mystery/thriller. Such a well written story that kept me on my toes.

This book starts off with a single mother, Jamie Brandt and her two daughters, Kylie and Bailey. On the way to a birthday party, Jamie and the girls stop at a mall to pick up a gift. She leaves the children in the car seeing as she will only be a few minutes (which I find crazy) and knows letting the girls come into the store will only lead to chaos. When she comes out, her car is there but the girls are missing. With the police force stretched thin due to budget cuts, Jamie's family hires Alice Vega, a private investigator who specializes in finding missing children. The police are not too keen on welcoming Alice Vega so she then starts working with ex-cop Cap. Which by the way I love these two characters together.

From the moment I started this book I was sucked right in. The whole time I kept going “OMG HE TOOK THE GIRLS, OH NO WAIT MAYBE IT WAS HIM”. Kept me guessing and intrigued the whole way through. I would definitely read another novel by this author. Thanks Again!

Two girls go missing from a mall parking lot. Jamie, the girls mother enlists the help of Alice Vega who has had success in the past finding children.. The local police are short staffed and busy with a recent drug epidemic to give this case their full time attention., so Vega asks an ex cop Max Caplan to help her find the girls. They have little to go on, but each new interview gives them another lead to follow.. The main characters are so well described that the reader can see them like watching a movie. The storyline does flow well and the only reason I did not give it 5 stars was because there were extra characters in the book who did nothing for the story, but made it a bit confusing. Overall a good thriller and I thank the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the chance to review.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me this book for an honest review. Well, it starts off when two sisters disappeared from a mall their mother had brought them to. Devastated by this incident, the mother hires a private investigator, Alice Vega to find them. Vega has had a lot of success in finding missing children. The case unfolds as Vega enlists the help of former cop, Max Caplan, who has problems of his own.

The search begins as we delve into the lives of these girls and others who were taken before them. I was very surprised at the end of who it was and the why it happened.

Very well written - I would definitely read more of Luna's books. This book will not be out until
Jan. 9, 2018 but definitely should be put on your TBR list - or pre-ordered.

I enjoyed this book from the minute I picked it up. Two girls, sisters, are taken from a carpark and the local Police with budget cuts a re struggling to give their family any real leads so their aunt hires a PI, and so it starts. Gripping and full of twists, I loved every minute. The author did a great job at keeping reading, I loved that I had no idea who had taken the girls until the author wanted it revealed. No regrets reading this!

This is a fantastic, fast-paced thriller from Louisa Luna. The book starts off with a terrifying scene that most parents would relate as their worst nightmare. From here the plot unfolds into a masterfully crafted story with many twists and turns and dead end leads, leading up to a sick and twisted conclusion that will keep you guessing as you frantically turn the pages.

There is great character development for the main players combined with an excellent display of police procedures. The plot becomes more complex and multi-layered as it unfolds. The tension is high throughout the book. Suddenly Caplan and Vega find themselves entrenched in a series of investigations that they have to work diligently to discover how they all fit together. Once all the puzzle pieces fit together, they are in a race against time to track down the people behind the kidnapping.

Caplan and Vega are a good team, and their individual stories make the overall story more interesting. They complement each other nicely. Caplan's daughter is also a great addition to the storyline. She is wise beyond her years, and their relationship is awesome. She keeps Caplan grounded and serves as his sounding board when he needs another opinion. Vega seems a lot like a female version of Jack Reacher. She is determined to get the job done no matter the cost. No frills, no fluff - just do the job and get it done. Together they are relentless in their search for the missing girls. I think Luna could start a series with these two that would attract a good following.

I would recommend this book to fans of thrillers and suspense. I received this as a free ARC from Doubleday Books on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

With all the thrillers I've read over the past few years, I figured Two Girls Down was going to be just another formulaic missing/murdered kid story. This was so much better than what I expected. Luna portrays the investigators as complex, flawed but still likable and focused on finding these two girls. The twists, turns and tension kept me up reading way past my bedtime to get to the end of this book. I hope there are sequels planned!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Two Girls Down is about a pair of missing sisters and the quest to find them. The main characters are Alice Vega, an unusual bounty hunter and Max "Cap" Caplan. Though I enjoyed reading about a different type of female protagonist, I did find it hard to relate to Alice and to figure her out and what makes her tick. Cap was a much more likable character for me. All in all, the story was an entertaining and fast read and I did not guess the culprits which is always fun.

Captivating character study of what happens when two young sisters disappear one morning.

Kylie is 10 and a fire-cracker who back-talks her mother and uses her makeup. Bailey is 8 and loves school especially vocabulary. Jamie, their mother, needed to pick up a quick kid’s birthday gift for a party for which they were already late. Jamie decided it would be faster if she ran into Kmart by herself. It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes. When she looks out of the store a few minutes later the girls are no longer in the car. She searches the nearby businesses but can’t find the girls. They are gone.

Jamie’s aunt, a local real estate agent, hires private detective Alice Vega. Vega is famous for solving several other missing children cases. Vega hires a local private investigator, Max Caplan, to help her get access to the local police files. Caplan quit his job with the department five years earlier in a messy scandal after a kid died in lockup. Both Vega and Caplan have heavy emotional baggage but are intent on finding little Kylie and Bailey before it is too late. The girls’ family also have an interesting dynamic.

Two Girls Down is a thriller but more thought-provoking viewed as a character study. The characters are all distinct and authentic. The resolution is unexpected and unlike a typical thriller.

Thanks to the publisher, Doubleday, and Netgalley for an advanced review copy.

This author writes with a voice so real, so true to each character with a plot interesting, believable and left me with a sadness I️ (for some reason my iOS is making an exclamation point instead of letter) can’t shake. It ends well, tied up beautifully yet intensely. I️ (there it is again) want Cap & Vega to have another case together.

This was truly a wonderful suspenseful mystery/thriller. I loved the main characters who both had dark traumatic histories. Alice Vega is a no-frills bounty hunter, very successful in finding kidnapped/lost children. She teams up with Cap, a former cop, with some seemingly disgrace in his background. These two form a formidable team. Jamie Brandt, a single mother, left her two older children in the car while she quickly went into Kmart. When she came out to her car, the girls were gone. Everyone is quick to blame her as a bad mother, but there is a lot more to the story. There were some surprises! I loved seeing the development of Alice and Cap and the bond forming between them. I would love to see more from this author.

This is one suspenseful thriller that I couldn’t put down. Well written, colorful characters and a lot of tense moments. Jamie Brandt is a single mom who lives her two young daughters in the car while she make a quick trip to a store. Girls being girls, they leave the car and are soon abducted. Jamie’s aunt hires a private detective, Alice Vega, from California who has been successful in finding missing children. Vega is one serious player with a lot of tricks up her sleeve. With the help of a local PD, and then the cops, they go tracking down every possible lead. They have no idea where the leads are going and whether the girls are still alive. I really enjoyed this story, not only the thrill of the ride, but the characters are well developed and I hope to see Vega in another one soon!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not sure at first, but I am glad I stuck with this story. Two girls go missing and the family hires Vega. She is a private detective and is tough! The story played out much better as the book went along. Very enjoyable.

This is the first book I've read by Louisa Luna and I'm impressed. Two girls, Kylie-10 and Bailey-8, disappear from a parked car in a strip mall while their Mom, Jamie runs in quickly to get a gift for a birthday party they are on their way to attend. The police department is investigating, but they are short-staffed and unable to provide enough time and manpower to do a thorough job. The family hires Alice Vega, a private investigator with a stunning track record for finding missing persons. Alice then gets help from a former police detective, Max Caplan (known as Cap), who resigned after an incident that made him look guilty.

Alice is a tough, type-A personality who is focused and persistent. Cap, while a dedicated professional who takes his job seriously, is a lovable family man whose focus is to take care of his daughter. The two work together well - both good characters.

This is a fast-paced, tension-building story as if the girls are to be found alive every hour counts. A good mystery that kept me flipping the pages and hoping for the girls to be found unharmed. I could see there being a series with Alice Vega starring as the humble superhero.

Thanks to Louisa Luna and Doubleday Books through Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This debut thriller is everything you want in a suspenseful mystery. The lead characters, Vega and Cap, are engaging, well-developed and immediately likeable. They are both driven to find the two missing girls, and they stay on point working tirelessly throughout the novel. There is enough action and suspense to keep you fully submerged in the story until the shocking end.
I would be very interested in reading a series centered around Alice Vega (ie. Patterson's Alex Cross).

When two girls go missing, the family calls in an expert, who in turn avails herself of local talent not particularly beloved by the police. What makes this book interesting is less the pieces that fit together to make the plot or the characters but in the descriptions, how various pieces fit together to make a whole, and in the ways in which the plot is elaborated. The author hooks the reader early on and never quite lets the reader go.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Pro’s: good storyline with a twist you really don’t see coming.
Con’s: Characters were develolped, but nobody you wanted to connect with. One the main characters, Alice Vega, resembles a robot. It was made abundantly clear that she had no feelings for others, which makes it hard to care about her or her actions. Max Caplan was okay for a bit, then became absurd. He seemed to be sexually aroused at the most inapproprriate times. The dialog was awful! Everything action, thought, feeling, etc. had a simile or a metaphor attached to it, and some were nonsensical. The writing appeared to be the hard-boiled detective of yore, leaning toward a more masculine audience. Just not impressed with any part of this book.