Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

I LOVED the premise of this book. Missing children, a bad ass bounty hunter- I really thought I would be singing it’s praises to every person.

However, it was just ok for me. I didn’t find myself getting sucked in like I had anticipated.

I felt that parts were way too slow for a thriller type book- I want to be flipping pages as fast as I can, not thinking “ho-hum…”

But it just did not all pan out- except for Alice Vega. Now she was a character that I really enjoyed.

Bottom line: Alice Vega was the saving grace for this book for me. It’s def in the just ok pile (for me).



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

I absolutely loved Two Girls Down and could not stop reading it! At 5% into the book, I had already empathized with Jamie and laughed out loud because of Nell. I thought the writing was spot-on, and I thorouly enjoyed the story.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House-Doubleday, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Two Girls Down is a complicated yet compelling story. At times, it is hard to follow some of the links between characters and storylines but - if you can stick with it - the ending is a twisty surprise. The book begins by introducing Jamie Brandt, a single mom struggling to make life work. Before the end of the first chapter, her two daughters Kylie and Bailey are kidnapped and the race is on to find them. Author Louisa Luna creates very interesting characters - Max Caplan is a former police officer who left in the wake of scandal, Alice Vega is a private investigator of sorts with a history of successfully finding missing kids but who uses nontraditional methods along the way and has an interesting past. Vega and Cap team up to help find the Brandt girls yet find themselves in the middle of several crisis all at once - the missing sisters, drug dealers, cold cases, police turf wars and more. The book has lots of characters and though almost all eventually make sense, it is hard at times to keep track of the connections and the impact each has on the overall plot and the subplots. However, the pacing of the book is good and the outcomes - though twisted - make sense for readers. Perhaps the author has a series in mind? Cap and Vega make a very interesting team and would be an engaging match - personally and professionally.

Two Girls Down is the first book I read from Louisa Luna. It’s about a private investigator, Alice Vega and a former cop. Max Caplan, who are hired to try to find two missing girls in a small town. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. Some of the material is a bit on the strong side, but it’s definitely worth the read. This was a riveting read and the story was fast paced. The characters were well-developed and backstories behind each character was interesting. I especially loved the chemistry between Vega and Caplan- they make an awesome pair. I was a bit disappointed that Vega and Caplan didn’t take their relationship to the next notch, but I hope the author makes another book with these two characters. The motivation behind the missing girls took me completely by surprise and was extremely deep. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who is a fan of mystery or crime thrillers.

Two Girls Down was a great read. I was really sucked into the story about two young girls who go missing from their car in a parking lot. The detective and computer hacker who make up the search are both well written characters. I appreciate that they weren't immediately thrown together as a romantic couple. The story kept my interest and I couldn't put it down.

So this was a book I didn't know much about but it sounded interesting so I decided I would give it a chance. I saw on goodreads it had good ratings from people I was friends with so I was happy to see that. Well did I end up enjoying it as much as they did? Let's find out.

First of all I am sad to say I felt this book was a rocky experience for me. It started out pretty slow. It took me a couple of chapters to get into this. A part of me wanted to DNF it because I didn't have any motivation to go back to the book. I decided that I was going to read a bit more and see how that goes. It was about 27% into the book it finally caught my attention. Sadly I felt this was an ongoing experience throughout the book. One moment I was really into it the next I felt myself glazing over the text. I also don't think it helped that the chapters were so long. I was constantly checking when I could get to the next chapter. It felt like things kept dragging on.

Thankfully I did end up enjoying the main characters. I did like Alice and Cap. I felt like they ended up making a really great team and ended up working really well together. It took them sometime to get use to each other but when they finally found their rhythm it was nice. I honestly could see them having there one little series. The only aspect I wasn't too fond of was since they both were lonely they kinda had a thing for each other. I felt it was a bit unnecessary. I mean thankfully when it was mentioned it was only for a second. It also popped up every once in a while. I just felt there wasn't much of a point to it by the end of the book.

Another thing about this book that threw me off was all the characters that pop up. Since this is a book about a crime being committed they had a lot of leads they had to follow. If the suspects were brought up later in the book it took me a little while to figure out who they were. I wish the author did a quick recap.

Lastly I just found the ending to be a bit unbelievable. There are some questions I have the story the one character told to another. I just felt it was a bit fishy and didn't make sense to me. I can't say what because it spoils the book. I just am like this is really why this all started. I feel like there are some holes in the story. Also I had some suspicions about who I thought was behind the crime which ended up being right. I felt the author made it a little obvious because I felt this character stood out. So I wasn't super surprised by the news.

Overall I felt like this book was a rocky ride. It went back and forth with holding my attention. It some really good parts and other parts I just wanted to be done with. I am happy that the main characters were so interesting because they were the reason I continued on with this book. I might check out another book from this author. I would love for her to write another book with these characters. Right now this is a standalone book but I could see it being a series about Alice and Cap.

Louisa Luna introduces odd, bad-ass bounty hunter Alice Vega in Two Girls Down (Doubleday, digital galley), a fast-paced variation on the missing kids theme. Single mom Jamie Brandt leaves 10-year-old Kylie and 8-year-old Bailey in a strip-mall parking lot while she ducks into K-Mart to buy a birthday present, but finds her daughters gone when she returns. Her wealthy aunt hires Vega to help in the small-town police investigation, but the cops aren't interested in the outsider's reputed skills at finding people, so the enigmatic Vega teams with ex-cop turned PI Max Caplan. It's an unlikely partnership, but the divorced father of a teenage daughter makes a good foil for loner Vega, who has a hacker on call to feed her info on the family, the cops and multiple suspects. False leads have the hunt for the sisters going down to the wire, and the suspense is killing. Come for the plot, stay for the characters.
from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever

A fun and engaging thriller. Although this is (as of now at least) a standalone book, I really felt like I was jumping into the middle of a series- so much so that I read through the summaries of the author's other books just to check. In a way, that could be seen as a good thing- the protagonist is well developed and some of her past cases are mentioned- but part of me wanted to see her on her first case and watch her develop into her character. But that's just me.

Two sisters get kidnapped in a small town, and their aunt hires a bounty hunter to find them. The bounty hunter arrives ready to do her job but will need to battle local law enforcement as well as the ghosts from her own past if she wants to bring the children home. Author Louisa Luna combines a smart, compelling plot with evocative writing in her newest book Two Girls Down.

Jamie Brandt leaves her daughters, Kylie and Bailey, in the car at the strip mall parking lot but convinces herself they’ll be okay, because she’ll be gone five minutes, ten minutes tops. She’s just ready to get to the birthday party where they’re headed so the kids can be someone else’s problem for a while. Jamie loves her kids, but single parenting is sucking all the life out of her.

Then she gets back to the car and discovers the girls are missing. What’s left of Jamie’s fragile world begins to fall apart. Her aunt steps in with an answer, which Jamie immediately clings to like a life raft in the middle of the ocean.

Jamie’s aunt finds Alice Vega, a bounty hunter from California with a solid track record. By Alice’s own admission, she’s taken on the responsibility of finding 18 kidnapped children so far—and found all of them. Not all the stories have happy endings but if anyone can find Kylie and Bailey, it’s Alice.

Alice Vega arrives in Denville, Pennsylvania, expecting all the pushback she gets. Local police officers don’t trust anyone outside their jurisdiction, least of all a woman from clear across the country. Some people take one look at her diminutive frame and assume she can’t be much of a force; she’s quick to prove them wrong. She approaches former police officer Max “Cap” Caplan to help her, and he declines with as much professional courtesy as he can muster without rolling his eyes directly in her face.

Cap, however, reconsiders his decision after a heart to heart with someone close to him. He warns Alice of all the skepticism she’s already encountered. She just shrugs and reaffirms her commitment to bring Kylie and Bailey home, no matter what. Together they retrace steps and use resources outside of law enforcement to fight their way to the one goal they have in mind. They know they’re racing against a clock. The longer Bailey and Kylie are missing, the less likely the story ends happily.

Author Louisa Luna accomplishes the rare feat of presenting a compelling thriller novel while at the same time taking great care with the language. Most thrillers offer bare-bone sentences with all the concentration going toward pacing and plot. Luna clearly enjoys narrative that will make readers pause as much for its clever word use as anything else.

In Alice Vega, Luna creates a protagonist who could be classified as a stock character only in the strictest sense. Alice’s challenges from before her career as a bounty hunter may not necessarily surprise anyone, but that doesn’t make those challenges any less real. Luna’s careful use of language will make readers want to offer Alice quiet sympathy. It’s not in Alice’s nature to get all cuddly with anyone, and readers will respect that.

Alice’s thoughts and ideas are crystal clear; it’s Cap who is the more conflicted of the two, but that’s exactly what makes him so interesting. They complement one another in temperament and skill set. The duo work so well together that readers, in fact, may wonder at the end whether another book with Alice and Cap is forthcoming.

The plot itself with keep readers engaged, venturing into places thrillers don’t always like to go. One of the weaker points of the story comes in the number of suspects Luna presents as possible kidnappers. There are just too many to keep track of, which detracts from the overall impact. The climax feels just a touch contrived, and a red herring could possibly frustrate readers a little bit. It won’t prevent them, however, from caring about the girls but ultimately about whether Alice accomplishes her goal.

Weaker points aside, anyone who enjoys a solid thriller will definitely want to read this book. I recommend readers Bookmark Two Girls Down.

This book is trash! The insane amount of crude language was completely unnecessary and I cannot read a book in which there is more cursing than actual content. I'm not posting anything about this book to my blog as I wouldn't want to insult anyone by even mentioning this terrible book.
Off to find a book that will expand my mind rather than implode it!

This was a disturbingly addictive book. The author weaves a tight mystery, centered on two missing girls in a less than savory small town in Pennsylvania. The drug epidemic in Denville is slowly being exceeded by the missing persons epidemic. Retired cop Cap and missing persons finder Vega gravitate toward this case and it gets a firm hold on them. Vega doesn't sleep. Cap doesn't quit. And the reader can't stop turning pages.

Everything about this book hooked me. The town, the people, and definitely Cap and Vega. Everyone has a backstory. Cap and Vega live in their pasts as much as they live in this case, and they have no time or eye for the future.

The ending? Just wow. This was not something I'd predicted. The whodunnit made me shiver. I wish I could read this book for the first time again and again.

En route to a birthday party, a struggling single mother leaves her two young daughters alone in the car in a parking while she quickly runs into a store to make a last-minute purchase. It's a risk every harried parent has considered which is why, when the mother returns to her vehicle to discover that her daughters have vanished (and she is, literally, Two Girls Down), readers are instantly drawn into her "there but for the grace of God go I" nightmare. Enter Alice Vega, a mysterious bounty hunter hired by her parents to search for the girls when the local hapless police prove completely ineffective. And Max Caplan, a former cop who left the force under a cloud of suspicion and now earns a living as a private investigator (primarily chasing unfaithful spouses). In child abduction cases, the biggest enemy is time and at the hours elapse, the odds of finding a missing child alive diminish exponentially. Vega, Caplan, and the detectives assigned to the case know that. The result is a pulse-pounding race, with Vega and Caplan chasing disparate clues and possible subjects. Caplan is a single parent and his devotion to and relationship with his teen-age daughter figures prominently in the story, as does Vega's mysterious past. Caplan and Vega's initially grudging partnership, tolerated by each solely because their efforts to find the missing girls are fortified by their combined resources and talent, is charming and touching, and leaves readers wanting to know more about each of them, as well as where their partnership might lead. In this debut thriller, Louisa Luna immediately establishes herself as a master of the genre.
(Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Readers Copy of the book!)

This book is the reason I need an extra shot of espresso in my coffee this morning. I may have stayed up until 2:00 a.m. last night (or technically this morning) reading the last 13% of the book. I thought, 13% left I can finish that in thirty minutes…um, I grossly underestimated how much time it takes me to read 13% - it was more like 1.5 hours or something like that: I obviously lost track of time. Plus the ending was where most of the action was and I could not go to sleep half way through it.

It was a well composed thriller that had me turning back pages to keep up with which character was whom. I was quite proud of myself that my inkling on who would be the perpetrator was correct. Go me ;)

Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna tells the story of the Brandt sisters, ages 10 and 8 whom are abducted from a parking lot while their single mother, Jamie, ran into a store to quickly pick something up. The understaffed local police are working the case, but the family hires the services of a successful private investigator, Alex Vega, in hopes she will find the girls quickly. Vega struggles getting the police to cooperate/work with her so she enlists the services of a retired police officer, Max Caplan, whose own relationship with the police department is less than stellar.

As time is ticking the likelihood of finding the girls and finding them alive is narrower and narrower. It is a wild ride and moves rather quickly. You will also enjoy the chemistry between Vega and Cap, although it is not a love story to boot, the focus is on finding the Brandt girls and doing that quickly.

If you enjoy thriller/suspense books as much as I do, Two Girls Down is a worthwhile read. It may not have been 100% perfect, but I clearly needed to know what happened and those types of books regardless of how you feel about the ending deserve 4 stars, in my opinion.

I received an arc of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

It was a awesome book that made me look over my shoulders at night

Alice Vega is a bounty hunter who finds missing persons.  She keeps her emotions close to her vest, but inside she is in turmoil.  When she was contacted by the missing girls' family to work on the case, she expected that the police would be threatened and wouldn't work with her, so who better to help her than local Private Investigator Max "Cap" Caplan who resigned from the police department under disagreeable terms.  But will this cool-headed man and "goofy" dad of a bright teenage daughter see through her and find out her secrets?  Will she be able to find the girls in time?

"Never assume you’re gonna find who you’re looking for. Assume you’re gonna find the other thing. Which will generally be someone who wants to kill you. Sometimes they’re the same."

Cap agrees to help Vega with her unorthodox ways of interrogation and subduing perps and her trans-formative personality going from serious to flirtatious to vulnerable in a matter of minutes.  Will he be able to work on this case without it becoming personal?

I see hints of The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo's Lisbeth Salander in Alice Vega's character.  Vega has the same quiet confidence with underlying anger that Salander has, but I felt that Vega opened up more easily.  She is a great character and I was waiting with intense anticipation on what she would do next.  Cap's character is a great compliment to Vega because of his level-headedness to deal with certain volatile situations.

The story line is fast-paced with many twists and turns.  When I thought I had it figured out, it went in another direction.  The ending was incredible, very disturbing, and well worth the wait.   If you love suspense thrillers, crime fiction, and great character development, give this novel a try!

In TWO GIRLS DOWN by Louisa Luna, Bailey and Kylie Brandt, ages 8 and 10, disappeared when their mom dashed into a store to pick up a birthday gift for the party of one of Kylie's friends. The local police in Denville, PA are short staffed and unable to cope with the level of manpower needed to track down leads, so the great-aunt of the two missing girls hires a private investigator to find them. Alice Vega is ridiculously successful at finding missing kids: she's had 18 cases, and she has found all of them--and most of them have been alive. Working in an unknown town means that Vega decides to tap into the resources and connections of a local private investigator. Max Caplan resigned in disgrace from the Denville police department a few years ago, and he's been making his living by collecting information on cheating spouses. When Vega approaches him to help her locate the girls, he initially shies away from the case; however, his precocious sixteen-year-old daughter, Nell, talks him into it.

Alice Vega and Max "Cap" Caplan are fantastic characters. Alice is a complete badass, and although she isn't good at dealing with people, she has trained herself in how to behave in social situations. She also has a sharp mind, is incredibly resourceful, and she can kick anyone's heinie if she can catch them by surprise. Cap is a pretty typical ex-cop. He drinks a little too much, but most people really like him, they want to talk to him and tell him their secrets, and he's good at piecing puzzles together. I really liked both of them, and Vega's shadowy assistant, The Bastard, is so intriguing that I'd love for him to get a book of his own.

Louisa Luna is a good writer who writes tight action scenes while stringing words together in a sometimes lyrical manner. Her characters are well constructed, and the mystery surrounding the missing girls is a good one. The ending was actually a surprise to me!

I really hope that Cap and Vega team up in future novels, because now that I've spent some time with them, I don't want to let them go. Plus, it's rare that a thriller keeps me guessing until the end, but TWO GIRLS DOWN did! My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Title: Two Girls Down
Author: Louisa Luna
Publish Date: 2018
Publisher: Random House LLC
Rating: 5 stars

Book Blurb: "Find Nolan Marsh and you Will Find the Brandt Sisters."

This story was about the two girls who went out with their mother before a party. While their mother was inside the store buying gifts the two girls got out and were not seen again. Alice Vega was a private investigator who finds missing children. Along with the help of the local police chief, who in the beginning doesn't seem to want to help her, she finds the girls. The two begin investigating the witnesses found by both. But it took a while to find out anything because the witnesses weren't very promising. In the book, the one daughter is found with another girl being held by one man. In the altercation, Vega was hurt and was hooked to an IV on a gurney in a room where she found another young lady also hooked up to an IV. That young lady was Bailey Brandt. The other young lady who was asleep on the man’s lap that she knocked out after getting up from the gurney.
While searching for Kylie Brandt we find out that there may be a connection as in all cases of child abduction to the child herself. As the search continued it led them to a woman who had Kylie locked in the house somewhere. And that is the end of the novel. Well almost. I won’t tell you how it actually ends except that probably all parents of abducted children found and still lost have that same thing happen.
I liked this novel. Slow read with some twists and turns. Keeps you turning the page. And again it was one that made you want to re-read certain sections to make sure that you got that right. I would say this is like a late night read when you could sleep but you don’t want too. I wouldn’t read it and try to go to sleep. But the other kind of restlessness would work well.

Disclosure: I received this novel from the publisher in order to write a review and received no monetary compensation for the writing at this time.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.
This one is a real page turner and is filled with unexpected, unpredictable twists and turns. There were almost too many possible suspects but they did make it interesting. This book is not billed as the first in a series but I found myself reading it like it was. There was almost too much information for a first in a series but definitely not enough for a stand alone. I want to know more about the bounty hunter, Alice Vega, and the disgraced cop who became her partner, Max Caplan and Cap's daughter, Nell.
The book tended to slow down towards the end and the plot took some unexpected turns that were not totally believable. I also want the know more about Vega. I found the degree of anger and violence expressed in attacks on the bad guys really not typical behavior for a woman. But still an engaging read.

As a mother myself, I found it hard to read sometimes just because my imagination starts running wild. This book was really well-written and the plot was well thought out. The characters were flawed which made them even easier to relate to because in reality we all have our faults.

The one thing that through me off wasn’t the story itself but I wasn’t able to connect with the main character Vega. I ended up connecting more with Cap, her partner. Otherwise, I would have rated this higher.

Overall, this was a good missing person (s) story that will leave you questioning how good is good parenting? Are our expectations even realistic?