The Janes by Louisa Luna is the second Alice Vega Novel and since I enjoyed the first one, I was eager for this one.

On the outskirts of San Diego, the bodies of two young women are discovered. They have no names, no IDs, and no family looking for them. Fearing the possibility of a human trafficking ring, the police and FBI reach out to Alice Vega, a private investigator known for finding the missing, for help in finding out who the Janes were--and finding the others who are missing.

Vega is called in when the bodies of two young Latina women are found with no identification and who have not been reported missing. When Vega is called in to help, she brings in Cap, her partner in the first book.

Maybe because women are so frequently victims of abuse, we enjoy having a kick-ass female protagonist in a take charge and take-em-down role. Are these women (Liz Salander, Jane Hawk, Livia Lone, Alice Vega) realistic? Not really. They have many stereotypical qualities, but they also have personality and the gumption, determination, intelligence, and a sense of justice that I have fun identifying with in the most ridiculous way.

Who are some of your favorite awesome, bad-ass female protagonists?

Read in July? Blog review scheduled for Jan. 6, 2020.

NetGalley/Doubleday
Mystery/Thriller. Jan. 21, 2020. Print length: 368 pages.

Louisa Luna who are you dear and why haven’t we heard more about you? “The Janes” - book two in the Alice Vega thrillers - was just OUTSTANDING! It literally kept me up most of the night (on a work night) because I couldn’t put it down. And can we talk about Mia? The sassy pathologist who I hope we get more of? Please don’t let this be the last of her.

This was a rocking rollercoaster full of nonstop action and a heart pounding pace. Vega and Cap are back at it again and she is kicking ass and taking names. The best thriller I’ve read in a long, long time.

The second in the series featuring Alice Vega has her teaming up with Max Caplan to investigate the murder of two unidentified bodies (Janes). Vega is called in to assist on a case involving two Latina girls whose bodies were found with no ID. After a search of the missing persons database comes back with zero results, it quickly becomes clear to the SDPD they may need to call in for outside assistance to have this case solved quickly. Alice Vega has a reputation for solving cases involving missing persons, even if her methods are somewhat unorthodox. As Alice starts to investigate, it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary missing persons case. She turns again to her ex-partner Max Caplan, who races to her side to assist. The two explore the seedy underbelly of San Diego and start asking questions that anger some influential people. As the stakes are raised, Alice and Max work quickly to provide justice before they too are silenced, permanently.
This was a suspenseful ride from start to finish involving some dark hot button topics; sex trafficking, immigration, and the Mexican Cartel. It was great to see Alice and Cap working together again. Their chemistry is undeniable and kept me glued to the pages. With each new discovery, there were extra plot twists and mysteries thrown in to keep the story moving and the reader guessing. I always admire Vega's resourcefulness and love her strength and determination. I highly recommend this atmospheric thriller to those looking for a good edge of your seat read.

This second book in the series about PI Alice Vega is an intriguing mystery that deals with immigration and sex trafficking. Vega is called in by the SDPD and FBI to investigate the murders of two Latina girls with no IDs. Once again, Vega calls her colleague and friend, Cap, to help with the case. As the two of them begin to unravel the tightly woven net of drug cartels and sex traffickers, they discover that it also includes "friends in high places." Just when it seems that the case is coming to a close, there is another layer of violence and corruption that places Vega and Cap's lives in danger more than once. While the story can seem to move too slowly and include some unnecessary dialogue, the end makes it all worthwhile. With a bit of a cliffhanger ending, this book will keep the reader waiting for the next installment.

I was a little nervous to read this because I didn't realize it was part of a series but this author did a great job with the writing where you don't have to read the first one. I'm definitely going to be if it's just as good as this one. This book is why I love thrillers. So suspenseful and exciting. Great book.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was introduced to author Louisa Luna with her first Alice Vega/Max Caplan thriller Two Girls Down--wherein private investigator Alice Vega arrived in Pennsylvania from San Diego to help locate two girls abducted from their car, coerced former police detective Max Caplan into joining her search, and instantly became my favorite superhero.

Vega is unforgettable. In The Janes she's approached by the San Diego police and the FBI to help identify two Jane Does in the country morgue, and to discover any links to other missing girls. Again, Vega appeals to Caplan (Cap) to join her in the project. Once in California, Cap (who has the most godawful crush on Vega) finds his partner roaming the streets with oversized boltcutters! This is not, as it turns out, your average missing persons case, and as Vega and Cap dig deeper they find there are people who want to shut them up--by any means necessary.

When it comes to abductions of young females, Vega won't rest. She's smart, she's intuitive and she's dangerous. She's a walking thrill ride, and you will enjoy every minute. Many thanks to Penguin Random House/Netgalley for a review copy of this novel.

This. Was a good atmospheric thriller that is part of a series with a good plot and characters.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book and

This is my second Louisa Luna novel. I also read Two Girls Down which featured the same two main characters as The Janes. The two protagonists are Max (Cap) Caplan and Alice Vega. Vega is a sort of bounty hunter/investigator who finds missing people, and Cap is an ex-cop turned investigator. In The Janes, Vega is hired as a consultant to the San Diego PD and the DEA after they discover two unidentified girls, the titular Jane Does. Vega calls on Cap for some help, and he hops the next flight out. Although this is the second book in the series, it reads just as well as a stand alone.

Ms. Luna is a talented writer. She writes a tight story with mostly well-developed characters, realistic dialogue, and good pacing. However, as a long-time reader of all things mystery/suspense, I just couldn't get excited about The Janes or about Two Girls Down. I find Vega to be too much of a caricature of the hard-boiled lady detective. She not only carries a gun, but she wields bolt cutters to take down the bad guys. She seldom speaks and almost never shares what she's thinking. She's a stereotypical lone wolf. Cap is more of a regular guy. He has an ex-wife and a teenage daughter and is just an Average Joe living in Pennsylvania. His role in the novels is mostly to adore Vega and to let the reader know how incredible she is. He doesn't really do much and generally needs to be saved from the bad guys by Vega. He's mostly superfluous, but since Vega barely ever talks or shares her thoughts, he's a necessary character just to let the reader know what Vega's plans are.

I'm sure many readers will enjoy The Janes, but I've had enough of Vega and Cap.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#TheJanes
Thank you to NetGalley and Double Day Books for the opportunity to read and review The Janes.
I didn't realize when I requested the book that it was part of a series, but the author does a good job of setting up the book so that you don't have to read the first one if you don't want to. I plan on going back and reading it though. I think that the mystery is well detailed and paced out where you don't lose interest. I like Alice, she is complex and gritty.

I read the first book in this series and liked it a lot. I think this one was the sophomore slump. It felt a little flat too much and I felt like I had read the mystery before, which, of course, I hadn't. It wasn't anything I hadn't come across before, it was just more poorly written.

Two unidentified females bodies are found dead outside San Diego and no missing persons report has been filed matching the girls description. With no leads and no extra man power, the decision is made to hire a consultant to quickly wrap up the case and move on to the next. Alice Vega, a private investigator, with a well known reputation for locating missing persons is called in. With the help of her former partner (and ex-cop) Maxwell Caplan, along with her sometimes unorthodox methods, the pair may just find themselves in deeper than either one could have thought possible. “The Janes” by Louisa Luna is the second book in the crime fiction series of Alice Vega and will draw you in from the very first chapter wanting to know who “our girl” is.

Alice Vega refuses to be intimidated and has no problem breaking rules, especially when she feels she is doing it for the right reasons. When she is brought into the current case, she quickly uncovers the possibility of more young girls who may be in danger. While she doesn’t necessarily need any help, she does like the idea of working with a previous contact Maxwell Caplan. It is clear from the start that Vega runs the show, always seems to get exactly what she wants, and has great passion for her work. She wastes no time getting started and making contact with potential leads. However, the more she seems to learn about the case, the more she realizes that this is bigger than she ever imagined. Every time one mystery is solved, another two or three seem to surface and when she is actually dismissed from the case, she learns just how “involved” this case may be. With involvement from the FBI, DEA and even the Mexican cartel, Vega must decide how far she is willing to go and how many rules she needs to break in order to save not only herself but anyone else in harm's way.

Maxwell Caplan “Cap” is a disgraced former cop who previously worked with Vega on a missing persons case. He is now trying to put the past behind him when Vega calls and asks for his help again. He knows he can’t turn her down even though he lives have way across the country and is finally considering a slow-paced, more stable, and quieter lifestyle with his daughter Nell. Cap jumps on the next plane to California and before he knows it, it involved in the same tangled web of weird circumstances, misleading information and near death experiences that seem to have lead to his previous downfall. When an entire human trafficking ring is uncovered, Cap isn’t sure that he is ready for anything that may bring up past experiences or has the potential to harm Nell. However, with Vega as his partner again he feels committed to making things right and is determined to keep anymore girls from disappearing.

With Vega’s determination and methodical thinking and Cap’s background and trusting nature, the two make a great pair that is so much fun to read about. It makes you wonder if there may even be more than just a working relationship developing. Luna does a fantastic job with keeping the characters real and relatable while making sure the reader is always wanting more. I found myself immediately caught up in the plot and felt as if I was right in the middle of it all. While I didn’t get a chance to read Luna’s first Alice Vega Novel “Two Girls Down”, I didn’t feel like I necessarily needed to in order to follow the story line. However, this book does have some references that I assume are from the first book and now I can’t wait to read it as well. Not to worry if you haven’t read the first one, “The Janes” isn’t scheduled to be released until January of 2020 so you have plenty of time to get caught up with Vega and Cap.

Louisa Luna has done it again! I absolutely loved her first book, Two Girls Down, and was eagerly anticipating her second Alice Vega novel. This is just as good, if not better. Alica Vega is a fantastic character that I want to spend more time with!

This book was as fascinating, exciting, and well-written as the author's first book, Two Girls Down. Complicated, taut, and woven together in a way that made me barely able to put it down. I absolutely cannot wait for the next installment of Cap and Vega!

PI Alice Vega and her partner, Cap are called in by local authorities and the FBI when two women’s bodies are found outside San Diego. They are unidentified and unclaimed. No one has reported them missing and that raises the question of whether they were victims of human trafficking. Alice has quite a reputation, she will do whatever it takes to make sure all the Jane Does are identified and their killers are brought to justice. Today, more than ever, we need heroes like Alice Vega, a kick ass woman who makes sure justice is meted out where it should beP