Frankie uses her determination, as well as her no attachments policy to help families find the truth. She goes to the places that don’t gain the attention of news channels and finds long-lost souls. Now she’s in Mattapan, searching for a missing teenage girl, who the police assume ran away. Frankie digs deep and puts her own life in danger, as she searches for answers. Frankie always hopes she will find one missing person alive, but the stark reality is that never happens. This time, will Frankie learn the truth, or will she become the next victim… with noone aware she’s gone?

Frankie is a force to be reckoned with… she owns her flaws and she is brutally honest with people. Readers will be cheering for this atypical heroine. Lisa Gardner paints with her words, and readers will see/feel/smell all the sights of Mattapan. This is an absolute must-read for fans of suspense. The characters in this book will live in readers’ hearts for years to come.

This was supposed to be a stand-alone novel. When I finished reading this book, I had to chew on the fact that there would not be a sequel. I even made a note, I wish there was more because I could follow Frankie all around the country. Frankie is incredible. I am thrilled that there will now be a sequel, One Step Too Far, that will be released in January 2022.

TW: Murder, alcoholism, racism, drugs

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will--searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.A new case brings her to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier. Resistance from the Boston PD and the victim's wary family tells Frankie she's on her own--and she soon learns she's asking questions someone doesn't want answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to discover the truth, even if it means the next person to go missing could be her.
Release Date: January 19th, 2021
Genre: Thriller
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
• Sounded like an interesting story that had alot of heart behind it.

What I Didn't Like:
• Frankie
• To savior based

Overall Thoughts: Right off the bat I hated Frankie. I hate the kind of woman that is so strong and independent that it comes across as annoying and in your face. She's so cocky and full of herself. She reminded me of those times my brother would hold a finger up next to my eye and say "Not touching you."That level of in your face annoying. She comes into towns and just pushes her way into your life even when families are telling her they don't need or want her help. She forces her way into Stoneys life. Forcing him to give her a job and a rent free apartment. Who does that? I found it odd that she's a white person that saves minorities. There is this thing in films called White savior narrative. The white savior is a cinematic trope in which a white character rescues non-white characters from unfortunate circumstances. So that was just weird. She makes out like EVERY black person hates her until she wins them over with her super power of finding out stuff cops just can't. The tagline for this reminded me of an episode of Cold Case (which is an amazing show... It's on HBO Max);
I’m not a police officer. I’m not a private investigator. I have no special skills or training. I’m only me. An average, middle-aged white woman with more regrets than belongings, more sad stories than happy ones. My name is Frankie Elkin and finding missing people— particularly minorities— is what I do. When the police have given up, with 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, no help

Stoney has no personality. He's just this old dude that makes sounds to acknowledge anyone has said anything to him. Sometimes he even says a sentence, if he's lucky.

Seriously though Frankie is horrible. She's walking around telling the cops, families, and people to take her seriously but then she sleeps with the lead detective on the case. Why? Why? If you want to be taken seriously and this case is so important to you why would you sleep with him when it's just going to mess up credibility and screw up the professionalism of the case..... Äh!

Final Thoughts: I hated this book. I dnfed it at the 50% mark because I just couldn't force myself to care about anyone or anything in this book. I seriously hated Frankie!

Thanks to Dutton Penguin Random House for this advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

🌟🌟🌟💫
Frankie Elkin, a recovering alcoholic has been flying solo under the radar to work as a woman who independently tries to find missing girls/women. Her latest case takes her to Boston (heck yeah! Which is what really intrigued me to read this.) she has a rough past and she ends up packing up her go-bag which happens to have all of her possessions in it and gets on the train to Boston, going into Mattapan, getting a work for board job at a bar and has to be roomies to a crazy cat Piper lol.

This story was slow in some points, I predicted the inevitable, however it did have some good twists and turns along the way. There’s Angelique who’s the missing girl she’s there to find-and her family. Emmanuel (her brother) was one of my fav characters.

My biggest thing is trying to connect with Frankie—she was just so cold and distant to everyone that it was hard to root for her because it felt wrong—like she didn’t want you too lol.

You see her grow connections little by little and hope that maybe she will stick around and settle?! But is that Frankie fashion?! Does she even have the ability to plant roots?!

Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic and amateur sleuth. She spends her time (and her life) moving from place to place, searching for missing people. She works as a bartender to earn her keep while looking for those the police cannot find.

Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager, has gone missing from Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood. She is a studious teen with ambitions of being a doctor. She disappears after school one day, and the Boston PD has been unable to locate her.

Armed with tenacity and questions, she begins her own search, which many are not happy with. A search will upset some, bringing up more questions, answers and rattle some feathers. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes and the ability to think like a teenager are all that is needed to uncover new clues. These skills will often land you in hot water, place you in danger, and make others uncomfortable.

I know I am really really late to the party on this one... but, I finished this L.G. book and loved it. I just can't get enough of her writing! It gripped me from the very first chapter and by the halfway point I still couldn't figure out where this was going. Definitely gets a 𝟱/𝟱 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 from me!

A very fun read that had me guessing until the last page. I have never read this author before, but now am excited to get into all of her backlist books.

I am a fan or Lisa Gardner and this book did not disappoint. The opening chapter sets the scene for a fast paced
thriller that grips the reader from the beginning. Her character tend to be "ordinary" women placed in extraordinary situations. Realistic dialog and sympathetic characters lead to an enjoyable read.

Frankie Elkin is a smart, new character in the literary world. A recovering alcoholic, with regrets and a fraught past, Frankie seeks out missing people from cold case files. The setting is a tough Boston neighborhood, with equally as tough characters. A teenager has literally vanished after she walked out of her school. Frankie has the knack for asking all the right questions. This book will keep you rooting for Frankie on each and every page.

Fast paced and exciting! Lisa Gardner takes you on a roller coaster ride that will keep you guessing the whole time.

There are two things you need to know about Frankie Elkins. One, she’s a recovering alcoholic. Two, she looks for the missing that everyone else has stopped searching for; if they even bothered to look in the first place. Her new case brings her to the Haitian community in Boston where teenager Angelique Badeau has gone missing. The more she digs around the more she realises that nothing is quite as it seems and if she isn’t careful she’s likely to be the next victim.

This book made me cry. To put that in perspective, it’s not exactly rare for me to cry reading a book, but it isn’t common either. I wasn’t quite sure what it is that got my waterworks going, was it the bleakness of Frankie’s life? She searches for the missing with a reckless disregard for her own life as she doesn’t place much value on her continued existence. Even when she finds the missing, which, in of itself is fairly tragic as she has yet to find any of the missing alive, there isn’t much satisfaction as she relentlessly pushes herself to the next missing person and the next. Or maybe it was Angelique’s story, which I won’t go into as…spoilers…

But, I don’t want to give the wrong impression, this book wasn’t a constant bombardment of sadness and pain. Frankie was a fascinating character, a white middle aged woman who wanders the U.S. searching for missing people. She isn’t affiliated with the police or any organisation. On a personal level she has no friends or family. She’s just a smart woman who isn’t afraid to ask questions. She also picks the cases of people the police dismiss, which more often than not is that of woman and teenagers in poor and Black and Native American communities.

The thriller and mystery elements of this book were great, the story slowly unveils as Frankie starts poking her nose in, but, it still hadn’t guessed everything until it was actually revealed. Any thriller that can keep me guessing that long is a gem. Gardener has crafted a smart, but action packed and exciting thriller that will keep you turning the pages.

This is an amazing book. The thriller elements were perfect, but what has really made this stand up from the rest was the masterful way Gardner built her characters, especially Frankie. I don’t know if Gardner is going to leave this as just this book, but I really hope not, I want more Frankie Elkin books in the future. The romance reader in me is desperate for her to find some kind of happiness and peace in some way and I would love to see that gradually materialise in future books.

Thrilling, adventurous, unputdownable!! I love a good thriller that’s impossible to put down!!
I would recommend this book to anyone!

Years ago, Frankie Elkin walked away from her life to travel the country, pursuing cold cases and investigating missing people who everyone else has given up on finding. Frankie travels to a Haitian neighborhood outside Boston to investigate the disappearance of teenage Angelique Badeau. Frankie begrudgingly teams up with a local detective and realizes Angelique’s case is likely connected to another missing girl whose family involved in the local drug trade. Despite warnings and danger, Frankie proves she has nothing to lose and is willing to risk her own life to find Angelique.

Excited about this new mystery series. I LOVED the main character so much and her backstory had me on the edge of my seat. Finally learning what happened in Frankie’s past had me straight up sobbing, which is a pretty rare response to a thriller. I was super engaged in the primary mystery but have to say I was let down by the big reveal. It seemed to me that the follow up crime and lies weren’t worth it just to protect the secret in question. All that said, I liked this one for the characters especially, and will definitely eagerly read the next in the series! I enjoyed walking through Frankie’s battle with addiction and search for redemption.

This was such a wild ride! I was hooked the entire time and ended up downloading the audio so I could listen when I wasn’t able to read. the audiobook was so well done also! I need to read more from Lisa Gardner but this would be a new character and I really hope Frankie’s story continues! Seeing her walk through recovery of alcoholism was super interesting and I love how Lisa Gardner explained that. Definitely would recommend!!

#BeforeSheDisappeared is a super fast paced stand-alone thriller that takes place in Boston. Frankie is an alcoholic who finds children who have disappeared. She’s the one who re-opens cold cases when the PD seems to have given up. But Frankie isn’t an PI or an ex-cop. She’s just a normal lady living her life in different cities trying to find missing children.

I thought the premise of this is interesting. It’s not a true police procedural because we aren’t following a cop, but a normal average person. And she goes through unorthodox ways to find the missing children.

I definitely got invested with Frankie and honestly I’m really sad that this is a stand-alone. I really would have loved for there to be another book or maybe some more closure. But I think that’s what makes this thriller unique. It ends, but not in a way you’d expect with nice little tidy ending. But it also isn’t necessarily open ended either.

This is my first 5 🌟 thriller read of the year. So I definitely suggest picking this one up!

Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, but a recovering alcoholic with more baggage than she can carry. She has dedicated her life to doing what no one else will-take on missing person cases that have gone ice cold. A new case brings her to Mattapan, a rough Haitian neighborhood in Boston. Frankie begins her search for Angelique Badeu, a Haitian teenager who disappeared from her high school months ago. With no help from the Boston police department, Frankie realizes she is on her own. If she is to bring Angelique home, Frankie must ask the questions no one wants to answer. But could Frankie be next?

This was my first book by Lisa Gardner and it did not disappoint! Frankie’s character development was extremely well done and I loved how Gardner takes her from a broken woman to a strong lead with grit and determination. The story was a bit of a slow burn but wow did it keep me guessing until the very end! Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dutton Books, and Emily Canders for giving me access to the digital copy! I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Frankie is a recovering alcoholic who is running away from her past and immersing herself in the hunt for missing people. When the police have given up, Frankie comes in for a fresh set of eyes. The mystery kept me intrigued and guessing what would happen next. 4.5 stars. Thank you, NetGalley fir the eARC.

This was my first Lisa Gardner book and it definitely won't be the last one I read! Wow what a wild ride of a mystery/thriller. I kept guessing thinking I knew what was going to happen but was definitely surprised at how the story unraveled. This book kept me hooked page after page. I devoured it as quickly as I could! Can't wait to check out more of her books and hope they are just as good as this one.

I was wrapped up in this mystery right from the start. Having never read a Lisa Gardner title, it felt like time to. And I picked a winner! I believe this is labeled Frankie Elkin, Book 1– although I read a review that announced it as “Gardner’s first standalone book in twenty years!”
I investigated and found she has a string of titles in one or more series. So I was pleased to get in at the start with a new character. And I hope it IS just the start. Frankie Elkin is a fierce, flawed, and fully developed character. Her determination to find missing persons and her skill make this a character who deserves a series. I know I’m already waiting for the next case.

I really enjoyed "Before she Disappeared". This book reminded me of the mystery/thriller books of the past in which I felt like I was watching a movie as I was reading it. I ended up buying the audio version as well so that I could continue the story even when I had to complete other daily tasks. Lisa Gradner does not disappoint and I look forward to more books from here in the future,

I AM SUCH A LISA GARDNER FAN. I "discovered" her within the last year, and can't get enough of her. I love the need to get to the bottom of a puzzle, and I got those feelings with Before She Disappeared. I was trying to solve it as I read, and I didn't! That means it's a good book.