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The Last Time She Saw Him by Jane Haseldine on June 28, 2016 Pages: 368
Format: eARC
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In Jane Haseldine’s gripping and brilliantly crafted debut, a reporter searching for her kidnapped son must untangle the connection to her brother’s long-ago disappearance.
Julia Gooden remembers nothing about the worst night of her life. Thirty years ago, her nine-year-old brother Ben—the person who promised he would always protect her—was abducted from the room they shared. Try as she might to recall any clue or detail, there is a black hole where Julia’s memories of that terrible event should be.
Now a crime reporter at a Detroit newspaper, Julia tries to give others the closure she’s never found. But guilt and grief over Ben’s disappearance have left her fearful that whoever took her brother is going to come back. Nowhere seems safe—not the city, not the suburbs, not even the secluded lake town where she plans to raise her children. And then, on the anniversary of Ben’s disappearance, Julia’s worst fears are realized when her two-year-old son, Will, is snatched from his bed.
Convinced that the crimes are related, Julia tries to piece together memories from her final day with Ben. Are the sudden reminders of her brother clues that will lead her to her son’s abductor, or merely coincidence? Julia knows she has hours at best to find Will alive, but the deeper she digs, the more personal and terrifying the battle becomes, and an undying promise may be her only hope of saving herself and her son.
The Last Time She Saw Him is the debut book for author Jane Haseldine and is the first in the Julia Gooden series. I was instantly pulled into this story. This is a book that I stayed up late to finish in just one night (not something I do very often). Ms. Haseldine does an incredible job of weaving intricate plot details with characters you feel for to create a heart-pounding thriller.
Julia is a crime reporter in Detroit, MI. Her older brother’s disappearance as a child haunts her to this day, and influences the way she raises her sons. Her obsessive overprotective parenting is causing a rift in her marriage and her brother’s disappearance makes it difficult for her to do her job. Her goal is to keep her boys safe, no matter the cost. When her worst nightmare happens, will Julia be able to pull it together to solve a crime that shakes her to her core? You’ll need to pick up The Last Time She Saw Him by Jane Haseldine to find out.
I am so impressed that this is the author’s debut novel. She has a knack for getting right to the heart of a story and making you want to keep reading until you find out what happens. I am looking forward to many more books from Ms. Haseldine.
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