RS Review: The Girl Who Disappeared Twice [Hardcover]

I've finished "The Girl Who Dissappeared Twice" by Andrea Kane.

Product Description

She couldn't stop it. Not then. Not now.

If she'd only turned her head, she would have seen the car containing her daughter, struggling to get out. Struggling to escape her kidnapper.

Despite all her years determining the fates of families, veteran family court judge Hope Willis couldn't save her own. Now she's frantically grasping at any hope for Krissy's rescue. Her husband dead – set against it, she calls Casey Woods and her team of renegade investigators, Forensic Instincts.

A behaviorist. A techno–wizard. An intuitive.A former Navy SEAL. Unconventional operatives.All with unique talents and personal reasons for being part of Casey's group, they'll do whatever it takes.
Able to accurately read people after the briefest of encounters, Casey leads her crew to Krissy's home.

There, she picks up the signs of a nervous spouse, a guilty conscience, a nanny that hides on her cell. She watches as secrets beg to creep into the open.

Forensic Instincts will dig through each tiny clue and eliminate the clutter. But time is running out, and even working around the clock, the authorities are bound by the legal system. Not so Casey's team. For they know that the difference between Krissy coming back alive and disappearing forever could be as small as a suspect's rapid breathing, or as deep as Hope's dark family history.

Product Details
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Mira; 1 edition (May 31, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778329844
ISBN-13: 978-0778329848
My Review:

Storyline: When family court judge Hope Willis receives a call asking if she picked up her daughter Krissy from school she panics. She and her husband Edward and their nanny Ashley cannot locate her anywhere. It brings back many bad memories for Hope as her twin sister was kidnapped when they were six and Felicity was never found.

The first twenty-four hours are critical in kidnapping cases and Hope is wasting no time calling in the big shots. As usual the local police and the FBI are called in but she also immediately hires Forensic Instincts a private firm of investigators with a high success rate. Casey Woods is the owner and a renowned behaviorist. Rounding out her team is Marc, a former Navy Seal and Ryan the techno-geek and she really wants to hire Claire, a clairvoyant.

The team just closed a high profile case and they are all tired, but immediately get to work on Krissy's abduction. The Forensic team can bend the rules a bit to gather leads and other information that the agencies  can't. Casey's boyfriend Hutch brings her a gift of a bloodhound, Hero, which is a an awesome addition to the team.

The investigation veers into different directions as the Willis family's secrets are delved which leads into mob connections. Patrick the original FBI agent who led the team for Felicity's abduction thirty years ago, appears convinced the two kidnappings are related. He tries frantically to find that link. But as they all keep digging into different directions that may or may not be connected the ticking clock on finding Krissy diminishes.

Characters:  Casey Woods holds a master's in Forensic Psychology and she has extensive credentials working with both behavioral and psycholgical profilers, has an innate talent at reading people and her years of working in both law enforcement and the private sector.

Marc Deveraux is Special Ops to the core.  He's a former FBI, Behavioral Analysis Unit and Navy Seal.  He has a diverse heritage:  Asian grandparents on his mother's side, and an exensive french lineage on his father's side.  He speaks three languages fluently Mandarin, French and Spanish.  He is Casey's heavily credentialed recruit.  He's the sexy and brooding type - single and happy to stay that way.

Ryan McKay is a technical genius and also a gym rat, who works out two hours each morning and who's athletic prowess included being mountain biking pro and running ultramarathons.  He recently earned his skydiving certification.

He has six-pack abs and is tall and broad shouldered and boasts those smoldering Black Irish looks that make women drool. He hates the gushing and the lavish - taking givers which really irks him.  The women he dates are strong, independent and unimpressed with his physical attributes and accomplishments.

Claire Hedgleigh aka Claire-voyant as Ryan calls her is a noted self-described intuitive who consults with several of the police departments using her special skills to solve cases.  She holds a masters's degree in Human Development and another in Transformative Theory and Practices.  She also has teaching accrediations from schools in the US, England and Austrailia in everything from psychic development to metaphysical sciences.  She is tall and willowy with pale blond hair and light gray eyes.  She has a gentle ethereal quality that suited her profession.

SSA Kyle Hutchinson has a natural compelling quality that screams leadership.  From his build, to his confident manner and the scar on his left cheek from his days being a beat cop screamed someone important.  He's also Casey's boyfriend and lover.

Special Agent Patrick Lynch is a square-jawed man of sixty with a solid build and salt-and pepper hair.  He was the special agent in charge of Hope's twin sister Felicity kidnapping case.  This case has been haunting him for thirty years.

Hero is a 3 yr. old red bloodhound who has worked with the FBI as a working scenting dog.  He is smart, fiercely loyal and has a keen sense of smell.

Romance:  I really enjoyed the romance between Casey and Hutch because they are both smart and understand one another.  They work well together on cases and their love scenes are very hot and steamy.

I believe in future books there will be a romance between Ryan and Claire since you can sense something between them in this book.  Can't wait!

Killer:  Actually this isn't really a killer in this book only a kidnapper and some mob people.  The kidnapper treated Krissy just like their own daughter and wanted to make her very happy and comfortable.

4/5