Book Review: Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner (Frankie Elkin #3)

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

In Still See You Everywhere, the third installment of Lisa Gardner’s Frankie Elkin series, we follow our protagonist to a remote atoll in the middle of the Pacific in her efforts to find the younger sister of serial killer Kaylee “Keahi” Pierson dubbed by the media as the “Beautiful Butcher” and guilty of eighteen proven murders.

Over twelve years ago, after a particularly violent episode involving her wealthy, influential and abusive boyfriend Sanders “Mac” MacManus left Keahi hospitalized, her younger sister Leilani “Lea” then only five years old, disappeared without a trace. When Keahi receives a letter she believes was written by Lea, she has reason to believe that Mac has been holding Lea against her will. Barely three weeks before her scheduled execution Keahi, who has had a tragic and violent past but shows no remorse for her actions, asks Frankie to save Lea, who she believes will be accompanying Mac to an isolated Hawaiian island, the site for his latest business venture. Aided by Keahi’s lawyer, Frankie secures employment on the isolated island. Surrounded by dangers- both natural and man-made- with limited outside communication and among strangers, some of whom are harboring their own secrets, Frankie just might be out of her depth.

Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner is an immersive, suspenseful thriller with plenty of twists and turns that keeps you hooked until the very last page. I was drawn to the premise of the novel and loved the setting. After an intriguing start, the novel slows down considerably as we meet the characters and are treated to a detailed description of the island’s flora and fauna before picking up again for an action-packed finale. Despite some minor repetition and pacing issues, there were enough surprises and red herrings along the way. I should mention that a few of the twists, though shocking, weren’t quite convincing. I don’t mind suspension of disbelief, but a few of the revelations bordered on absurd. I’ve enjoyed the previous books in the series and I do find the protagonist interesting, but I was disappointed with the lack of character development. I thought Frankie spent too much time brooding over her past , wallowing in self-pity and lacked the sharpness that defined her character in the previous books. 

Overall, despite the intriguing premise and atmospheric setting, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the previous installments but I do look forward to reading more from Lisa Gardner in the future and will be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series!