Love You More [With Earbuds] [Anglais] [Lecteur digital à contenu audio pré-chargé]

In Lisa Gardner's "Love You More," Tessa Leoni has a great deal on her plate. She has been a Massachusetts state trooper for four years and has a beautiful six-year-old daughter, Sophie, whose father's name Tessa does not even know. Leoni has an inner toughness that she will desperately need as she faces an uncertain future. Her husband of three years and Sophie's stepfather, Brian Darby, has been shot to death, and the evidence points to Tessa as the perpetrator. Worse, Tessa's little girl, Sophie, has disappeared. The detectives soon suspect that not only did Tessa gun down her husband in cold blood, but that she also killed and buried her daughter.

Handling the case is Sergeant Detective D. D. Warren, a forty-year old, ten-year veteran of the Boston Police Department. Assisting is Bobby Dodge, her former lover, who is a Massachusetts State Police Detective. D. D. is married to her job; she is sharp, aggressive, and ambitious, qualities that she shares with Tessa. Nevertheless, she has contempt for Leoni, whom she considers to be a conniving and selfish monster. D. D. is determined to nail this pretty and petite woman and put her away for a very long time. On the home front, D. D. has been dating Alex, a teacher at the police academy, for over six months. She is not sure if she has the temperament to make their relationship last.

Lisa Gardner, whose fans are legion, is the undisputed queens of the domestic thriller. The reasons for her popularity include: tough heroines who are even more macho than their male counterparts; byzantine plots in which the truth is carefully veiled; gripping scenes of suspense and violence; and conclusions that always include an extra, unforeseen twist. Although "Love You More" contains all of these elements, Gardner may have overreached this time. Tessa Leoni is a character we can and do root for. However, the author would have us believe that this woman is a master of weaponry, strategy, and hand-to-hand combat, and is so self-possessed that she can think clearly while navigating the most arduous and hazardous obstacles. When it comes to her personal life, on the other hand, she is woefully naïve.

Still, this is a page-turner that will appeal to aficionados of escapist fiction. Readers will realize fairly quickly that Brian's death is anything but a straightforward homicide, and it is fun to follow the clues along with the high-strung D. D. Warren. There is plenty of action to keep us engrossed; the roller-coaster ride never slows down until the final pages. Even though "Love You More" is a bit over-the-top, Gardner is a skilled enough writer to keep us engaged. She includes fascinating details about prisons, police procedure, and the challenges faced every day by overworked and harried homicide detectives. Gardner leaves us entertained and eager to follow the further adventures of the intrepid D. D. Warren.

Lisa Gardner is one of my favorite authors, and I always await the release of her new book with great impatience. This wonderful writer never disappoints! In my opinion of a fan who has read every single one of her fascinating, very professionally written books, LOVE YOU MORE is definitely Gardner's best so far. She is at the height of her creative career, and I'm very excited to see how each new book is even better than the previous one.

LOVE YOU MORE features D.D.Warren, one of the most convincing protagonists of a mystery and suspense series I have ever encountered. D.D. is going through a complex stage in her personal life (don't worry, there will be no spoilers in this review.) Her inner turmoil makes the case of the trooper Tessa Leoni that she gets assigned touch her on a very personal level. If at first Trooper Leoni's case seems a clear-cut situation of spousal abuse turned violent, it soon becomes clear that things are a lot more complex that we might have believed initially. There were many points in the text where I thought, 'Oh, I know what happened!" only to realize that, yet again, I failed to guess completely where the novel was going.

Gardner's writing is great because it always draws you in from the very first pages. LOVE YOU MORE does not contain a single page that is either boring or redundant. Gardner is not one of those writers who pad there books with lots of boring, irrelevant details and descriptions in order to create a bulkier novel. Every word she writes matter. Every scene is to the point. Every character contributes something to the plot development. Gardner is also great at maintaining suspense from the first page to the last.

If you are still considering whether to read this book, my advice is to get it as soon as you can. You will not be sorry as you will enjoy it immensely.

First of all, I'm a great Lisa Gardner fan and am impatient for her next book before I finish one. However, I wish Lisa (and many other popular authors) would occasionally veer away from the series-type books. Sometimes it's like walking into the middle of a movie. I always feel that I should start with the first book so I'll understand all the references to the past. And as much as I enjoy revisiting a familiar character, I'm enough of a romantic that I'd like to see some characters solve the mystery, get the bad guy, and find their happy ending. Plus, dragging out a relationship for three or more volumes completely sucks the passion out of it.

I realize that series books practically guarantee future sales, but can we get a stand-alone in between? Please?