"Alafair Burke’s Find Me is a total knockout—serpentine in structure, rich in emotional heft and deeply moving as the past comes back not just to haunt the characters but to shudder through their lives, revealing secrets big and small, dangerous and intimate. Not to be missed.
The novel has a nice Hitchcockian feel to it as it glides from New Jersey to East Hampton to Wichita.
Burke is a master at plotting and pacing, and doesn’t disappoint here. Not only is this book a true page-turner with an intricate story and well-rounded cast of characters, but it combines a couple of my favorite plot points—amnesia and missing persons—and leads to an exquisite eleventh-hour shocker.
A skillfully constructed, delightfully twisty thriller powered by Burke’s trademark strong, relatable heroines and realistic foes.
"Alafair Burke once again weaves a riveting web of a story, threaded with delicious characters and hot button social issues. If you’re looking for the perfect twisty mystery, you’ve found it in Find Me."
Cunning. . . . Readers of The Better Sister , Alafair Burke’s wonderfully twisty new thriller, should get ready to be led down the garden path to a conclusion so morally ambiguous a professional ethicist might have to be called in.
Washington Post on The Better Sister
Coming off of last year’s brilliantly timely The Wife , psychological-suspense master Burke traces the uneasy relationship between two sisters and how it’s tested in the wake of a grisly murder.
Entertainment Weekly on The Better Sister
In addition to being a gripping thriller, this is a poignant look at the lives of two very different sisters—and how seemingly inconsequential events can often bring about great sacrifices. Burke gets better with each new read.
Karin Slaughter on The Better Sister
Alafair Burke’s name on the cover always guarantees a stellar read, and this novel is no exception. Elements of other domestic thrillers are in abundance, but the author knows how to take what could easily be cliché and make it feel brand-new. The realistic family relationship carries this story to great heights and wonderful surprises.
Coming off of last year’s brilliantly timely The Wife , psychological-suspense master Burke traces the uneasy relationship between two sisters and how it’s tested in the wake of a grisly murder.
null Entertainment Weekly on The Better Sister
In addition to being a gripping thriller, this is a poignant look at the lives of two very different sisters—and how seemingly inconsequential events can often bring about great sacrifices. Burke gets better with each new read.
null Karin Slaughter on The Better Sister
Cunning. . . . Readers of The Better Sister , Alafair Burke’s wonderfully twisty new thriller, should get ready to be led down the garden path to a conclusion so morally ambiguous a professional ethicist might have to be called in.
null Washington Post on The Better Sister
In addition to being a gripping thriller, this is a poignant look at the lives of two very different sisters—and how seemingly inconsequential events can often bring about great sacrifices. Burke gets better with each new read.
08/01/2021
After a car wreck, the woman who now calls herself Hope Miller was left with no memory but appreciates how residents of the New Jersey town where she was found took her in. Still, after 15 years she feels the need to start over, moving to East Hampton and promptly disappearing, to the alarm of best friend Lindsay Kelly, a Manhattan defense lawyer.
2021-11-02
In her 19th mystery, and the sixth to feature detective Ellie Hatcher, Burke has taken the kitchen-sink approach, offering a rare abundance of characters, crimes, and misdemeanors. As much as there is a protagonist, it is a woman who, years ago, was thrown from an SUV in Hopewell, New Jersey, and lost her memory. Hope Miller, as she is now known, has spent the past decade and a half under the wing of a devoted friend she met after the accident, an attorney named Lindsay who lives with a boyfriend named Scott. But as the story opens, Hope has disappeared from Hopewell without leaving Lindsay any information as to her whereabouts. Since she has no legal identity, Hope has to work under the radar; she finds a job staging properties on the East End of Long Island for a sketchy real estate agent named...oh well, turns out he's not that important. Meanwhile, there's Ellie Hatcher, the detective whose series this is. She's on vacation in St. Barth's with her boyfriend, Max, having bad dreams about her dad, a cop who committed suicide because he couldn't find Wichita's College Hill Strangler, who was later arrested and jailed. Then there's this giant home improvement chain also based in Wichita whose female CEO is running for senator...and wait, there's more! This novel seems more like the work of a beginning crime writer than one with Burke's experience. Clues, red herrings, exposition, and "things you should know" are dropped in awkwardly and obviously: "Lindsay had learned that psychological trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder could also induce dissociative fugue, or what used to be called a fugue state—a psychological condition characterized by an inability to recall one’s identity or personality." All this hand-holding aside, the book operates on what feels like a kind of anti–Occam's-razor logic, favoring the most complicated solution to any question. The good news is, there is one.
For those who like a tricky brain teaser and aren't too picky about interesting characters or emotional realism.
Scintillating. . . . Appealing characters match the meticulous plotting. Burke reinforces her place in the top rank of suspense writers.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
“The novel has a nice Hitchcockian feel to it as it glides from New Jersey to East Hampton to Wichita.” — Washington Post
"Burke’s focus on her intelligent characters and smart plotting energizes Find Me ….[and her] reputation for delivering highly entertaining, intricately plotted novels continues.” — South Florida Sun Sentinel
“A skillfully constructed, delightfully twisty thriller powered by Burke’s trademark strong, relatable heroines and realistic foes.” — Booklist
“Irresistible . . . .Burke’s arrangement of all the puzzle pieces is wickedly clever, as are the twists she gives them just when you think you know something. Find Me is beautifully crafted, a swift and gripping read. And those twists keep coming at you until the very last paragraph.” — Tampa Bay Times
“The two women feverishly piece together the disparate parts of the story, and Burke’s masterful control over pacing and plot reveals will make readers just as anxious to uncover the truth.” — BookPage
“Burke is a master at plotting and pacing, and doesn’t disappoint here. Not only is this book a true page-turner with an intricate story and well-rounded cast of characters, but it combines a couple of my favorite plot points—amnesia and missing persons—and leads to an exquisite eleventh-hour shocker.” — CrimeReads
"Alafair Burke’s Find Me is a total knockout—serpentine in structure, rich in emotional heft and deeply moving as the past comes back not just to haunt the characters but to shudder through their lives, revealing secrets big and small, dangerous and intimate. Not to be missed.” — Megan Abbott, author of The Turnout
“Find Me is a gem, the sort of smart, suspenseful, slow burn that I love. The tension is palpable on every page, and I savored every surprise. Alafair Burke is a treasure.” — Chris Bohjalian, author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch
“From one of our greatest contemporary mystery writers comes another superb nail-biting thriller. Alafair Burke uses an intricately layered and twisty plot to ensnare us and then pulls us in for a close examination of intimacy and community. I devoured it, from its riveting first scene to the shocking last page. — Angie Kim, author of Miracle Creek
"Alafair Burke once again weaves a riveting web of a story, threaded with delicious characters and hot button social issues. If you’re looking for the perfect twisty mystery, you’ve found it in Find Me." — Janelle Brown, author of Pretty Things
“Alafair Burke is back in this gripping, head-spinning thriller of the first order. FIND ME is a perfect read: the writing is engaging, the twists are perfectly executed and the exploration of female friendships and identity offers satisfying heft to the plot. I can't wait for Burke's next.” — Cristina Alger, author of Girls Like Us
"Burke’s focus on her intelligent characters and smart plotting energizes Find Me ….[and her] reputation for delivering highly entertaining, intricately plotted novels continues.
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Irresistible . . . .Burke’s arrangement of all the puzzle pieces is wickedly clever, as are the twists she gives them just when you think you know something. Find Me is beautifully crafted, a swift and gripping read. And those twists keep coming at you until the very last paragraph.”
Find Me is a gem, the sort of smart, suspenseful, slow burn that I love. The tension is palpable on every page, and I savored every surprise. Alafair Burke is a treasure.
From one of our greatest contemporary mystery writers comes another superb nail-biting thriller. Alafair Burke uses an intricately layered and twisty plot to ensnare us and then pulls us in for a close examination of intimacy and community. I devoured it, from its riveting first scene to the shocking last page.
The two women feverishly piece together the disparate parts of the story, and Burke’s masterful control over pacing and plot reveals will make readers just as anxious to uncover the truth.
The novel has a nice Hitchcockian feel to it as it glides from New Jersey to East Hampton to Wichita.
A skillfully constructed, delightfully twisty thriller powered by Burke’s trademark strong, relatable heroines and realistic foes.
Alafair Burke is back in this gripping, head-spinning thriller of the first order. FIND ME is a perfect read: the writing is engaging, the twists are perfectly executed and the exploration of female friendships and identity offers satisfying heft to the plot. I can't wait for Burke's next.”
Coming off of last year’s brilliantly timely The Wife , psychological-suspense master Burke traces the uneasy relationship between two sisters and how it’s tested in the wake of a grisly murder.
06/01/2022
This is Burke's seventh stand-alone novel, but it features the sixth appearance of a character whom Burke fans know and love: NYPD detective Ellie Hatcher. In this new thriller, Hope Miller cannot remember her name, her identity, or any part of her previous life because of a car crash 15 years earlier. Lindsay Kelly, who found Hope in her overturned SUV, befriends her, becomes her protector, and tries to help her start a new life in Hopewell, NJ. When Hope moves to East Hampton to get a fresh start, she severs her ties with a devastated Lindsay, who's certain that Hope will not be able to survive without her help. When Hope becomes the last person to have contact with a murdered businessman, police name her a person of interest and assign Ellie to the case. All the subplots come together in the startling conclusion. Narrator Kathleen Early captures the emotion and tension in this psychological thriller well. VERDICT Fans of Burke's "Ellie Hatcher" series will enjoy this latest novel.—Ilka Gordon
Narrator Kathleen Early shines in this twisty, compelling listen. Hope Miller was in a car accident 15 years earlier and has no memory of her past. Lindsay Kelly, who found Hope at the accident site, became her best friend, and Hope became part of Lindsay’s community. In the present day, Hope seeks independence with a new job and a move to East Hampton. But within a few weeks, Hope goes missing, and Lindsay is determined to find her. She teams up with NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher, and they discover that a recent murder is connected to multiple crimes in the past. Early creates distinctive characteristics for these memorable characters and provides tones and pacing that reflect the urgency of Lindsay's efforts to find Hope and unravel the lies that surround her. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Narrator Kathleen Early shines in this twisty, compelling listen. Hope Miller was in a car accident 15 years earlier and has no memory of her past. Lindsay Kelly, who found Hope at the accident site, became her best friend, and Hope became part of Lindsay’s community. In the present day, Hope seeks independence with a new job and a move to East Hampton. But within a few weeks, Hope goes missing, and Lindsay is determined to find her. She teams up with NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher, and they discover that a recent murder is connected to multiple crimes in the past. Early creates distinctive characteristics for these memorable characters and provides tones and pacing that reflect the urgency of Lindsay's efforts to find Hope and unravel the lies that surround her. K.S.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
