Sometimes the Most Dangerous Monsters of All Lurk ‘Right Behind You’ [REVIEW]

A secret haunts two siblings’ every waking moment in Lisa Gardner’s Right Behind You. (Photo by Vilmos Vincze, Flickr)

She thought she knew him. She thought he saved her. But now the brother she once trusted as a hero may very well turn out to be a monster. All she knows is that he’s back, and if you don’t watch your back, he might be lurking Right Behind You in Lisa Gardner’s latest novel.

Dutton

Sharlah May Nash was only five years old when her big brother saved both their lives when he beat their drunken father to death with a baseball bat. Now, eight years later she’s 13 and life is looking up. Retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner, plan to adopt Sharlah, and that’s just fine with her. After all, these are two people who know how to face monsters head on.

But then the reports come pouring in. Two people have been murdered at a local EZ Gas Mart on the edge of town and an armed suspect is shooting his way through the wilds of Oregon. As Quincy and Conner assist with the case, one thing becomes abundantly clear: the killer may very well be Sharlah’s older brother, Telly Ray Nash. What’s more, the killing spree is just beginning.

As the manhunt closes in on Telly, Quincy and Rainie must discover his motives for killing again after all this time, and what it means for the girl who is about to become their daughter. For Sharlah, however, the questions are even more personal: Is her brother a hero or a killer? And what will the truth ultimately cost her new family?

With Right Behind You, Lisa Gardner examines family trauma and the far-reaching effects it has on everyone involved. In her typical fashion, she makes us address terrifying questions: Does one-act of heroics define the people we love? Can we ever really know those closest to us? And do we see our family members as they really are or do we build them up as caricatures constructed by our own expectations? This is a story that challenges everything we think we know as we examine two siblings raised in the foster care system in very different homes, yet who share a devastating secret that haunts every waking moment of their lives.

Written with deep care and precision, Gardner reveals a killer’s motives as she crafts a psychological thriller fraught with crippling emotional trauma. Right Behind You serves as a vivid reminder that sometimes we all need a little assistance to forge a new path, and sometimes we have to be bold enough to grasp a helping hand if we are to survive. This is a story that grabs us by the throat and holds us hostage until the last page. Don’t miss it!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Gardner
(Photo by Philbrick Photography)

Lisa Gardner is the number one New York Times bestselling author of crime novels like Find Her, Crash and Burn, Fear Nothing, Touch and Go, Catch Me, and more. She also writes as Alicia Scott.

Her novels have been published in 30 countries and she has more than 22 million books in print. Four of her titles, including At the Midnight Hour, The Perfect Husband, The Survivors Club and Hide, have also been turned into made-for-TV movies.

Gardner has won numerous awards for her work, including Best Hardcover Novel from the International Thriller Writers for The Neighbor. She also received the Daphne du Maurier Award from the Romance Writers of America in 2000 for The Other Daughter. 

She resides in New Hampshire with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. Visit her home on the Web at LisaGardner.com, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

RIGHT BEHIND YOU
By Lisa Gardner
400 pgs. Dutton. $27.