Richard & Judy Introduce One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

An unforgiving Wyoming wilderness and a desperate search for a young man who went missing on his stag weekend 5 years ago make this tense, terrifying novel grippingly readable. Along with Tim’s grieving father, and friends who were there on the night, missing person specialist Frankie Elkin embarks on a gut-wrenching life or death mission. You’ll never go for a hike in the woods again!

Judy's Review:

The heroine of this unpredictable and genuinely terrifying novel is Frankie Elkin, a woman with a troubled past; a recovering alcoholic always one drink away from a relapse, a loner full of regrets about her untethered, solitary life.

She has a strong empathy with other troubled souls, and specialises in finding missing persons, those whom society gave up on and forgot. Although most of her discoveries are dead by the time she solves their disappearance, even being reunited with a body brings closure to families stricken with despair.

One day Frankie wanders into a rural town In Wyoming, where a search party is leaving to find Timothy O’Day, a young man who disappeared in the wilderness on a stag camping weekend 5 years ago. His grieving father, Martin, has done this search each year since Tim went missing, along with the small group of friends who were with him at the time.

Richard's Review:

Frankie fears finding Tim will mean only discovering his body after all this time. She sets off with his father and friends, along with a rescue dog and handler, a wilderness survival expert and a hunter who believes in the Yeti. The stage is set for a struggle for survival in one of the most inhospitable places on earth, when the rescue party discovers they’re being stalked, and hunted, by a malevolent entity which wants them dead.

At times it seems that almost everyone involved in the search party may have a motive to destroy them. Why? And why are Tim’s friends, four lads who were his fellow stags on the weekend Bachelor party just before his wedding, so moody, distant and unhappy?

Gardner is as excellent at digging into human emotions as she is at describing the astonishingly unforgiving nature of this undiscovered wilderness in Wyoming. This is a really gripping read: we couldn’t put it down. It’s an adventure as well as a mystery thriller - sort of a mashup of Indiana Jones and Jack Reacher! Enjoy.