It's a pleasure to take part in the Bookouture Books on Tour Blogtour for The Nowhere Girls by Dana Perry - also featuring the next two books in the Detective Nikki Cassidy series, The Last One to Die and The Lost Ones.
About the Author
I am a New York City author who writes mystery thrillers under the pen name of Dana Perry - and also as R.G. Belsky. My new thriller for Bookouture is The Nowhere Girls, the first in a series featuring Detective Nikki Cassidy. Book 2, Last One to Die and Book 3, The Lost Ones, will also be published on April 2nd.
Contact me at DanaPerryAuthor@yahoo.com, via @DanaPerryAuthor on X or @danaperryauthor on Facebook. Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Dana Perry here: https://www.bookouture.com/dana-perry
My kid sister was murdered fifteen years ago. Now the killer has struck again. And this time, I’m going to take my revenge…
On the anniversary of her sister’s death, FBI agent Nikki Cassidy takes a call that has her heart pounding in her chest, the image of her beautiful sister Caitlin etched in her mind.
Another girl has been taken. The killer is back. - Nikki rushes to her small hometown of Groveton, Ohio. She will do anything to stop another young girl dying, but she soon realises that nothing is what it seems—everyone in her hometown is keeping a secret. And when a note is discovered near Natalie’s body addressed to Nikki, it’s clear what the murderer really wants: her…
She’s caught killers before, but this time it’s personal. And Nikki will risk everything—even her own life—to get justice for every victim. It’s time to stop this twisted killer, once and for all…
Review
One could argue that Nikki is driven by a deep-seated feeling of guilt, the need to stop abusers and predators is secondary, and the job she does comes a lonely third. It may seem as if Detective Nikki Cassidy has all her eggs in a basket, a successful career and loving relationship with her husband-to-be, but the truth is her past is only ever one second away from her daily life.
One of the things that ties her so tightly to the tragedy of Caitlin's disappearance and murder, is her repeated attempts to get the murderer to explain it all to her. Why Caitlin, how did he take her, and most importantly the details of each second before he killed her baby sister. Every year on the anniversary Nikki contacts the tight-lipped prisoner, and every year there is nothing but silence.
This time it's different, not only is he willing to talk to Nikki, the past seems to be repeating itself. Another young girl has gone missing and a vital clue connected to the previous murder proves that someone outside the prison walls knows exactly what happened to Caitlin.
It's a fast-paced crime thriller with a main character who is at best slightly unstable, because her core emotions that are reined in tightly, are slowly seeping through into her day-today life. It puts her in a position that is precarious - you often don't see the risk or the betrayal when you aren't paying attention. Let's hope the truth doesn't chip away at that wall she has built around her, chip away until only fragility is left.
Buy The Nowhere Girls at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Bookouture; pub date 2 April 2024. Buy at Amazon com.
About - Last One to Die
Ten days ago, straight-A student Jessica Stanley ran away from home. Now her lifeless body lies pale and still in an empty parking lot, her unblinking brown eyes staring up to the night sky…
FBI agent Nikki Cassidy’s heart pounds as she takes in the short, dark hair and delicate features of fourteen-year-old schoolgirl Jessica Stanley. It’s another unsolved murder in Groveton, Ohio, just like her sister, Caitlin, fifteen years before. Her family beg her to keep her distance, but Nikki knows she can’t walk away. - What if her sister’s killer is back?
Talking to Jessica’s heartbroken family, Nikki learns that she wasn’t happy at home. Just days ago, she packed a few belongings into her school backpack and left, never to be seen alive again.
Determined to give Jessica’s family the answers she never found for herself, Nikki works around the clock, trawling hours of CCTV footage from the scene. And just when she thinks she’s close to uncovering the truth, a chilling email arrives that confirms her deepest fear. There are more victims, Nikki. Can you ever stop me?
This killer is playing a dangerous game, and he has Nikki in his sights now—one wrong move and she could be his next victim. She’s determined to unmask the monster who has tortured her hometown for decades. But what if the killer is someone close to her? What if it’s someone she loves?
Review
The main character can be a bit of a mixed bag, perhaps it's the pesky guilty feelings that make her so unlikeable at times. In this sense the character development is on point. Nikki struggles with the way others perceive her part in Caitlin's death, and indeed keeping the emotional turmoil under wraps can be a bit of a task. It probably explains her lack of impulse control when it comes to thoughts and actions sometimes.
Without giving too much away I think tracking patterns of access, vulnerability and groupings of potential victims, is quite important in this book. Perpetrators often look for specific similarities that make a possible victim more susceptible to falling prey to a predator. The patterns that make non-predators want to help, protect and safeguard. Too many victims fall through the cracks.
On a side-note - I just don't get her fascination with Weller. The man was such a red flag, slightly too obsessed with what should have been. I understand the guilt, but perhaps her being in the middle of another tragedy is another way of validating her own negative self-image. Nikki seems to be attracted to men who aren't always fully available - safety valve or self-preservation?
In this second book of the Nikki Cassidy series the past is still the main motivator, and I think there were too many similarities to certain key elements of the first book. Unless there is a plot purpose it just looks a bit repetitive.
Let's hope Nikki can move beyond the depths of betrayal and the depravity of predators, and even find the perfect partner going forward.
Buy Last One to Die at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Bookouture; pub date 2 April 2024. Buy at Amazon com.
About - The Lost Ones
As dawn breaks over a small gas station on the outskirts of Groveton, Ohio, the body of a teenage girl lies totally still. Long blonde hair covers her face, and a length of frayed rope hangs loosely around her neck. It’s only a matter of time before someone finds her, just like her killer intended…
When FBI agent Nikki Cassidy receives a call from Groveton’s Chief of Police, her heart pounds. A young girl just knocked on the door of Nikki’s old family home, claiming to be Nikki’s kid sister, Caitlin. But Caitlin was murdered fifteen years ago. Who is the girl and what does she want?
Nikki thinks the impersonator could finally lead her to her sister’s twisted killer. But her hope is shattered when the girl’s lifeless body is found strangled at a local service stop. If the girl knew about Caitlin, could she have known the identity of the killer? Was she murdered before she could unmask them?
Going against her boss’s orders to stay away, Nikki traces the girl’s last known steps to her best friend, Shirley. Nikki learns that the girl was last seen meeting with a stranger at the mall. Could it have been her killer?
Closer than ever to uncovering the truth, Nikki can’t give up now. But when Shirley’s body is found at another service station, a length of rope wound around her neck, her heart shatters. Another young life has been lost. Nikki vows that this will be the last.
When an intruder breaks into her old home, Nikki knows it’s the killer sending her a sign. As she walks into the familiar old house in the dead of night, will she finally get justice and catch her sister’s killer, or did she just walk into a deadly trap?
If you enjoy Lisa Regan, Robert Dugoni and Kendra Elliot, you will absolutely love these gripping and totally unputdownable crime thrillers.
Review
What fresh hell has Nikki stumbled into this time? Not only is there another killer on the loose, the past is back again, perhaps in the most egregious way yet. As yet another young girl is found murdered the death of Caitlin wanders back into the spotlight.
Caitlin is back or is it someone pretending to be Caitlin, and if so, why? Why bring a new onslaught of pain and guilt by pretending to be a murder victim - the dead risen from their damp bed of earth. Nikki sees this as a way to find the guilty party. Someone somewhere must be pulling the strings, must be pushing this hurtful and manipulative narrative. Someone who thinks everyone is expendable.
This third book in the Nikki Cassidy series gives a much better indication of why the disappearance and murder of her little sister is the main event in all three books, and clearly after the cliffhanger in this one there is more to come. Kind of makes you question everything.
Where is the author going with it though, what kind of path does he want the reader to embark upon? Equally what happens when the foundation of Nikki's character and career begins to crumble? As we wander through the series it becomes more intertwined with what appears to be a more nefarious agenda.
Buy The Lost Ones on Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Bookouture pub date 2 April 2024. Buy at Amazon com.
Buy The Nowhere Girls - Buy Last One to Die - Buy The Lost Ones
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