The Forgotten Girls by Owen Laukkanen
Published March 14, 2017
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
3.5 Stars
The Forgotten Girls is book six in a series by Owen Laukkanen that features agents Kirk Stevens and Carla Windermere.
A string of murders on the High Line. All young women. All of them constantly moving from place to place never setting down roots. Someone thought that no one would notice or even care that these women were dead.
But someone has noticed.
Ash knew she was taking a chance. Her friends told her not to do it. Especially not alone. Bad things could happen.
“You don’t ever surf trains on the High Line”
But for Ash, time was of the essence. It had to be a quick trip so that left her no choice but the hotshot, the High Line. Only now she realizes just how bad of an idea it was. She’s stuck in the frigid cold and the train has stopped. Dead tired and cold, Ash sees a light not far away, under a bridge. A fire. Fire means warmth, plus maybe food or something warm to drink. But it’s also dangerous. She is alone and the fire means there’s probably other riders around. But Ash is tough and in all the years she has been riding she’s never had a problem. She isn’t worried.
Maybe she should be…
Kirk Stevens and Carla Windermere of the joint FBI-BCA violent crime force have been working together for four years. They met by chance and since teaming up have worked cases including bank robberies, human trafficking, online predators and more.
Now their new case, a rash of killings on the High Line. The killer is picking women who are considered easily “forgotten” due to their way of living. These women often use the railway to get around. Someone is using this as well as the climate to their advantage. The harsh winter and the cold means the women aren’t found right away. It also means evidence can be very hard to find. So someone definitely has a jump on Windermere and Stevens, but they won’t let this stop them.
The book started off really strong. A very interesting and original plot. The author did a great job of describing the harsh, unforgiving climate. Told from multiple points of view. I enjoyed most of the viewpoints (the killers was especially interesting). I do wish I would have heard more from Stevens and Windermere as I had a hard time connecting with their characters. The story was suspenseful and thrilling and I was gripped and really wanted to see how it all played out. But I felt some parts were dragged out a little longer than necessary.
When I first requested this book, I didn’t realize it was part of a series but the awesome cover really grabbed me. I was a bit worried that I hadn’t read any of the previous books in the series. Though it works fine as a stand-alone as the detectives are working a new case, maybe having read previous books would have helped me connect with the characters more. It’s hard to know for sure.
All that said, I did enjoy this book, just not as much as I had anticipated. But I have heard good things about other books in this series, and it sounds like Stevens and Windermere have some interesting cases. I can definitely see myself reading more from Owen Laukkanen.
Thank you to NetGalley, Owen Laukkanen, and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.