Author: Lisa Gardner
Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers
Series: Tessa Leoni (Book 2)
Publication: Dutton (February 5, 2013); Brilliance Audio (February 5, 2013)
Series: Tessa Leoni (Book 2)
Publication: Dutton (February 5, 2013); Brilliance Audio (February 5, 2013)
Length: 14 hours and 29 minutes
Description: The secrets of a picture perfect family are exposed in this “tour de force” thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner.
Ten minutes after walking the elite Back Bay townhouse and investigator Tessa Leoni already doesn’t like what she sees. Signs of an abduction. Clearly the work of professionals. At best, the entire family has been kidnapped. At worst…
The more Tessa learns about the Denbe family, the less she likes their chances. What might have looked like the perfect existence—a powerful CEO, his adoring wife, their angelic child—is not what it appears. Husband, wife, daughter—magazine perfect, but each hiding dark secrets…
Tessa knows more than she’d like to about families riddled with lies. What she doesn’t know is where the Denbes are and if any of them are still breathing. She’ll have to climb over unbending feds and territorial local cops to find out, and if she’s not fast, the Denbes’ chances of survival will quickly become little more than touch and go...
My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Tessa Leoni series which is a part of the D. D. Warren series. When the entire Denbe family is abducted from their Back Bay townhouse, Tessa is hired by the Denbe Construction to investigate the disappearance. She isn't alone. The Boston Police in the person of D. D. Warren are also on the case but only until evidence suggests that the family was taken into New Hampshire.
Description: The secrets of a picture perfect family are exposed in this “tour de force” thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner.
Ten minutes after walking the elite Back Bay townhouse and investigator Tessa Leoni already doesn’t like what she sees. Signs of an abduction. Clearly the work of professionals. At best, the entire family has been kidnapped. At worst…
The more Tessa learns about the Denbe family, the less she likes their chances. What might have looked like the perfect existence—a powerful CEO, his adoring wife, their angelic child—is not what it appears. Husband, wife, daughter—magazine perfect, but each hiding dark secrets…
Tessa knows more than she’d like to about families riddled with lies. What she doesn’t know is where the Denbes are and if any of them are still breathing. She’ll have to climb over unbending feds and territorial local cops to find out, and if she’s not fast, the Denbes’ chances of survival will quickly become little more than touch and go...
My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Tessa Leoni series which is a part of the D. D. Warren series. When the entire Denbe family is abducted from their Back Bay townhouse, Tessa is hired by the Denbe Construction to investigate the disappearance. She isn't alone. The Boston Police in the person of D. D. Warren are also on the case but only until evidence suggests that the family was taken into New Hampshire.
The FBI is called in to try to find the family and so is a Sheriff's Department in New Hampshire. Wyatt Foster is a cop who wants to be a carpenter or a carpenter who wants to be a cop.
The story is told from three viewpoints. Tessa and Wyatt handle the police viewpoint. Libby Denbe is also a viewpoint character. Libby is Justin Denbe's wife of eighteen years and the mother of fifteen-year-old Ashlyn. Libby is also a betrayed wife who has developed an addiction to pain pills to cover up the pain of her cheating husband. Libby still loves Justin but doesn't think she can get over his cheating,
The family is taken from their home to the wilds of New Hampshire and a finished but never occupied prison built by Justin's company. Meanwhile, the FBI, Sheriff's Department, and Tessa are trying to figure out who took the family and what they want.
Lots of secrets are exposed as Tessa and Wyatt investigate Justin's company including more than $11 million embezzled over the past sixteen years. All of Justin's trusted employees are lying about something and it is up to Tessa and Wyatt to learn the truth.
I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints. The story was really filled with tension and plot twists.
I bought the Kindle book December 31, 2025. I got the audiobook on sale April 1, 2026. You can buy your copy here.
I bought the Kindle book December 31, 2025. I got the audiobook on sale April 1, 2026. You can buy your copy here.
