The Third Victim - Lisa Gardner

Lisa Gardner - The Third Victim.

Better than third place.

~ About the Author ~

Lisa Gardner is American, best known for her thriller books and at last count when writing this review she had eight New York Times Best Selling Crime books. She also wrote romance novels using the pseudonym Alicia Scott and it was how her writing career was launched.

She has written a small series featuring the ...
...Deputy Rainie (Lorraine) Conner is the other main character in this novel.

~ Book Synopsis ~

Deputy Rainie Connor is one of only three full time Sheriff or Deputy's to be assigned to work in the small town of Bakersville, Oregon. She is currently on patrol with a rookie, who cannot carry a firearm until he completes his training, but he can help her with day-to-day mundane events that make up their usual working day.
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Lisa Gardner - The Third Victim.

Better than third place.

~ About the Author ~

Lisa Gardner is American, best known for her thriller books and at last count when writing this review she had eight New York Times Best Selling Crime books. She also wrote romance novels using the pseudonym Alicia Scott and it was how her writing career was launched.

She has written a small series featuring the FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, and The Third Victim is part of this mini series. Deputy Rainie (Lorraine) Conner is the other main character in this novel.

~ Book Synopsis ~

Deputy Rainie Connor is one of only three full time Sheriff or Deputy's to be assigned to work in the small town of Bakersville, Oregon. She is currently on patrol with a rookie, who cannot carry a firearm until he completes his training, but he can help her with day-to-day mundane events that make up their usual working day.
Only one day becomes something far more than just the usual day of handing out tickets for minor violations, with a call coming over the radio that changes everyone's lives completely.

"Shots fired" is the initial report coming through the walkie-talkie, and the report is coming from the local school. While en-route, Rainie is radioed by the Sheriff of the town - her boss - insisting she is the primary and will work the scene, even though he is closer and will arrive not only before Rainie but also has the experience she doesn't to handle such an investigation.

Once Rainie arrives, chaos greets her. The crime scene is already compromised, and no-one is sure if the shooter is still in the building. Sheriff O'Grady's car is parked up, but he is nowhere to be seen.
Rainie and her companion begin to search the school, coming across the town's paramedics desperately trying to save someone's life - and then they stumble across O'Grady, who is facing the one person who is armed - His son.
After they make the arrest of Danny O'Grady, it becomes apparent one teacher and two children are now dead.

Rainie's investigation is soon erupting around her, with outside influences coming to help, but in some cases, hindering the investigation. And to complicate matter, FBI profiler Pierce Quincy arrives and offers his help. Once he and Rainie begin to investigate further, O'Grady's sons' involvement doesn't seem as straightforward as the evidence might suggest.

~ Thoughts on the Book ~

I had already read another of Gardner's books, 'The Perfect Husband', which I had enjoyed, albeit not convinced it was one of the strongest thriller books I had read, but enjoyable nevertheless. Then I came across this book in a number on sale in our local Lidl for £1-49 each, and so picked it up knowing if this was as good as the previous book I had read it was going to be worth every penny.
I wasn't disappointed. If anything I felt this book had better character depth, and the bad guys were much better written and added to the overall feel well.

Actually the subject matter of the book is already something I've not seen tackled before, and that is a school shooting. It also became apparent not only by reading Lisa Gardner's own notes on the book, but also as you read the novel, that a lot of research had gone on, looking into these events and why they can happen.
This research really does help the book, and takes a sensitive subject and tackles it head on without becoming sensational. Not an easy balance to achieve and for this alone Lisa Gardner has to be praised.
So, already a point in her favour - She has presented a tragedy without making it sensational and so keeps it pertinent to the overall story.

As mentioned, the characters are well done, with good depth and this also includes the villains of the piece. Danny O'Grady is presented well, as a damaged teenager who is befriended by someone who moulds Danny to do his bidding for him, and so we get given a very different angle on how the villain of the piece operates.
It also means we get shown aspects of the villains character, but they are still kept deep in the background, making it difficult for the reader to work out who they are.

We also get glimpses of the shady past of Rainie Connor, and her past is developed more as the book goes along. Again this works well within the context of the book plot and doesn't feel just like an attempt to fill the pages unlike some books I've read recently. We also begin to see the relationship between her and Quincy develop, even though they are both damaged goods for their own reasons - and this adds to the tension.

So, we have flawed main characters, a villain who even a good way through the book is difficult to pin down, good narrative that gives us great descriptions and dialogue, and an intense crime that doesn't fall into the trap of becoming sensationalised. All in all - A good book.

So, does it have any faults? It's only marked down as 4 stars.

Overall this is a great book, but I felt just a little flat when I read the ending. It's hard to explain what I felt, but compared to how well the rest of the book had worked, this was the weakest point for me. Rainie Connor has an ending that just didn't seem right and somehow I felt annoyed she was placed in to the position she was, and wish we had been given more of an idea what happened to her - and while I suspect that we get to know in the follow up book in the series, I think it could have easily been tied up here, since there is no guarantee that you can either read the next book, or want to read it. A minor gripe it might be, but a gripe nonetheless.

~ Final Thoughts ~

Lisa Gardner is the sort of author that isn't going to give you great memorable writing, but she falls into a group of writers who don't pretend to be something they aren't and so I don't classify that as a failing.
The characters are excellent, and while the initial plot is driven, this does disperse into the background as the character flaws and desires begin to show through, and again while a lot of writers do this, this novel does it better than most who only manage passable, mediocre attempts.
Part of the reason this works is because we are left with no doubt who has been involved with the shooting - Danny O'Grady. What we don't know is who else is involved and it's the delving into the background that brings up dead ends and red herrings for the investigation team that pull this book a notch or two above the norm.

So, we have the thriller aspect and also the psychology that other writers (most notably Val McDermid) have used well and as mentioned earlier it's pretty obvious that Lisa Gardner has done a lot of work to get the background psychology and that air of realism makes a lot of difference.

So 4 out of 5 stars - The ending is the only point where I felt some disappointment and considering the obvious work that has gone into the book, it's a shame something like that has let it down.

~ Availability ~

As mentioned I paid £ 1-49 from Lidl the other week but looking around online I've seen it from £ 3-49 (exc. Postage).

ISBN-10: 0752844830
ISBN-13: 978-0752844831

Summary: Generally one of the better examples of this kind of writing.

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