Touch & Go by Lisa Gardner

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... *Associated Press

I'm not enjoying this one so far. It's taking me a long time to feel invested in the main characters. Am I alone in this?

Let's start with what I loved:
-Gardner knows how to write suspense. There are parts where I had to force myself to slow down and read each word instead of skipping ahead because the suspense was just killing me.
-Libby & Ashlyn were strong despite their weaknesses. Another good thing Gardner does is write good female characters.
-She also writes the occasional good guy. Wyatt was funny, smart and not afraid to defer to a smart woman.

And now, this is what I didn't love:
-Not enough Tessa. She kind of had to share her thunder with Wyatt. Thankfully, he's a good character, but I would definitely like to see more of Tessa.
-I did see the outcome a mile away. There was just no other resolution.

While I did see this outcome coming a mile away, I didn't have the details worked out. I didn't account for Radar and Z and what they were really capable of. I truly didn't see the role of any other players except for Justin, Libby and Ashlyn. It's really hard to explain what I didn't see without giving any spoilers away!

I can definitely see Tessa carrying her own series. As an investigator now it kind of opens up all kinds of stuff for Gardner to write about. And her ‘connections' with Boston PD and now North Country New Hampshire Sheriff's Department means she can be a part of even more investigations if necessary. I love this woman who will do anything for her kid and almost anything for someone else's kid too.