Say Goodbye
by Lisa Gardner
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lisa GardnerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-15
ISBN: 0553804332
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of Say Goodbye
Book Review: "Every month, another girl vanishes."
Summary: 4 Stars
Lisa Gardner's "Say Goodbye" is a dark and unnerving tale of sadistic torture, child abuse, and murder. Shortly after the book opens, a tough-talking teenager named Ginny Jones gets in a car with a stranger. She quickly realizes her mistake when it becomes apparent that "this man was never, ever letting her go home." The villain is a deranged yet calculating individual who needs to be in control; he kidnaps boys and women and revels in the power that he has over them. He calls himself Dinchara (an acronym for arachnid), since he is obsessed with spiders. He owns a large collection of the eight-legged creatures, and tends to their every need with meticulous care. Gardner begins each chapter with a quotation that imparts more information about arachnids than most of us need to know.
The book's heroine is Kimberly Quincy, an FBI agent in the Atlanta Field Office. Kimberley, who is five months pregnant, is gorgeous, bright, and obsessed with her career. "She worked too hard, compartmentalized too little, and probably would have a nervous breakdown before the age of forty." Although she is happily anticipating the birth of her baby, she is also conflicted. How can she, in good conscience, risk her life and the welfare of her unborn child chasing down dangerous felons for a living? Still, she is reluctant to leave the profession that means so much to her. She and Michael McCormack, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, have been married for a year. They disagree on the issue of motherhood vs. career, and the resulting quarrel puts a strain on their relationship. Kimberly does not want history to repeat itself. Her father was an FBI agent "whose workaholic ways imploded his marriage."
Kimberly teams up with GBI Special Agent Salvadore Martignetti to find the aforementioned spider fancier who has allegedly committed a whole host of crimes and is still at large. As is common in novels of this type, the author includes italicized first person passages in which the perpetrator describes how and why he became a cold-blooded monster. Abuse begets abuse; it is a vicious circle that never seems to end. Fortunately, there are some merciful people in the world, such as Rita, a woman who is approaching her ninetieth birthday. For nearly twenty years, this formidable and courageous woman fostered nearly thirty homeless children and tried to set them on the right path. She plays a small but crucial role in the narrative.
Although her writing is not particularly elegant, Gardner ratchets up the suspense nicely. She keeps the plot moving at a fast pace and provides engrossing and carefully researched details about the functioning of Georgia's various law enforcement agencies. Except for the requisite twists and turns, however, the plot offers few surprises. The dialogue is stilted, the characters are generally one-dimensional, and the plot adheres closely to the standard serial killer formula. Be warned that there are quite a few disturbing scenes of graphic violence and brutality. This nightmarish novel is by no means a light beach read.
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