Crash & Burn by Lisa Gardner

Description from Goodreads:

"My name is Nicky Frank.

I'm in hospital after crashing my car. I am afraid. The only thing that I can think about is Vero. I know I have to save her but why couldn't I find her? She's just a little girl.

The man standing in my hospital room tells me we are married but there is no Vero. That six months ago I suffered a traumatic brain injury which caused changes to my personality. I have dramatic mood swings, an inability to concentrate and large gaps in my memory. I'm much easier to anger these days. And I drink. All of which he says explains the car accident and my confusion.

Now a Sergeant Wyatt Foster is investigating. He has questions about the car accident. He has concerns about my husband. And he's worried about a missing girl.

He would like to know what happened to me. So would I.

My name is Nicky Frank. This is my life.

Watch me crash and burn."

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I have read a few of Lisa Gardner’s books and have enjoyed them all but this was something different and equally as good. This is the third story in the Tessa Leoni series but you definitely don’t have to have read the previous books in the series to enjoy this and it can be read as a standalone. I would however like to add a caveat to this as I do believe it would be beneficial to read the other books in order to get an insight into Tessa as Lisa touches on this in this book and I did feel I was missing out on something from previous stories but, as this book doesn't focus on Tessa that much, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story.

This book centres around Nicky and delves into her fractured mind, her unreliable memories, disturbing past and her relationship with her husband, Thomas. In the beginning, there are so many questions and you never really know if what Nicky is thinking is real or not but gradually clues are drip-fed and you start to put 2 and 2 together but sometimes you make 5! Enter Police Sergeant Wyatt and Private Investigator Leoni who struggle to piece things together and try to discover just what the heck is going on but it becomes clear that Nicky has a traumatic history and a history that, unfortunately, is only too real and is happening to someone today.

The pace of the story is excellent with twists and turns thrown in on a regular basis and it doesn't let up right to the breath-taking conclusion. It is told mainly from the point of view of Nicky and, I think, it captures her confusion and fear extremely well. It is also told from Wyatt’s perspective and he is the calm and measured voice of the book. All of the characters are complex, interesting and believable.

Lisa Gardner tackles a difficult subject in Crash & Burn with sensitivity and respect and does not glorify it or go into graphic detail which I applaud and I recommend it for anyone who enjoys a fast-paced, psychological thriller that has you not knowing whether you are coming or going.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Headline, for the copy in return for an honest and unbiased review.