Book info

• Title The Third Victim
• Author Lisa Gardner
• Year 2001
• Genre Thriller

Following a shocking act of violence, a young boy confesses to a horrific shooting spree at a local school. The frightened residents of Bakersville, Oregon are demanding answers but is all as it seems? Officer Rainie Conner is leading her first homicide investigation, and whilst the event is bringing up past sins and painful memories of her own, she knows that she has to find the whole truth. With the help of FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, Rainie launches a full investigation but she soon realises that the shooting is just the beginning; there's someone out there watching Rainie and he won't rest until he's finished what he started.

Thoughts

A small American town becomes the latest victim of a school shooting and it’s up to Rainie Conner to work out whether the boy she has under arrest actually did it or not, all the while trying to live through her own horrors and embark on a relationship with an out of town investigator.

Lorraine Connor, Rainie, has a deeply troubled history and she takes the reigns of the terror embarked on the town well, although starts to lose the plot a little herself. The object of her affection, Quincy, just seems like a really nice guy.

The writing is very open and clear and sympathetic to what is a very hard and appalling subject to write about. I think it lacks the big thrills that it tries to pursue but manages to be about the town dealing with the horror instead.

Read this if you want to see no matter how awful the world can be, people can survive it, if they stick together.

Rating: 3 / 5