Lisa Gardner is an auto-buy author or me even if her latest books do get released in hardcover. The back cover jacket states Lisa Gardner will mess with your head so get ready...Live to Tell is pretty intense. This is no fluff read and even though the subject matter was a times hard to read...I couldn't put it down. Although Detective DD Warren has appeared in previous novels, this story is not about her per se. It's about 3 women and how their lives intersect as DD and her squad race to uncover the connection between 2 entire families who have been murdered in their own homes, these 2 women and their own horrifying stories. DD Warren is tough, has a mouth like a truck driver, can eat anyone under the table with the metabolism to match and she has no time for a personal live - even though she would like to have one. She's a career cop and married to her job. Out on a date for the first time in a long time, she's hoping it ends in the horizontal mambo when her pager goes off - or what she likes to refer to it as...birth control. The only action DD's going to see this night is of the murderous variety. Danielle a pediatric psych nurse and Victoria a loving mother are the other main characters. What was interesting and different in their story-telling was Gardner chose to tell their story in 1st person. Although I am not a fan of 1st person narration, I will admit for their story - it worked particularly for Victoria. Victoria`s story was one of a mother's unconditional love and extreme gut wrenching emotion. You can not help but feel for her and all the sacrifices she has made in the name of love for her family. I felt like I was right there with her, experiencing her overwhelming despair, living every day in fear and terror from her oh so psychotic eight year old son and yet her devotion to him is unwavering. How did she find the strength every day to get out of bed and survive and live under those conditions? Danielle's story was one of a survivor and guilt. She is the lone remaining member of her immediate family after her own family was murdered in the worst way imaginable when she was just a child. Now Danielle works with children at the Pediatric Evaluation Clinic of Boston. These children and their sad disturbing stories will tug at your heartstrings, send chills through you and keep you riveted to every page until the end. So what's the connection? How are Danielle and Victoria a part of a murderous rampage being investigated by DD Warren and what part do the sad children in the mental ward on the top floor of the Boston hospital have to do with anything? Make sure you reserve a block of time before starting Live to Tell, because you won't be able to put it down until you reach the end.

Reason for Reading: I'm a fan of the author and had read the previous book in the series. This book had me from the beginning as it dealt with some of my favourite topics, mental health and psychiatric wards. Plus it was back to my favourite kind of thriller, that of the serial killer though this time with a twist: a mass murderer serial killer. D.D. Warren is a great female character who can carry a book on her own. This time her partner Phil has a shadow, Alex, a former agent who has been a Professor at the Academy for years. D.D. compares Alex to George Clooney and he soon becomes her shadow and main partner throughout the crime solving. We start off by meeting a handful of severely disturbed children, mostly through abuse, who are living on an acute psychiatric ward. We also meet an 8yo boy who is also suffering from a multitude of psychiatric disorders and diagnoses and ultimately he is at risk of harming others but his mother has decided to take full responsibility for his care. This ultimately lead to her husband leaving her and taking their daughter with him for safety's sake. Warren's case opens when a family is found murdered in their home. It looks like the father killed the kids, mother and then shot himself but then they realize it may be a murder case. Then another family is killed in their home. This time the father has obviously been posed to look as if he killed himself after murdering the family. Who killed these families? They seem to have absolutely no connections whatsoever so how could they possibly be related? Are they? For nurse Danielle this becomes all so real as it brings back the 25yo memory of the night her father shot and killed her mother and two siblings but left her as the lone survivor, on purpose. As I said, I love D.D. as a character but I do think it a shame that the author has to write her as someone so obsessed with s*x. As a single women, D.D.'s constant inside chatter and vocal lamentations of when she will ever get *it* again are rather disturbing and unnecessary to this reader. But thankfully readers are not privy to anything more real. Another fabulous read from Gardner. A page-turner and exciting. I had my eye on the wrong person for most of the book, which is always fun for me when I don't figure it out right away. The reveal wasn't terribly surprising in the end but the driving force and motive of the killer was a real shocker and well done. An incredibly engrossing story that not only thrilled but was fascinating with details on how children abused beyond the point of psychological return can be treated, cared for and most of all shown love.

Love Lisa as an author. If you are a fan of her character D.D. Warren, you will enjoy this book. The story line kept you so interested that you just had to keep reading to figure out the conclusion. Must read

Ms Gardner is perhaps my favourite suspense/thriller writer and she doesn't disappoint with this one. Tightly paced, the action doesn't let up until the last page. Great summer mystery