Review: The Lost Daughter (Ray Flowers #5) by Jane A. Adams

                                 

Print Length: 280 pages

Publisher: Joffe Books (August 30, 2023)

From Goodreads.com: Three years ago, Ashley Summers watched the love of her life drop dead in a supermarket car park. Now, her friends all say she needs to move on. Live her life. But she has no idea how . . .

Until she meets Tim Bennett. He’s kind, caring, like no one she’s dated before.

Ashley calls her family, eager for them to meet the new man in her life. She makes a date with them — a date she never manages to keep. Just like that, Ashley’s gone.

Distraught, the family turn to ex-detective Ray Flowers for answers. He doesn’t usually take missing persons cases. But this one’s personal.

Tim Bennett. The name makes Ray’s blood run cold. Tim is Ray’s friend and a happily married father of three.

Ashley’s new boyfriend isn’t who he says he is — and Ray will stop at nothing to hunt him down. But, little does he know, his adversary has eyes on him.

A chilling threat to Ray, and everyone he holds dear, is enough to stop him in his tracks.

This imposter’s taken Ashley. What on earth does he want with Ray?

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

To begin with, I did not have to read any of the prior novels in order to understand the basics of this one, although I did find it a little annoying that the main antagonist was purported to be someone from his past come back to haunt him, and Ray's friend Nathan apparently has a somewhat sketchy past, but we aren't really given any more detail other than this. 

There were also a lot of secondary characters included in this novel, to the point that it sometimes became confusing as to who was who, and what their connection was to the story (as a matter of fact, one of the deceased people named I couldn't tell you what their original connection to the story was). 

I also had to suspend disbelief on more than one occasion. First when Paul was able to obtain a transfer when a psychiatric evaluation advised against it, then when he not only escaped from prison, but was able to make it look like not one, but two, prison officers helped him. 

Never mind the way certain scenes played out that ended with his re-capture after everything. You mean to tell me that after all of this. All of the killing and the scheming and using others, and evading police capture for so long he gets taken down like that? I definitely expected more drama, and perhaps a bigger fight when it came down to it so this felt lacking. 

At the end of the day I wasn't invested enough (or interested enough) in Ray to go back and read the books I have missed (even though they are available on KU) at this moment. 

Will I in the future? Maybe. But I also think this book will appeal to a lot of others and I encourage you if you are a fan of the series, or think this one is to your tastes, read it. Then let me know what you think.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

                                                         *******************

                                               

                                           The Lost Daughter is available on Amazon.com

                                             (for free if you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited)