Traveling Sisters NetGalley Review: Finding Claire Fletcher by Lisa Regan

Finding Claire Fletcher by Lisa Regan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Traveling Sisters NetGalley Sister Review by Norma with Brenda, Lindsay and Kaceey’s thoughts.

An absolutely brilliant take on the double meaning of the title!!  Loved it!!

5 stars!! Well that was one awesome all-around great read for Norma & Kaceey!

4 stars!! From Brenda & Lindsay (So for the purpose of this review 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 stars)

We thought it was time to bring our regular Traveling Sisters Lindsay and Kaceey together to do a Traveling Sister Read/Review with us.  After a bit of searching by Brenda and trying to coordinate all four us with the same book at the same time with a few unsuccessful attempts, we finally decided to go with FINDING CLAIRE FLETCHER by LISA REGAN from NetGalley. What a great choice this book was as we all thoroughly enjoyed this emotional and heart-breaking read.

FINDING CLAIRE FLETCHER is an intense, dark, disturbing, haunting, gripping, and suspenseful psychological thriller that captured all of our attention right from the very start and had some of us reading way past our reading goals as we kept thinking of this story and simply could not put it down.

LISA REGAN delivers a well-written and fascinating story here told in two alternating timelines from the perspective of our main character, Claire as we follow along her horrific ordeal that she endured while being held captive for 10 years. As well as the point of view from Connor a detective and his involvement and determination in FINDING CLAIRE FLETCHER.  We were really able to feel the nightmare that Claire went through because LISA REGAN gave us a clear picture and a good understanding and insight into the horror that Claire endured asking ourselves why do we read this stuff.

Right away Brenda and Lindsay put their detective skills to work and thought they figured out someone suspicious, almost having Norma convinced but leaving Kaceey not convinced and waiting for it to go somewhere. We had a good laugh over that one.

To sum it all up it was a gripping, fast-paced, and an enjoyable read with a perfectly paced satisfying ending that didn’t feel rushed. Would recommend!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lisa Regan for the opportunity to read a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.

BRENDA’S THOUGHTS

Sometimes I have to say I come up with some pretty good ideas and I have to say bringing Kaceey, and Lindsay together to do a Traveling Sister Read with Norma and me is definitely one of them. It was a little challenging finding the perfect book for our read and in the end it turned out quite simple with Finding Claire Fletcher from NetGalley.

Finding Claire Fletcher is a dark, disturbing, intense, yet fascinating story that had me wondering why I am reading this but so engrossed in the story I couldn’t put it down.  I wanted to learn more about what Claire had endured in her years of captivity and wanted to understand the psychological effects it had one her.

Lisa Regan does a good job going deep into Claire’s mental state, giving a good understanding and insight to the psychological side of the abuse she received from her abductor.  I could really feel her terror, her shame and her will to survive her captivity.  She is strong yet damage along with compassionate yet revengeful and she had me gripping my IPad intensely with fear but cheering her on as well.

I highly recommend Finding Claire Fletcher to thriller lovers who like some psychological insight to the characters.

Thank you so to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lisa Regan for a copy to read and review

LINDSAY’S THOUGHTS

4 stars!   This was an intense and gripping thriller!

I was completely intrigued and hooked to this novel from the very first page.  The author, Lisa Regan, does a fantastic job creating an extremely addictive story, building suspense as each page and chapter passes.   I loved the main characters, Claire and Connor.   I cared about their lives and what was happening to each of them on this gut wrenching, devastating and terrifying journey.

The story revolves around solving a ten-year-old child abduction case.   Claire has been beaten down – mentally, physically and sexually abused while living in captivity for ten years.  At the hands of her abductor, she lives in a world that is so disturbing and sickening that I had to turn away from the book for moments to calm myself.  I was so upset and frustrated with Claire’s situation and wanted to reach into the story to save her.  Regan’s writing is so addictive that even though I had a hard time reading these scenes, it didn’t deter me from continuing with the book – I absolutely HAD to know what was going to happen.
The first 85% of the book was a 5-star reading experience but the last 15% of the story lost its spark which is why I took one star away.  I felt some of the things that happened near the end were somewhat unrealistic and didn’t fully add up for me.   It was still a good ending and I did feel a sense of closure, but for me, the ending simply wasn’t as amazing as the rest of the book.

Overall, this was a great read that I would definitely recommend!  It was such a pleasure to read this along with my amazing Traveling Sisters – Brenda, Norma and Kaceey!!   It always makes for a much more enjoyable reading experience when I can chat with my lovely ladies along the way!

A big thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lisa Regan for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

KACEEY’S THOUGHTS

A traveling sister read with my 3 favorite Canadian sisters Norma, Brenda and Lindsay!

Wow! Powerful and heart-wrenching.
Claire Fletcher is a young lady of just 15 when she is brutally kidnapped off the street, only blocks from her home. Now she’s in the hands of a deeply disturbed maniac, who takes great pleasure and sick joy abusing her physically and emotionally over the next 10 years. Nearly half her entire lifetime. Absolutely frightening!

During her endless captivity, Claire has earned the so-called privilege of working part-time. She takes advantage of this small window of opportunity to slip out past her “curfew.” On one such outing, destiny leads her to Connor Parks, a recently divorced police detective.  He quickly realizes there is a great deal more to this young, mystery lady. Is it possible she’s the same girl that’s been missing for the last 10 years?

This book explores the horrific acts and depraved mind of a pedophile. Then also delves into the psyche of the kidnapped victim. The guilt Claire is burdened with, and the small sliver of herself that she desperately clings to throughout this living nightmare.

Now you ask… why in the world would Claire remain in this crazy animal’s grasp for 10 years?  Why wouldn’t she run for home or to the police when given the chance? Well, keep turning the pages. You will be enlightened after finishing this book.

The hardest part of reading this with my lovely sisters is that I wanted to keep reading (I think we all did, actually!). It took everything I had not to finish this in one sitting! (I’m only human!)

This book may be hard for some to read, the subject matter is difficult, but it is so well crafted. It will leave you cheering for Claire’s strength, will and determination.
Absolutely amazing. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lisa Regan for an ARC to review.