BOOK REVIEW – Girl Walking Alone by Dana Perry

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I got a free advance readers’ copy in exchange for my honest review.

Imagine being brutally attacked and left for dead. That in itself is extremely traumatic. But then imagine choosing to become a crime reporter after that only to encounter a crime scene which eerily matches yours.

In Girl Walking Alone, Jessie Tucker has survived what many women dread. A random encounter with a monster. Twelve years later, she is mostly whole again with a slight limp being the only reminder of that night. The man charged with atacking her, Darryl Jackson, was jailed and ended up being killed in prison. She is one of the top crime journalists because she writes from the victim’s perspective. She gets a call from the editor about a new story, the murder of Margaret Kincaid, a senator’s aide. However, as details emerge, Jessie is convinced that Margaret’s attack was too similar to hers to be a coincidence. Police have already killed the main suspect in Margaret’s case but Jessie is convinced that they got the wrong guy. With many of her close friends and associates convinced she’s gone mad, she decides that she is going to get to the bottom of these two mysteries once and for all.

The story was intense and well written. I found myself engrossed quite quickly in this book especially as more surprises emerged. Some of the twists were predictable but the main ones were not. However, I was able to guess one of them before it was fully revealed.

I was instantly able to like Jessie. I admired her strength and determination especially after her attack. The fact that she refused to use her cane even when she needed to was a further sign of how strong-willed she was.

This book is going to be the first in a series and I can honestly say that based on this, I can’t wait for future instalments. There are some characters in this book that I would really like to follow up on and see how their relationships with Jessie were changed.

I did have a few issues though:

When Margaret’s brother, Logan, met Jessie for the first time, they started talking about her attack. Why would he bluntly ask if she was raped? I felt like that was an odd first conversation to have.
Jessie mentioned the strange dreams she was having to her doctors and all they told her was that time heals all wounds. Why wasn’t some form of counseling suggested? After the trauma she endured, she would have been suffering from an extreme case of PTSD
Jessie and her very close friend, Ellen, were discussing something. Ellen started wondering if Jessie was going crazy until Jessie made an intellectual joke. Ellen then decides that Jessie cannot possibly be crazy. Is it that people with mental issues cannot be intellectuals?

The book was a pretty good read, though. Like I said before, this seems like a start of an excellent series.

Violence: Moderate
Sexual Content: Some scenes which were a bit graphic. There were also a lot of extramarital affairs as well as some mention of child abuse.
Profanities: None
Religious Themes: None

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The woman’s golden hair is spread out beneath her on the bed of leaves where she’s fallen, her beautiful blue eyes open wide. The police are calling it a random attack, but crime reporter Jessie Tucker isn’t so sure – she’s seen this crime scene before… she was the victim.

Twelve years ago, Jessie Tucker was attacked as she made her way home from an outdoor concert. Having fought her way back to full recovery, a slight limp is the only reminder of the trauma of that night. The police told her she was unlucky – that she was safe after they charged a local man for the crime. But Jessie has never managed to shake the feeling that there was someone else in the park that night… someone she knew.

But then Margaret Kincaid’s murder file lands across her desk, and Jessie knows she can’t keep silent any longer. Margaret’s wounds so exactly match her own it’s spooky – but Jessie’s attacker is in prison, and Jessie has never met the victim. What links her to Margaret Kincaid, and why did the attacker let one woman live, and the other die?

Then the police gun down their top suspect and it seems that Margaret’s case will die with him. But Jessie is sure that the police got it wrong: the real killer is still out there, and it’s someone close to home. It’s up to Jessie to put together the pieces before he finds his next victim… but who can she trust with the terrible truth?

Nail-biting, gripping and absolutely unputdownable! Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Kendra Elliot and Gregg Olsen.

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