Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner (Review)

Released July 2008 (Bantam) * 368 pages * ISBN 13: 9780553804331

Kimberley Quincy is an FBI Special Agent. Someone is killing prostitutes according to a pregnant prostitute who insists she’ll only talk to Quincy. A predator who uses spiders in very nasty ways. The only problem is there are no bodies, no missing persons reported. Despite the lack of proof, Quincy can’t not look into it as she tries to balance her FBI career, her new husband’s expectations, and impending motherhood.

Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly …

I had never read a Lisa Gardner novel before, so I didn’t know Kimberly Quincy (a recurring character), but that really didn’t cause me any problems getting into or following Say Goodbye. This was a very quick read. I started one night, forced myself to go to sleep after 100 pages, and then read the rest the next morning!


I was a little surprised that the book started with a blow job (I’m not giving anything away, it is literally on the first page). I wasn’t expecting that for this genre, but it wasn’t belabored and or gratuitous.

The book’s subject matter involves child molestation, serial killing and a pregnant protagonist in danger. If you’ve read Tess Gerritsen’s series with the Surgeon serial killer and were put off by the subject matter then this book may not be for you. Otherwise, I recommend it as a fast-paced thriller.

I will have to go back and reread this book more slowly and look at how it was put together. I read too fast and missed some clues Gardner left along the way. I did find the separate plot of the old woman and the young boy confusing because I couldn’t quite figure out how they fit in and whether it was a flashback or in the present (it did come together in the end).

This was my first Lisa Gardner book and I will definitely be putting her on my reading list.