Book: Find Her
Overview
Title: Find Her
Author: Lisa Gardner
Published: 2016
Genre: Thriller / Mystery
Pages: ~400
Date Read: 2026-03-22
Rating: 9 / 10
Description
Find Her is the eighth novel in Lisa Gardner’s D.D. Warren series, featuring Boston detective D.D. Warren. The story opens when Flora Dane, a young woman who was kidnapped and held captive for 472 days, is found at the scene of a crime — the victim of another kidnapping. When Flora disappears again, Detective Warren begins to suspect that Flora’s survival skills and psychological resilience may be more than they appear.
The novel alternates between D.D. Warren’s investigation and Flora’s harrowing first-person survival narrative. Gardner, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, is known for her meticulously researched thrillers, and Find Her deals sensitively but unflinchingly with trauma, captivity, and recovery.
Flora Dane became a fan-favourite character and appears in subsequent Gardner novels including Look for Me and Never Tell.
My Notes
This was one of two books recommended by our babysitter (who reads even more books a year than I do!) and I normally would not have picked up this book, but was glad I did. Since then I have considered a wider range of non-fiction books that I’ve enjoyed.
This one was really interesting and had some elements of a story that I enjoy. Perseverance of spirit, revenge theme, twists in plot that are hard to predict. I loved the main character and rooted for her even while not agreeing with how she handled her situation. Yet the story arced in a way that allowed the character’s redemption.
- Was this your first Lisa Gardner / D.D. Warren novel, or have you read others in the series?
- Yes, and funny that reading the first seven was not necessary. I’m considering looking at the other novels, but don’t want to be disappointed they don’t stand up to this one.
- How did Gardner handle the trauma themes — did it feel respectful or exploitative?
- Definitely respectful. I heard that the author actually spent time in therapy and trauma sessions researching this, along with getting insight from law enforcement.
- Flora Dane — what did you make of her as a character?
- I love a revenge character… she was bad ass. I also liked that she was not super-human. The author did a great job making her vulnerable in her Stockholm syndrome and frailty at times.
- Did you predict the twists, or were you genuinely surprised?
- I predicted many of the twists… but they stayed just ahead of me to make it exciting.