When You See Me: A Novel

A D.D. Warren and Flora Dane Novel, Book 11

By: Lisa Gardner

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner unites three of her most beloved characters - Detective D. D. Warren, Flora Dane, and Kimberly Quincy - in a twisty new thriller, as they investigate a mysterious murder from the past...that points to a dangerous and chilling present-day crime.

FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy and Sergeant Detective D. D. Warren have built a task force to follow the digital bread crumbs left behind by deceased serial kidnapper Jacob Ness. When a disturbing piece of evidence is discovered in the hills of Georgia, they bring Flora Dane and true-crime savant Keith Edgar to a small town where something seems to be deeply wrong. What at first looks like a Gothic eeriness soon hardens into something much more sinister...and they discover that for all the evil Jacob committed while alive, his worst secret is still to be revealed. Quincy and D. D. must summon their considerable skills and experience to crack the most disturbing case of their careers - and Flora must face her own past directly in the hope of saving others.

©2020 Lisa Gardner, Inc. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Narrator Kirsten Potter rises to the challenge of bringing this diverse cast to life. Her characterizations are strong, highlighting the toughness of the lead investigators and contrasting that with the mixture of strength and vulnerability that is the damaged but recovering Flora. In presenting a range of utterly believable small-town characters, Potter's delivery is perfect."
—AudioFile Magazine

"An emotionally powerful page-turner. Fans of kick-ass female investigators will be well satisfied."—Publishers Weekly

“Gardner juggles multiple narratives . . . with ease. A sensitive exploration of trauma and its insidious, lasting effects.”—-Kirkus Reviews

One of Lisa Gardner's best stories yet!!

This story blew me away! I enjoy good strong heroines and the three in this story are remarkable. We get all of our favorite women tossed together in this story... Quincy, Flora, and DD. We get to see sides of Flora that we've never seen before. I've always enjoyed these audiobooks but this one was... more! I had an hour left last night and it was getting late, time to sleep, but I knew there was no way I would be stopping this story for the night. I stayed up through the very last word of acknowledgments and wished there were more words. This is Gardner's best story IMO.

The performance from the narrator, Kirsten Potter, was like award-worthy. She's able to handle three strong women but she also handled a Spanish accent perfectly for a little girl. That epilogue was one of the most emotionally-charged ever. I was shocked to say I ended with tears on my face.

Dry Farce cast with Beverly Hillbilly and Addams family

Took awhile to realize this genre. Starts with stylised cop and victim and villain icons putting exaggerated effort into investigation of a long-dead serial killer. Reality TV or Barney Miller or Anna Pigeon quality interactions follow. We get dreary input from a Cousin It servant/victim.
The farcical nature becomes more reinforced with each new character but alas the humor is too dark, implausible or victimised to be funny.
Disorganised police procedure of the old days is juxtaposed with modern victimism , victim-turned-hunter collides with guile-less hillbilly etc

The narrator’s stiff cadence and exaggerated emotion inhibit listener empathy. This further steers the book away from engrossing thriller and toward lightweight whodunnit spoof.

Simply awesome!

It started out clever, captivating, on the edge of my seat and ended the same way. Characters have become like old friends. Of course will be waiting, not so patiently to see them all again.

FINALLY some answers about the mystery of Jacob Ness!!

This was one of the best books in the series. After nearly a dozen books, we finally arrive at the heart of Flora’s chance for redemption— answers about the man who kidnapped her one night on a Florida beach.

Lisa Gardner’s most beloved characters join a task force to investigate a string of cold cases in rural Georgia, but are forced to fight for their lives when they touch upon an illicit ring of business owners who barter human lives for profit.

As Detective DD Warren, FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy, and survivor-turned-vigilante Flora Dane struggle to maneuver in the undertow of a corrupt town, a young girl—completely unable to communicate— may be the key that unlocks it all.

A madman runs free, slaughtering any who get in his way— and the task force is very much in his way. Their lives depend on them treading very carefully, trusting no one, and finding a way to stay one step ahead of the locals.

Unfortunately... in a small town, there are no secrets.

Best Novel yet

The story was exciting and mysterious at the very beginning. I loved how everything came together at the end.

Love This Series

I love everything about this series! I’m always looking forward to the next release. Great narration as well!

Solid Story

Really, disappointed w/myself for finishing this book in one day. I didn't savor it and goodness knows when a new one will drop.

This was an awesome book. I am not saying that
b/c I was extremely thirsty for a new D.D. Warren book.
I admit I was unsure if the whole D.D., Quincy, & Flora dynamic was going to work again but surprisingly it did. I enjoy that they don't snip at or tear each other down. Truly refreshing when it's over two female leads in a book.

I do hope that "Jacob the Serial Killer" can truly be a dead end now. I think enough is enough w/that story line. It is time for all three of these ladies to move on in their careers and a different fresh case brings them back together or they go their separate stories.

Now, the storyline was good. It didn't beat you over the head about human trafficking but you knew what was up from how things were going down. The imagery is good w/out having you to get up to wash your hands from disgust.

Overall, nice good book. Three ace female leads and a story that doesn't disappoint.

Love D.D and Kimberly!!

Need more of the two of them working together along with Flora! Very good read!!!

Great

It was a great book kept me guessing can't believe it was Fannie an her son an his daddy that was sick.

Couldn’t put it he boom down...

The last time I lost sleep over a book that I remember is the first listen of The Da Vinci Code. Did the same with When You See Me.

Preorder this book without reading the description. Being a fan of the Detective D.D. Warren series I knew I was going to read it no matter what so why wait? Lisa Gardner did a good job of being the ensemble cast of her characters together over a mystery would connect them all while also potentially setting up future books for all main characters. And you don’t need to know the other main characters stories to enjoy this book but it will help as it jumps between their voice/perspective.

There is one short sin of the book where a plot point is reviewed to us but another character feels like they suddenly deduct it without much reasoning. It’s a short part of the book (think only a few read pages) but it was the one point where D.D. Warren pulled off the point great making you invest and the FBI’s agents moment isn’t quite as plausible. Then again I might be bias to the D.D. Warren part.

Once again Kristen Potter bring Lisa Gardner’s words to Auditory life. Surprising to me the new character was my favorite. I could feel and see her world. So well done. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute of her voice work bring Lisa’s words to life.

Note: while it isn’t required to read all of Lisa Gardner’s works to enjoy this book, it helps to familiar with all 3 leads story. The narrators will fill you in.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and listened to it in two days once started because I could not put the story down.