Jane Doe Black by Nia Forrester
A Review By: VJJ
She dedicated her life to working for the justice system, but when she needed it most, it didn’t work for her.
On the eve of a trial, Assistant District Attorney Lainey Abbott gets a disturbing phone call. Her baby sister, Stephanie, who should have been back at her college dorm after visiting for the weekend, never arrived. At first, she isn’t too worried, because she’s a system insider and has plenty of resources available to locate her sister quickly, including Russ Sanders, the police detective she’s been on and off with for years. It’ll take a couple days, tops. They’ll find Steph and give her a piece of their mind for being so irresponsible.
But a year later, Stephanie still hasn’t been found.
And what’s worse, the system Lainey once had so much faith in no longer seems inclined to look. Reeling from the loss, her career and personal life are in freefall, and most days she can’t even bring herself to care.
Until another case surfaces, of a girl who’s gone missing under strikingly similar circumstances to Steph’s....
Review Notes:
Audio Book Publication Year: 2023
An installment in a Series? Yes
Narrator (s): A'rese Emokpae
A girl goes missing, and during the investigation of her disappearance, her loved ones discover huge, devastating secrets she kept from everyone.
Nia Forrester, you wrote the hell out of this story!
This was an excellent excellent read!
Incompetent police and an intimidating and corrupt legal system do nothing to help ADA Lainey Abbot when her sister goes missing. She’s numb, overcome with an immeasurable amount of guilt and pain for over a year and can see her life unraveling. Grief was eating her alive and alcohol was washing it down, filling her in a drunken intoxication of trying to forget. Lainey was reckless, making poor choices and damn near destroyed her life from the immeasurable remorse she swallowed. Guilt and pain can destroy a person, but determination can be a rescue and Lainey was determined!
This missing sister, Stephanie, had everybody fooled with a secret life no one knew of until the secret wasn’t a secret anymore. I felt so bad for this character and what she endured; it was a lot, but it’s that reveal in the end and oh my gawd, it was so sad. It pissed me off and had me ready to shed tears.
Jane Doe Black was my first read from Nia Forrester and definitely not my last. If you want a gripping, compelling mystery, get into it. It’s not a romance novel, but it is a powerful crime mystery story that depicts trauma, grief, an awakening, secrets, lies, mental and physical destruction, and the right amount of romance, suspense and drama that kept me turning the pages. Miss Forrester knows how to tell a story, giving all the traits to make a character believable, liked, and hated. I felt these scenes and went through all of Lainey’s stages of grief as the depiction was that impactful. This was a wonderfully written and nicely executed crime story.
New to me narrator A’rese Emokpae gave a great performance, giving the perfect amount of emotion into these characters and breathing life into the life and death of what this story is all about. Her voice is soothing, calm, with a melodic tone that’s perfect for narrating.
Reading Recommendation? Yes!
Rating: NORTH STAR RATING
Content Warnings? Human or animal loss, Physical abuse/violence
