Book Review: "Love You More' is Gardner's best

"Love You More" (Bantam), by Lisa Gardner

One of the best thriller writers in the business has written her best book to date.

In Lisa Gardner's "Love You More," police detective D.D. Warren has issues in her private life and tries to keep them away from her professional career.

She receives a call and heads to the home of another female officer. The crime scene reveals what appears to be an open-and-shut case of spousal abuse and a woman defending herself.

Were there warning signs that could have prevented this tragedy?

As Warren investigates further, holes start appearing in the story. Those who knew the husband swear he never would have hit anyone. Also, the female officer was involved in another shooting in self-defense years earlier.

And there is the question of a missing 6-year-old girl.

Warren and her colleagues must put aside bias and uncover secrets that, once revealed, might result in other deaths.

Gardner has a knack for tackling uncomfortable subjects mixed with compelling characters and a taut story line. She constructs an emotional rollercoaster that few can emulate.

She won the 2010 International Thriller Writers' best hardcover novel of the year award for "The Neighbor."

"Love You More" proves it wasn't a fluke.

Gardner continues to be at the top of the genre with this gut-wrenching look at what lies beneath the seemingly happy life of a typical couple in suburbia.

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Jeff Ayers is the author of "Voyages of Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion" (Pocket Books, 2006).

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Online:

http://lisagardner.com/