After reading Touch & Go in February, I had literally become a fan of Lisa Gardner. My only goal on my next visit to the library was to get more of her books. And well, I got 4 more!
Fear Nothing is the first among those four that I decided to read. This book didn’t disappoint me at all. Almost all of her books are part of a series. But the best part is that they can be read as standalone too. Even though I haven’t read any books that came before this one, I didn’t feel as if I missed reading them.
The book starts off with the murder scene of a young woman whose strips of skin are peeled off. D.D.Warren, the lead detective on the case, comes back to the crime scene alone, later in the day, and is attacked by the killer. She wakes up with no memory of what happened and in pain unable to use her arm anymore. She is sent to a therapist, Dr. Adeline Glen, to manage her pain. This doesn’t stop D.D. from investigating the case further. As more facts are revealed along with more murders, the serial killer has a lot of similarities to Harry Day, who was a notorious serial killer in his day. Most of the evidence points to Shana Day, his daughter, who is also Adeline’s sister.
This was my first book of D.D.Warren series. I loved her character.
But, I loved the character of Adeline even more. She has a rare genetic condition and can’t feel physical pain. The book almost always speak about her not feeling pain. But I’m specifying physical pain because her emotional/mental pain is portrayed so realistically in the book. When we think of pain, it’s the physical pain that comes to our mind first. We rarely think about the emotional pain that a person goes through. This is what made me love Adeline. She’s far from perfect. She has her own dark secrets. But the emotional dilemma that she goes through is so real. She’s struggling to identify herself. She always speaks about nature vs nurture. Whether her serial killer father’s nature or her adopted father’s nurture is more dominant in her. She wants to believe that her nurture defines her but finds herself drawn towards her father’s nature.
The book had two main protagonists, Adeline and D.D. Both of their characters are given equal importance throughout the book. But Adeline’s character stood out to me. Now I do want to know more about D.D. I guess the best way for that is to read more books with her in it.
The book was fast paced and kept me guessing the killer right till the end. Each time I think I have the killer figured out, the plot takes a different turn. Even when I finally did figure out, I was never sure of it. Gardner is a master at writing thrillers. I know I’ve read only two of her books but both have been masterpieces. I wish I could read this book for the first time again. And I’m definitely reading more of Lisa Gardner.
My Rating 5⭐