“I still see you everywhere…. I will keep my eyes open. I will stare straight ahead. And I will see you everywhere.”

This eerie, haunting mantra that is extracted from the Prologue bears the lament of a female serial killer on death row for her long-estranged younger sister. Thus we have the impetus for the title of Lisa Gardner’s amazing new thriller, STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE.

The opening pages have much more to tell us. We see firsthand the violence and abuse that teenager Kaylee Pierson and, to a lesser extent, her five-year-old sister, Leilani, have to endure at the hands of two violent men. The first is their father when they are growing up in Texas. It gets so bad that their mother sends them off to live with relatives in Hawaii. Things are going pretty well until history repeats itself in the form of a young man known as Mac. He quickly takes up with Pierson but soon begins physically abusing her. During one such instance, Leilani tries to stop Mac from kicking and punching her sister, only to be tossed against the wall. Before Pierson has a chance to get back on her feet, Mac and Leilani are nowhere to be found.

"STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE simply bristles with suspense and clever plot twists as danger lurks around nearly every corner of this remote setting.... I cannot remember having more fun reading a Lisa Gardner book than I had with this one."

The history of violence that has afflicted Pierson sinks beneath her skin and defines who she is about to become. This includes luring 18 men back to her bedroom only to slit their throats when they attempt to leave. Eventually, “the Beautiful Butcher” is caught and now sits on death row. At the start of the story, she is a mere three weeks away from her date with the gas chamber. It is at this point that our complex and partially broken protagonist, Frankie Elkin, arrives on the scene. She is an expert at finding those who do not wish to be found or are relegated to the bottom of a pile of cold case files. She receives a personal invitation from Pierson’s lawyer, Victoria Twanow, with a request to meet with her client.

Pierson asks to be called the name her mother gave her, Keahi, and for Frankie to fly to Hawaii to locate Leilani, who she believes is still Mac’s captive. Frankie is informed that Mac is actually tech-billionaire Sanders MacManus, and he owns an entire island south of Oahu called Pomaikai. There he has built an eco-lodge that is close to opening and has his own high-tech cabin. Victoria arranges for Frankie to take the personal MacManus Learjet from Honolulu to Pomaikai under the guise of being a replacement worker for a recently injured team member at the resort.

Frankie arrives at the private island and is immediately welcomed by the extremely friendly Ann and Trudy, who begin her tour and explain the benefits and drawbacks of life in paradise. This would include the need to avoid the huge arachnids and especially the coconut crabs. Before she settles in, Frankie is introduced to the small team she will be working with at the resort, including Vaughn, the manager; Charlie, the engineer; Aolani, the architect; and Ronin, the archaeologist. She also learns that Mac will be arriving in a few days, along with his personal chef and ward, Lea.

Vaughn is quite suspicious of Frankie, especially since her employment file leaves much to be desired and provides very little background information on her. She talks her way through that and patiently awaits the arrival of Mac and Lea, who she knows is Leilani. In the meantime, she is put to heavy work that includes an island excursion with Ronin. During this field trip, they uncover some flora and fauna, as well as a buried body that appears to be that of a recently deceased female. The feds will have to be called and would arrive in approximately three days to claim the corpse. Frankie realizes that this woman must have run afoul of someone on the island. With so few suspects to work with, she knows she must tread very carefully.

Once Mac and his crew arrive, they are accompanied by two armed security guards. The news reported that Pierson attacked Victoria, stole her clothes and escaped. Frankie would not have been aware of this development due to the extremely limited access to Wi-Fi or any communication with the outside world. The game is officially afoot!

STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE simply bristles with suspense and clever plot twists as danger lurks around nearly every corner of this remote setting. It is impossible to look away from the action, even though you want to shout at Frankie not to trust anyone when she begins to confide in some of the strangers around her. I cannot remember having more fun reading a Lisa Gardner book than I had with this one.