Detective Billie Ann Wilde #1
By: Willow Rose
Narrator: Lisa Rost-Welling
Hachette UK - Bookouture
ISBN: 9781835251133
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Publication Date: 02/02/2024
Format: Audiobook
My Rating: 5 Stars + (ALC) (ARC)
A missing five-year-old girl is the key to unlocking a detective's terrifying past...
When Detective Billie Ann Wilde receives a desperate call that five-year-old Emma Wilson is missing, she rushes to the family home. But inside the picture-perfect house surrounded by Florida marshlands, she finds no children's clothes or toys, no photos of the innocent child Emma's mother Marissa describes. Billie suspects Marissa Wilson is hiding from someone.
It's a race against the clock to find Emma. But Marissa refuses to tell Billie anything about her past, and before long, she also disappears...
And then Billie realizes who Marissa is.
She's the ten-year-old girl Billie failed to find in her first ever case fourteen years ago. The leads went cold because Billie made a fatal mistake.
As more bodies turn up in the same marshlands, Billie must revisit her past and face up to her demons to find Marissa and her child. But she is unknowingly putting herself in the path of a terrifying serial killer...
An explosive new crime series from multi-million-copy bestseller Willow Rose. Fans of Lisa Regan, Robert Dugoni and Kendra Elliot will be on the edge of their seats, unable to put this book down!
DETECTIVE BILLIE ANN WILDE SERIES
My Review
Willow Rose introduces her killer new series, Detective Billie Ann Wilde, with a bang in the dazzling first installment, DON'T LET HER GO —A riveting multi-layered crime thriller based on a true story—the past and present collide in this gripping psychological page-turner starring a whip-smart detective.
Frighteningly real! Dark, twisty, compelling—both chilling and emotional. You will be flipping through the pages until the wee hours of the morning.
Set in Cocoa Beach, Florida, near the marshlands and swamps, Detective Billie Wilde receives a desperate call from a mother, Marissa. Her five-year-old daughter Emma is missing. She was in the backyard while the mother was cooking dinner. Five minutes after she went to the garage to do laundry, Emma went missing.
When Wilde arrives at the home, there appears to be no sign of a little girl living there —no toys, photos, or clothes. Wilde is intuitive and suspects Marissa is hiding something. She needs to be more forthcoming with answers. Is she afraid of someone? But then later, her pink shoes are found, and Wilde takes it seriously, even though her boss does not.
In the meantime, a runner, Oliver, has found a dead body in the pond out on her morning jog. It turns out it was a teen girl (babysitter) on the same day the little girl goes missing. Are the two connected?
Then Marissa disappears. Billie then realizes who Marissa is. She is SHOCKED to the core.
Billie has to confront her haunting past and her demons. There was a ten-year-old girl Billie failed to find fourteen years ago with her first case. Billie is sharp and starts putting the puzzle together, but now she is in danger, too. From dirty cops, cover-ups, corruption, kidnapping, and assault to murder —she has no clue whom to trust.
Billie Ann Wilde is a cancer survivor, gay, and recently has come out to her husband (Joe), golden retriever, Zelda, and children (William, 14), Charlene (16), and Zack (9). They are not happy.
She is tired of living a lie since she has been gay most of her life, but she was in the closet due to her religious parents, and it was simply not an option. She grew up believing you had to marry a man and have children. She is flawed and highly relatable. She did so, but now she realizes she is unhappy and something is missing. She feels like time is running out, and she wants everyone to know she is a lesbian.
Her therapist knows about her haunted past, as does her husband.
Told from alternating POVs, Billie and Marissa (then and now). Billie grew up in Central Florida and knows about swamps, gators, and guns. She is tough.
From the past, we slowly learn about Billie's tragic past and the case that went cold. She has never forgotten, and it has haunted her since. She is even more determined to help Marissa and find Emma before it is too late.
The author takes us back to THEN - the little girl Kitty and how a monster kidnapped her. But the monster wore a badge, hiding in plain sight. The little girl was abused and raped and became a mother. His wife knew. However, did she finally escape? What happened to Kitty? She trusted a family friend.
We also learn about Billie's sexual assault from her ex-cop partner, who wound up in a wheelchair after an accident. Billie was a whistleblower. How are all these cases connected from past to present?
I LOVED this book!!! My first book by Willow Rose, and I cannot wait to read the next in the series—Then She's Gone:(coming, March 18, 2024)!
Multi-layered and complex, action-packed, high adrenaline —a smartly written cop procedural and crime thriller with a flawed detective you will root for. I loved Billie!
How far will the killers go to keep their secrets? Everyone who gets too close winds up dead. Secrets, obsession, and vengeance converge in this riveting, unputdownable suspense thriller. The author takes you deep into the minds of psychopaths in this dangerous web of secrets and lies.
I appreciated the author's note about her personal story as it relates to Billie Ann's story.
INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY:
The novel is inspired by a true story— the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, who was taken by her kidnappers while walking to the school bus one morning. She was not found until eighteen years later, after having two children with her kidnapper and living in a shed in their backyard. The kidnapper's wife also played a big role in the abduction and was found guilty along with him. (You will want to read about this). It is an ugly, scary, yet fascinating story. You can read more about it HERE. After reading the true story and the fictional version—both will give you goosebumps.
DON'T LET HER GO is for fans of Robin Mahle, Lisa Gardner, Karin Slaughter, Lisa Unger, and Clémence Michallon's dazzling debut, (speaking of sheds and kidnapping) —THE QUIET TENANT (my top thriller of 2023)!
A must-read for thriller fans! I read the e-book and listened to the audiobook by Lisa Rost-Welling, narrator— for an outstanding performance and fantastic listening experience.
Highly recommend!
Thanks to Bookouture, Hachette UK, and NetGalley for introducing this mega-talented author and intriguing new series with a gift of ARC and ALC for an honest opinion.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Feb 2, 2024
On a personal note:
Being a Floridan for over 24 years, I have lived and worked north of Cocoa Beach in Ponte Vedra Beach, then Ormond Beach, and south Florida in West Palm Beach, The Florida Keys, the Gulf Coast, and now in Wellington. I enjoy books set in Florida and Floridan authors. Plus, my relatives worked for the space center and lived on Merritt Island before retiring to Amelia Island, so I have often visited the Cocoa Beach area.
About the Author
Willow Rose is a multi-million-copy best-selling Author and an Amazon ALL-star Author of more than 80 novels. Several of her books have reached the top 10 of ALL books on Amazon in the US, UK, and Canada. She has sold more than six million books all over the world.
She writes Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal, Romance, Suspense, Horror, Supernatural thrillers, and Fantasy. Willow's books are fast-paced, nail-biting page turners with twists you won't see coming. That's why her fans call her The Queen of Plot-Twists.
Willow lives on Florida's Space Coast with her husband and two daughters. When she is not writing or reading, you will find her surfing and watch the dolphins play in the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. WEBSITE
BOOKS BY WILLOW ROSE:
EVA RAE THOMAS MYSTERY SERIES:
- So We Lie (Eva Rae Thomas prequel)
- Don't Lie To Me (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 1)
- What You Did (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 2)
- Never Ever (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 3)
- Say You Love Me (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 4)
- Let Me Go (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 5)
- It's Not Over (Eva Rae Thomas#6)
- Not Dead Yet (Eva Rae Thomas # 7)
- To Die For (Eva Rae Thomas # 8)
- Such a Good Girl (Eva Rae Thomas#9)
- Little Did She Know (Eva Rae Thomas #10)
- You Better Run (Eva Rae Thomas #11)
- Say it isn't so (Eva Rae Thomas #12)
- Too Pretty To Die (Eva Rae Thomas #13)
- Till Death Do Us Part (Eva Rae Thomas #14)
HARRY HUNTER MYSTERY SERIES:
- All The Good Girls (Harry Hunter Mystery #1)
- Run Girl Run (Harry Hunter Mystery #2)
- No Other Way (Harry Hunter Mystery #3)
- Never Walk Alone (Harry Hunter#4)
MARY MILLS MYSTERY SERIES:
- What Hurts the Most (Mary Mills Mystery #1)
- You Can Run (Mary Mills Mystery #2)
- You Can't Hide (Mary Mills Mystery #3)
- Careful Little Eyes (Mary Mills Mystery#4)
JACK RYDER MYSTERY SERIES:
- Hit the Road Jack (Jack Ryder #1)
- Slip out the Back Jack (Jack Ryder #2)
- The House That Jack Built (Jack Ryder #3)
- Black Jack (Jack Ryder #4)
- Girl Next Door (Jack Ryder#5)
- Her Final Word (Jack Ryder #6)
- Don't Tell (Jack Ryder#7)
REBEKKA FRANCK MYSTERY SERIES:
- One, two ... He is coming for you (Rebekka Franck #1)
- Three, Four ... Better lock your door (Rebekka Franck #2)
- Five, Six ... Grab your crucifix (Rebekka Franck#3)
- Seven, Eight ... Gonna stay up late (Rebekka Franck #4)
- Nine, Ten ... Never sleep again (Rebekka Franck#5)
- Eleven, Twelve ... Dig and Delve (Rebekka Franck #6)
- Thirteen, Fourteen ... Little Boy Unseen (Rebekka Franck#7)
- Better Not Cry (Rebekka Franck #8)
- Ten Little Girls (Rebekka Franck #9)
- It Ends Here (Rebekka Franck #10)
EMMA FROST MYSTERY SERIES:
- Itsy Bitsy Spider (Emma Frost #1)
- Miss Polly had a Dolly (Emma Frost #2)
- Run Run as Fast as You Can (Emma Frost #3)
- Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die (Emma Frost #4)
- Peek-A-Boo I See You (Emma Frost#5)
- Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Emma Frost#6)
- Easy as One Two Three (Emma Frost#7)
- There's No Place like Home (Emma Frost #8)
- Slenderman (Emma Frost#9)
- Where the Wild Roses Grow (Emma Frost#10)
- Waltzing Matilda (Emma Frost #11)
- Drip Drop Dead (Emma Frost #12)
- Black Frost (Emma Frost #13)
UMBRELLA MAN SERIES:
- Umbrella Man (umbrella man trilogy book 1)
- Blackbird Fly (umbrella man trilogy book 2)
STAND ALONE MYSTERY/THRILLER/HORROR/POST-APOCALYPTIC:
- Sorry Can't Save You
- In Cold Blood
- The Surge
- Girl Divided
- In One Fell Swoop
- To Hell in a Handbasket
- Rock-A-Bye Baby
- Nibble, Nibble, Crunch
- Eenie, Meenie
- Humpty Dumpty
- Edwina
- Chain Letter
- Better Watch Out
- Mommy Dearest
- The Bird
FANTASY/PNR SERIES:
- Flesh and Blood (Vampires of Shadow Hills #1)
- Blood and Fire (Vampires of Shadow Hills #2)
- Fire and Beauty (Vampires of Shadow Hills #3)
- Beauty and Beasts (Vampires of Shadow Hills #4)
- Beasts and Magic (The Vampires of Shadow Hills #5)
- Magic and Witchcraft (The Vampires of Shadow Hills #6)
- Witchcraft and War (The Vampires of Shadow Hills #7)
- War and order (The Vampires of Shadow Hills #8)
- Order and Chaos (The Vampires of Shadow Hills #9)
- Chaos and Courage (The Vampires of Shadow Hills #10)
- Beyond (Afterlife #1)
- Serenity (Afterlife #2)
- Endurance (Afterlife #3)
- Courageous (Afterlife#4)
- Savage (Daughters of the Jaguar #1)
- Broken (Daughters of the Jaguar #2)
- Song for a Gypsy (The Wolfboy Chronicles)
- I am Wolf (The Wolfboy Chronicles)
