One Step Too Far

Author: ​Lisa Gardner
Publisher: Century
Reviewer: Beryl Eichenberger
Missing persons – we hear about them every day   -so many and so few return alive. Missing in so many situations; walking down the road, at a mall or on a hiking expedition. Mysteries - , many that are never solved and try as they might, hard pressed authorities are understaffed to take on the mammoth task of searching. When someone goes missing in the mountains very often it is up to volunteer search parties to take up the slack. I am full of respect for those who tackle the mighty outdoors, as a hiker or as a rescuer. Hunting for answers is never an easy task.

​‘ My name is Frankie Elkin and finding missing people is what I do. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never bothered to care, I start looking. For no money, no recognition, and most of the time, no help.’ This is the protagonist of Lisa Gardner’s new novel ‘One step too far’ and we are about to embark on a journey of terrifying reality.
Frankie, middle aged white woman, recovering alcoholic, loner, has once again earmarked a missing person and she’s making plans to join the search team.  She has a talent for finding missing persons – it makes her put one step in front of the other on any given day. Her success rate is impressive (even if they were mostly bodies) but it is her empathy for the families of these people that spurs her to search ‘cold’ cases.
Timothy O’ Day is one such case. Five years since he was lost in the mountains after his bachelor party camping trip. There is no closure in this case and his father and three of his friends who were with him on the fateful night , Scott, Neil and Miguel, are once again heading to the mountains for yet another annual foray. With canine searcher Daisy, her handler Luciana, local expert Nemeth and volunteer Bigfoot Bob, dad Martin O’Day has gathered an experienced team for this final search. And the very inexperienced Frankie joins it. The resulting journey is well – hang on to your hat - chilling, visceral and gut-wrenching.
It is clear that Gardner is a seasoned hiker. I learnt an enormous amount about safety measures, what you pack, how to stay alive, rules of the hiking fraternity and so much more – it makes for fascinating reading and Gardner is a clever guide. Opening preparations alert Frankie as to the emotional undercurrents of the party but all seems fairly stable as Nemeth sets out on the path. This is a gruelling hike as we move into the mountains of the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming to a fictional destination - Devil’s Canyon. And the key is in the devil … I walked with them, felt their fears, held my breath and wept with the frustrating failures. Suffice to say Gardner has produced an unpredictable page turner which will most certainly have your nails bitten down to the quick.  
When nature’s agenda for protecting its own comes up against human manipulation the battle begins.  Step by excruciating step the secrets of the mountain are revealed and, as the hunters face one setback after another, when food goes missing, ugly screams are heard at night and no seeming answers they slowly realise that they have become the prey and the game is on…