Customer Reviews

Love You More: A Detective D. D. Warren Novel

5 star:		(119)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In Lisa Gardner's "Love You More," Tessa Leoni has a great deal on her plate. She has been a Massachusetts state trooper for four years and has a beautiful six-year-old daughter, Sophie, whose father's name Tessa does not even know. Leoni has an inner toughness that she will desperately need as she faces an uncertain future. Her husband of three years and Sophie's stepfather, Brian Darby, has been shot to death, and the evidence points to Tessa as the perpetrator. Worse, Tessa's little girl, Sophie, has disappeared. The detectives soon suspect that not only did Tessa gun down her husband in cold blood, but that she also killed and buried her daughter.

Handling the case is Sergeant Detective D. D. Warren, a forty-year old, ten-year veteran of the Boston Police Department. Assisting is Bobby Dodge, her former lover, who is a Massachusetts State Police Detective. D. D. is married to her job; she is sharp, aggressive, and ambitious, qualities that she shares with Tessa. Nevertheless, she has contempt for Leoni, whom she considers to be a conniving and selfish monster. D. D. is determined to nail this pretty and petite woman and put her away for a very long time. On the home front, D. D. has been dating Alex, a teacher at the police academy, for over six months. She is not sure if she has the temperament to make their relationship last.

D. D. and Bobby work the Leoni case, and it is a thankless task from the get-go. The forensic evidence is muddled, and Leoni, who is less than cooperative, has a battered and swollen face. Apparently, someone has beaten Tessa to a pulp. Will she claim that she shot Brian in self-defense because he was an abusive spouse? The situation becomes steadily more complicated and ambiguous, and D. D. is furious when she suspects that Tessa has been lying to them from the beginning.

Lisa Gardner, whose fans are legion, is the undisputed queens of the domestic thriller. The reasons for her popularity include: tough heroines who are even more macho than their male counterparts; byzantine plots in which the truth is carefully veiled; gripping scenes of suspense and violence; and conclusions that always include an extra, unforeseen twist. Although "Love You More" contains all of these elements, Gardner may have overreached this time. Tessa Leoni is a character we can and do root for. However, the author would have us believe that this woman is a master of weaponry, strategy, and hand-to-hand combat, and is so self-possessed that she can think clearly while navigating the most arduous and hazardous obstacles. When it comes to her personal life, on the other hand, she is woefully naïve.

Still, this is a page-turner that will appeal to aficionados of escapist fiction. Readers will realize fairly quickly that Brian's death is anything but a straightforward homicide, and it is fun to follow the clues along with the high-strung D. D. Warren. There is plenty of action to keep us engrossed; the roller-coaster ride never slows down until the final pages. Even though "Love You More" is a bit over-the-top, Gardner is a skilled enough writer to keep us engaged. She includes fascinating details about prisons, police procedure, and the challenges faced every day by overworked and harried homicide detectives. Gardner leaves us entertained and eager to follow the further adventures of the intrepid D. D. Warren.

Lisa Gardner is one of my favorite authors, and I always await the release of her new book with great impatience. This wonderful writer never disappoints! In my opinion of a fan who has read every single one of her fascinating, very professionally written books, LOVE YOU MORE is definitely Gardner's best so far. She is at the height of her creative career, and I'm very excited to see how each new book is even better than the previous one.

LOVE YOU MORE features D.D.Warren, one of the most convincing protagonists of a mystery and suspense series I have ever encountered. D.D. is going through a complex stage in her personal life (don't worry, there will be no spoilers in this review.) Her inner turmoil makes the case of the trooper Tessa Leoni that she gets assigned touch her on a very personal level. If at first Trooper Leoni's case seems a clear-cut situation of spousal abuse turned violent, it soon becomes clear that things are a lot more complex that we might have believed initially. There were many points in the text where I thought, 'Oh, I know what happened!" only to realize that, yet again, I failed to guess completely where the novel was going.

Gardner's writing is great because it always draws you in from the very first pages. LOVE YOU MORE does not contain a single page that is either boring or redundant. Gardner is not one of those writers who pad there books with lots of boring, irrelevant details and descriptions in order to create a bulkier novel. Every word she writes matter. Every scene is to the point. Every character contributes something to the plot development. Gardner is also great at maintaining suspense from the first page to the last.

If you are still considering whether to read this book, my advice is to get it as soon as you can. You will not be sorry as you will enjoy it immensely.

I just finished reading the book. It is really easy to read. It is tight and moves beautifully. However, the book failed on the character development of D.D. and its ridiculous storyline in the latter chapters. One flaw of the book is that it is supposed to be a book about Detective D.D. Warren. It should probe and discover more about D.D: her rapidly changing life and unfortunate choices. However, this book is much better at exploring the horizons of the other woman, Tessa. I am disappointed that the book failed to build a comprehensive picture of D.D. Furthermore, the plot gets non-sensical as it moves to the end, especially (spoiler alert) when Tessa gets shot on the shoulder because she was hoping to use a knife (what?!) to fight a man with a gun. It just didn't make any sense when Tessa was all the more careful and wise girl who would never commit such a grave mistake in the entire book. To sum it up, it is an enjoyable read. But for the more critical readers like me, it would probably be better off if the plots make more sense and D.D more room to expand.

I love Lisa's books and my love continues and may have even grown after reading Love You More. This is one spine-tingling book. First thing I love, the chapters alternate from D.D. Warren and her partner for this book (and familiar partner through this series), Bobby Dodge and the State Police Officer accused of murdering her husband, Tessa Leoni. This made the book very gripping because I would get to an interesting break that D.D. and Bobby would make and the next chapter would either give me more insight into Tessa or show what she was going through at the moment. This method of alternating chapters does a marvelous job weaving both stories together in an amazing way.


I love D.D. as a character. She's tough and she's a great detective but she's still trying to figure out where she fits in life and this book offers up a new surprise in her personal life. I liked this and liked seeing how D.D. approached things a little different and changed some during this book. Bobby is there through the book and I liked seeing him again and his insights that help D.D. are always great now that he is settled down and has a child. Tessa made an intriguing character and I quickly learned to let all my assumptions about her go because as soon as I assumed something, Ms. Gardner did a nice surprise twist and I learned something new about her. At times I didn't like her, some times I understood her and sometimes I learned to like her. All-in-all, she makes a great character addition to Love You More and I enjoyed learning her story piece-by-piece.



As for the plot - just amazing. As I mentioned before, as soon as I assumed something, I learned something different. The twists and turns are just mind-boggling, but they make sense when you think about them. I was enthralled with this book and found it hard to put down to take care of family things on Saturday. I love the psychological type thrillers that are mixed with police procedural. Ms. Gardner is a master of this and I found her Acknowledgments really fascinating as well. She does a lot of research when she writes these books and I'm not knowledgeable enough to know if there are mistakes (which she claims as her own), but everything in the book seems plausible to me. I love the way Ms. Gardner takes you through the story. She does great with the alternating points-of-view and mixing the personal aspects of the characters with the murder mystery at hand.


Are you ready for page-turning suspense, then read Love You More by Lisa Gardner. Haven't read any of the earlier books in the series? Don't worry - Love You More can stand-alone. Yes there is some development of characters in the earlier books, but Ms. Gardner does a great job of getting you into the characters in this book without having to read any of the earlier books. Though I do recommend those as well. But this may very well be one of my favorites in the series so run, don't walk to your bookstore or to your favorite online bookseller and check out Love You More.

I've long been searching for a mystery/thriller that didn't fall apart toward the end. This wasn't it. Good characters, good set-up, interesting story that kept me engrossed, until it didn't. That happened at about the 3/4 point, where it hit the familiar roadbumps of formula. People trudging on despite fatigue and pain. Predictable bad guys. Unrealistic ending.

That being said, there was much to like. The writing was quite good, and though this was the first book I've read by this author, I would be glad to read another. I may never find that perfectly non-formulaic mystery, but this was an enjoyable light read.

Boston Homicide Det. Sgt. D.D. Warren is called in by Mass. State Police liaison Bobby Dodge, when a homicide is connected to a member of the State Police.

State Trooper Tessa Leoni is found beaten and bruised in her kitchen. Her husband, Brian is dead. He's been shot three times with her service revolver. In addition, her six-year-old daughter, Sophie, is missing.

It seems as if Tessa's relationship with her husband has deteriorated over the last three years.

In alternating chapters we see the investigation headed by D.D. Warren and Bobby Dodge. They find about Brian's gambling and the appearance of a history of spouse abuse. They also question what happened to Sophie and speculate if Brian did something terrible.

Tessa had risen above alcohol dependency and a loose life of sexual encounters when she became pregant with Sophie. From that moment to now, her life has been one of exemplary behavior.

As D.D. investigates, she learns that she is pregnant and promises that she will bring this new life into a better world.

Brian's autopsy reveals something and Tessa is arrested for murder. Again, we experience Tessa's point of view and with the title of the novel, we come to realize that something is developing.

Readers of Lisa Gardner should know that there is always something more to her stories. As much as any thriller writer today, Lisa Gardner knows how to write a compelling story. When the reader begins to nod and believe that they know what is going on, things change.

D.D. Warren is one of the excellent characters and her learning that she is pregnant at a time that she is looking for a missing child and questioning the motives of a mother whose child is missing adds a wonderful element to this story. I enjoyed every minute of this story as my fingers shook with anticipation of what suspenseful development awaited me at the turn of the next page.

First of all, I'm a great Lisa Gardner fan and am impatient for her next book before I finish one. However, I wish Lisa (and many other popular authors) would occasionally veer away from the series-type books. Sometimes it's like walking into the middle of a movie. I always feel that I should start with the first book so I'll understand all the references to the past. And as much as I enjoy revisiting a familiar character, I'm enough of a romantic that I'd like to see some characters solve the mystery, get the bad guy, and find their happy ending. Plus, dragging out a relationship for three or more volumes completely sucks the passion out of it.

I realize that series books practically guarantee future sales, but can we get a stand-alone in between? Please?

How can anyone possibly like the character D.D? She is the very epitome of the catty bitchy stereotype that makes society think women all have a chip on their shoulder and hate other women. Really, D.D. shouldn't have passed the psychological testing to become a police officer in the first place, considering her hatred for pretty much everybody, especially women who are "pretty and vulnerable". Tell it to Oprah and get an attitude adjustment you selfish immature b*tch! I can't care about her as a main character and that taints the whole story. Her character isn't developed beyond her being a nasty bitch, so even as a woman myself, I couldn't care less about her pregnancy fears or what happens to her, just like she doesn't care about what happens to anybody else. In reading these reviews I see that a lot of others feel the same way about D.D. I wish Lisa Gardner would read these reviews and do something to fix this ongoing issue with her main character. Of note is that none of the other characters are developed very well either, so I don't get invested in them at all, which is important in liking a book.

I'm a big Lisa Gardner fan, and was thrilled when her latest book came out. Other reviewers have synopsized well, and I leave that to them. This book, like several previous books, features Det. D.D. Warren and Bobby Dodge, a former State Trooper and current Massachusetts State Police Detective. Their characters have evolved over the course of the books, as has their relationship. And while it is often useful, and sometimes essential, to read the books in order, Gardner gives enough back-story (without over-explaining) that you will be able to understand who they are, who they were, and how they have arrived at this juncture of their lives.

All that being said, here are the Top Ten Things that are great about "Love You More."

10. Evolution of characters. How did sniper ladies' man and former D.D. Warren-lover Bobby Dodge become a happily married man with a child? How has all that changed his perceptions of the world? How did tough D.D. Warren find herself single, pregnant and contemplating motherhood as she attempts to unravel the case of a single mother who quite possibly gunned down her husband in cold blood and maybe even killed her daughter? The character arcs come together seamlessly and perfectly for this new novel.

9. As a police procedural, Lisa Gardner's books have always been intriguing and educational. In this one, we see deeper into the State Trooper system, and learn how the troopers operate alone, yet with the entire force as a distant back-up. And, of course, we see the police department and troopers intersect, with all the suspicion and different types of knowledge and procedure.


8. Masterful plotting. This book has so many threads, so many shady characters, so much deception, so much everything... Gardner weaves them all together into an astounding tapestry.

7. Well-written dialog. Each character's dialog is unique to the character. Each character sounds natural and like him or herself.

6. Gardner ties up all her story threads. There are plenty. You'd expect a loose end here and there. I didn't find one.

5. Interesting character studies. Tessa Leoni comes from a dysfunctional home. She's small. She's alone. She's raising a beautiful daughter alone while bucking the odds and sexism to be state trooper. She was married to the perfect guy, who loved his dog and his wife and her kid and had a dark, dark side.

4. Tess Leoni is one tough cookie. Once you've decided whether or not Tess killed her husband, you will stand back in awe at what she does to prove her innocence and save her child. This character is an awesome example of a fictional strong, strong woman.

3. Oh what a tangled web Gardner weaves with her back-stories. These may be my favorite parts of her books. They are SO twisted, and as they unravel you understand more and you understand less. And I can't tell you more because I don't want to spoil the delicious unraveling. They're kind of like that car accident: you can't look and you can't look away.

2. Anyone who says girls can't write really gritty violent stuff hasn't read Gardner. Because she really can. And does. Not for the faint of heart (or stomach) at times.

1. Suspense. Holy cow, Garner can build suspense. You'll be turning the pages long after you needed to shut your eyes and get some sleep. The clock is ticking, more pieces of the puzzle fall into place, and you wonder how she can kick it up another notch. But she does.

Fasten your seat belts. It's gonna be a bumpy night.

I'm a huge fan of best selling author Lisa Gardner. She is one of my favourite thriller/suspense authors. But I think I enjoy the Detective D. D. Warren books the most. Love You More is the 5th in the series.

It appears that State Trooper Tessa Leoni finally had enough and shot her abusive husband Brian with her service revolver. But where is her 6 yr old daughter Sophie? Did Brian take her somewhere? Badly beaten, Tessa confesses, but claims she has no idea where Sophie is. Brought onto the case by her ex lover and partner Bobby Dodge, D.D. is convinced Tessa is lying.

Love You More is told in alternating chapters from D.D and Bobby's view and then from Tessa's. Gardner slowly reveals clues and revelations that change the plot and ratchet up the action. What I thought was going to be the outcome totally changed by the time I reached the last page.

D.D. Warren is a tough-talking, brash, bold cop who doesn't take any crap. Justice is her goal and she'll stop at nothing to get there. But there's a chink in her armour this time around. She's just found out she's pregnant. She's a character I just really enjoy. Tessa was an interesting character. I just couldn't predict where she was going to end up.

I have actually listened to the last two book in audio format and I think I'll continue. The reader for D.D. is excellent. Kirsten Potter has a direct, no nonsense voice that is now the embodiment of D.D. for me. Katie MacNicholl was the reader for Tessa. Her voice seemed to change and grow as her character's circumstances changed. It was a good contrast with Potter's voice.

Another great thriller full of twists and turns. A non stop read or listen! Fans of Harlan Coben or Linwood Barclay would enjoy this series.