Say Goodbye (Hardcover)

by Lisa Gardner (Author)
Key Phrases: whitcomb department, christine morley, entomologist university, Ginny Jones, Delilah Rose, Sandy Springs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
In the latest Kimberly Quincy thriller, the FBI special agent is five months pregnant. Most women might be thinking about taking things a bit easy, but not Quincy: not only is she still working full time but she also stumbles into what might be the biggest case of her career (and, as regular readers know, she has already tackled a few big ones). A serial killer is targeting young women. This in itself isn’t so unusual, but here’s the twist: he is, or so it appears, using spiders as murder weapons. Kimberly is convinced she is on the trail of a psychopath, but without any bodies or hard evidence, she is having a difficult time convincing her superiors she isn’t on a wild-goose chase. In her last few novels, especially Gone (2006) and the excellent Hide (2007), Gardner has really hit her stride, and this one, if not her best, will surely be a surefire hit for her fans—and, in fact, for all readers who likes their thrillers suspenseful, fast paced, and just a little creepy (OK, a lot creepy). --David Pitt

Review
"Just when you thought Lisa Gardner couldn't get any better ... she does. Say Goodbye is a stunning, chilling, up-all-night thriller that will leave you shaken."—Lee Child

“A spider-obsessed killer is hunting Atlanta prostitutes…. He’s seriously scary and the flashbacks to his abusive past achieve a ripped-from-the-headlines authenticity.”—Entertainment Weekly

" Haunting.... Gardner has consistently delivered entertaining and suspenseful novels in recent years, but she's gone one better with Say Goodbye, perhaps her best book yet."—Chicago Sun-Times

“Should have a warning label: ‘Read only in a well-lit room that has first been thoroughly checked for spiderwebs.’ Then, you can settle back and get caught up in a story that is truly a stunner of a suspense novel.”–Tulsa World

“Gardner continue[s] to write fascinating, dark characters…. [She] surprises you right up until the end.”–Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

“For all readers who likes their thrillers suspenseful, fast paced, and just a little creepy (OK, a lot creepy).”—Booklist

"Lock the doors before you open this book, and hope that the only web being woven around you is Lisa Gardner’s mesmerizing story."—Tess Gerritsen

“Engaging if highly disturbing.”—Publishers Weekly


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First Edition first Printing edition (July 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553804332
• ISBN-13: 978-0553804331
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #58,567 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, July 29, 2008

By	M. D. Mulhern (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I agree with another one of the reviews already posted...this book was a decent mystery/thriller but so disturbing with regards to child abuse that I could not enjoy it, nor would I ever recommend it. I was a fan of Gardner's but hated this book. I am still bothered by many of the scenes. If you have kids, skip this one, seriously.

*I am not giving this book a low rating because Gardner wrote such vivid abuse scenes (I agree that they were not gratuitous and she probably did want to raise the profile of child abuse for a greater good). I am giving "Say Goodbye" a low rating because those same vivid scenes made it impossible for me to enjoy or like this book.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Every month, another girl vanishes.", July 20, 2008

By	E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Lisa Gardner's "Say Goodbye" is a dark and unnerving tale of sadistic torture, child abuse, and murder. Shortly after the book opens, a tough-talking teenager named Ginny Jones gets in a car with a stranger. She quickly realizes her mistake when it becomes apparent that "this man was never, ever letting her go home." The villain is a deranged yet calculating individual who needs to be in control; he kidnaps boys and women and revels in the power that he has over them. He calls himself Dinchara (an acronym for arachnid), since he is obsessed with spiders. He owns a large collection of the eight-legged creatures, and tends to their every need with meticulous care. Gardner begins each chapter with a quotation that imparts more information about arachnids than most of us need to know.

The book's heroine is Kimberly Quincy, an FBI agent in the Atlanta Field Office. Kimberley, who is five months pregnant, is gorgeous, bright, and obsessed with her career. "She worked too hard, compartmentalized too little, and probably would have a nervous breakdown before the age of forty." Although she is happily anticipating the birth of her baby, she is also conflicted. How can she, in good conscience, risk her life and the welfare of her unborn child chasing down dangerous felons for a living? Still, she is reluctant to leave the profession that means so much to her. She and Michael McCormack, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, have been married for a year. They disagree on the issue of motherhood vs. career, and the resulting quarrel puts a strain on their relationship. Kimberly does not want history to repeat itself. Her father was an FBI agent "whose workaholic ways imploded his marriage."

Kimberly teams up with GBI Special Agent Salvadore Martignetti to find the aforementioned spider fancier who has allegedly committed a whole host of crimes and is still at large. As is common in novels of this type, the author includes italicized first person passages in which the perpetrator describes how and why he became a cold-blooded monster. Abuse begets abuse; it is a vicious circle that never seems to end. Fortunately, there are some merciful people in the world, such as Rita, a woman who is approaching her ninetieth birthday. For nearly twenty years, this formidable and courageous woman fostered nearly thirty homeless children and tried to set them on the right path. She plays a small but crucial role in the narrative.

Although her writing is not particularly elegant, Gardner ratchets up the suspense nicely. She keeps the plot moving at a fast pace and provides engrossing and carefully researched details about the functioning of Georgia's various law enforcement agencies. Except for the requisite twists and turns, however, the plot offers few surprises. The dialogue is stilted, the characters are generally one-dimensional, and the plot adheres closely to the standard serial killer formula. Be warned that there are quite a few disturbing scenes of graphic violence and brutality. This nightmarish novel is by no means a light beach read.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably disturbing., November 6, 2008

By	J. Hanson "Taxi-Mom" (MD United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't give a fair complete review of this book, because I didn't finish reading it. I got to chapter 13 (p. 94) and decided to stop. Pretty much because chapter 12 was one of the most disturbing, upsetting things I have ever read. I couldn't stop crying. And let me tell you I'm an AVID reader and have read many horror/thrillers. (This author's other books included.) Some -okay, many- of those have made me cry also, but never have I actually wished I could erase them from my memory. The sexual child abuse scene that I just read was horrible, the details put me right there. Does this make Lisa Gardner an amazing author for being able to bring out such emotion in me? Maybe. But I for one can do without that detailed kind of grief/stress/horror in my mind. Thank GOODNESS I didn't take it to work with me to read on my lunch break! If you have a tougher skin than I do, this might be a good book. Although, to be honest, I didn't find the main character -Kimberly- to be very likable, and the plot seemed to jump around a lot. I just didn't care for it...or at least what I read of it. Just wanted to give fair warning to other sensitive parents, or anyone who loves children...this book is really rough.