Alone by Lisa Gardner

Synopsis: Alone ... Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle. Just across the street, in wealthy Back Bay, Boston, an armed man has barricaded himself with his wife and child. The man's finger tightens on the trigger and Dodge has only a split second to react ... and forever pay the consequences.

Alone ... that's where the nightmare began for cool, beautiful, and dangerously sexy Catherine Rose Gagnon. Twenty-five years ago, she was buried underground during a month-long nightmare of abduction and abuse. Now her husband has just been killed. Her father-in-law, the powerful Judge Gagnon, blames Catherine for his son's death ... and for the series of unexplained illnesses that have sent her own young son repeatedly to the hospital.

Alone ... a madman survived solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison where he'd done hard time for the most sadistic of crimes. Now he walks the streets a free man, invisible, anonymous ... and filled with an unquenchable rage for vengeance. What brings them together is a moment of violence -- but what connects them is a passion far deeper and much more dangerous. For a killer is loose who's woven such an intricate web of evil that no one is above suspicion, no one is beyond harm, and no one will see death coming until it has them cornered, helpless, and alone.

My Thoughts: Alone was quite good but honestly none of the characters were that likable. I could see how a fan of Gardner's would say that this series is not their favorite. Setting aside the fact that DD Warren was barely a secondary character even though her name is on the cover one would have to go on their thoughts about Bobby Dodge. He is kind of a cowboy who bucks the rules...more like thumbs his nose at them....and has things about himself he would rather not discuss so he lies about them. It was hard to warm up to him and don't even get me started on my thoughts of Catherine. All together this book is filled with broken characters making due with what life has handed them and not necessarily in a way that takes them along the high road. I could sympathize with the characters but not empathize. 

Despite the list of unlikable characters I found myself needing to get back to the book so I could read what the outcome would be, mostly to see if Münchausen syndrome by proxy was why Catherine's child was so ill. I was quite satisfied with the way the book ended and will continue to read this series.