Have You Seen This Girl (Flocksdale Files Book 1)

Have You Seen This Girl is a lot of things on many different levels, and the novel’s layered complexity strengthens the narrative and adds value and authenticity to the overall reading experience. That same layering, combined with author Carissa Ann Lynch’s natural, direct flow, lends her effort a distinct ‘returnability’ lacking in far too many books nowadays. By ‘returnability’ I refer to the tendency of modern readers to put books aside after a few chapters to address the necessities of busy schedules and the demands of family life. I can tell you right now though, your best strategy is to secure a block of time, hide out, and just dig in, because this novel is an excellent first person read that is hard to pull away from. But if your time comes in chunks and blocks like mine, that is okay, too. In short, if you must put Ms. Lynch’s book down once or twice, as I reluctantly did, you will definitely return…Now I will try to explain why.

First, Have You Seen This Girl unflinchingly portrays the gut wrenching, horrendous effects of drug use and, specifically, heroin addiction. It presents the disease from a first person perspective that feels realistic, highly personal and extremely compelling, without going overboard. As a reader, you do wallow in the quagmire with the teenaged heroine, Wendi Wise, but you appreciate the author’s uncompromising realism. Ms. Lynch’s portrayal feels harrowing, honest, direct and most unpleasant, but also realistic; it’s not a drag, not an unbearable confessional, not a depressingly sad, clinical downward spiral with no hope or uplift.

Instead, the addiction angle adds to the main character’s gutsy persona. As a protagonist, Ms. Lynch portrays Wendi Wise as weak in some respects, yet strong in others. She is morally sensitive, yet morally compromised. She is honest, yet at times instantaneously deceptive. Still… somehow, you believe in her and always root for her. That aspect of the main character, the duality, is quite an accomplishment on the part of the author, Ms. Lynch. Ms. Lynch’s narrative details Wendi’s kidnapping, her forced participation in heroin abuse, her indentured sexual exploitation, her ongoing physical abuse, the various drug treatments she endures, and finally her discovery of love, retaliation and restoration. All the while, the heroine’s greatest foe is not her oppressors, but rather her own self doubts and inner turmoil. This inner conflict is crucial to the success of Ms. Lynch’s ambition and the reader’s desire to stick with her heroine, for the novel is not really a drug addiction redemption fable at all, not at its literary core, to be sure. Rather, it is a murder mystery, a coming of age journey, an addiction redemption story, and a gripping thriller novel, all mightily crafted and artfully combined with several heads-up payoffs and believable plot twists that read right, feel non-contrived, and just plain work. These qualities make the book the kind of novel that one may put down, but itches to get back to, like a codependent relationship between reader and writer. As a reader, there were times early on when my insides churned uncomfortably at Ms. Lynch’s realism. However, I always returned over my three day read because I kept getting the feeling, page after page, that ‘this is going somewhere,’ and ‘We are in capable hands.’ And indeed we are, especially for those who decide to read this novel straight through. It is a well crafted tale on every level. It works as a tale of redemption. It works as a tale of murder mystery. It works as a tale of betrayal and revenge. It even works to some extent (though not as compellingly emotional) as a love story.

I believe most readers will be hooked once Ms. Lynch hits her stride– and if the cares, necessities and distractions of modern life pull them away, they will return, because while the novel has some natural narrative breaks, there are no boneheaded, contrived cliffhangers to make one roll their eyes. This novel has flow. It has colloquial voice with appropriate command of the language. It possesses realism. It is raw, yet well crafted. Ms. Lynch is a tremendous talent capable of succeeding in multiple genres. In this novel, Have You Seen This Girl, she has crafted a clear gem, and shows potential for even better works ahead. I for one hope she never loses one bit of her bold, raw honesty and straight-talk style. Ultimately, Carissa Ann Lynch will keep readers coming back.
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Wendi Wise is the victim of a kidnapping that leads her down a dark road away from all she loves and knows. At 13, her and her best friend, Claire, try to explore their little part of the world and end up with the wrong crowd. When things go from bad to worse, Wendi spends years never really getting over the evil of “The House of Horrors” that took her innocence and made her addicted to drugs.
After years away from Flocksdale, Wendi now going by Elsie McClain…is making her way back to right the wrongs that she was forced to be a part of. The years of hiding are coming to an end and everything lines up for her to take her revenge.

This was a great book you might as well grab the 3 books in this series, because you are going to want to know what happens next. Carissa Ann Lynch you’ve got me hooked! The writing flowed, the characters well drawn and the story explained clearly and concisely. I love this authors books.

If you like adult crime thrillers with great characters, then I recommend you get this series. You won’t regret it.