I'd Know You Anywhere

Prepare to be mesmerized, totally enthralled, and left with your mind questioning the meaning of true justice. Laura Lippman, author of the acclaimed Tess Monaghan series and last year's best selling Life Sentences, shows her mettle as a writer of intense, character driven, psychological dramas with the superb I'D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE. This is a story that will linger with you long after you've read the last page or heard the last word. Eliza Benedict is a seemingly unflappable mother of two living in suburban Maryland with her husband, Peter, and two children. The eldest is Isobel who has chosen to be called "Iso," although her father thinks it should be "Izzo" or people will see it as short for "isotope." She's a difficult teenager seeming to dislike everything since the family's return to America after six years in England. The Benedict son, 8-year-old Albie, is an affable child often plagued by nightmares. All seems relatively normal in the household until the day a letter arrives - a "real letter" as Iso calls it addressed to "Elizabeth," the name she used "before" as Eliza now terms it. The "before" refers to before she was kidnapped the summer she was 15 by Walter Bowman, held captive for almost six weeks and then raped before miraculously finding herself free. The letter is from Bowman who is now on Death Row for killing another young girl and suspected of killing more. He wants to talk to Elizabeth as he still calls her. Eliza has successfully managed to compartmentalize what happened to her that long ago summer. Peter knows about most of it, and the children know nothing. She believed that she had kept herself hidden from anyone connected with that event - from the unscrupulous writer who had penned a tacky version of her time with Bowman, from the press who might like to revive the story now that Bowman's execution date is nearing, and from Bowman himself. She fears not only for herself but for her family, yet she also finds that she unable to totally escape from the control Bowman once held over her. Why did he let her live while the other girls died? Did she owe him anything? Does she owe a debt to the families of the other victims? Eliza answers his letter hoping that will be the end of it, but he asks for a phone call. He knows what strings to pull just as she recognizes the terrifying sociopath he is and the man he believes himself to be. Alternating between past and present Lippman's story is scrupulously plotted as she details the affect the kidnappings have had not only on the victims and their families, but on others as well. These characters are clearly drawn, not only physically but psychologically as the story builds to a surprising denouement. Highly recommended. - Gail Cooke

I just finished this book and would highly recommend it. I found it to be a real pager turner. Elizabeth Lerner is the main character and is kidnapped by Walter early on in the book. What transpires from there is both exciting and disturbing. The story is told from the viewpoint of both Elizabeth and Walter. I really enjoyed the format as well as the information that was included. It appears that Laura Lippman really researched her book which made it all the more beieveable. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Elizabeth is a young woman, fifteen years old, who was in a classic wrong place at the wrong time, the place where a serial killer just finished burying a body. She sees the mound, the shovel, and the man and he's not likely to leave her where she stands. The position of this girl hardly ever seems to change for readers even as she is also an adult. It's hard not to think, "Run!" or "Why did you do that?" or "Well don't do that!" but she never runs away, never explains, and always goes ahead anyway. Eliza, as a wife and mother has buried her past, by moving away from it, changing her name, from Elizabeth to Eliza, later remaining unknown behind her married name, turning as far as possible from the young woman who was kidnapped and held hostage by the serial killer. She moved away from the questions, like why wasn't she killed like the others, why didn't she ask for help when she was alone, and why didn't she run when she had chances, why didn't she tell when Walter had a hostage with them and she was sent into a McDonald's alone? She walked away from a lot of questions. There are ways in which Lippman just makes it all fit together so beautifully. There are so many characters who are so beautifully drawn. When Elizabeth is looking into window reflections while she is on a walk, trying to catch herself as she looks, unposed, instead of posed and prepared for her reflection, she remembers her sister calling her nose a "pig snout." Then, "Elizabeth had asked her mother if she could have a nose job for her sixteenth birthday and her mother had been unable to speak for several seconds, a notable thing unto itself," as her mother is a psychiatrist. These moments help clarify a character and make them seem so much more real. Lippman moves amongst the characters with utter clarity and ease. They are drawn fairly and accurately; even when they are foolish, mean, arrogant, all are drawn with a sense of fairness that transcends the smallness of their beings. If anything, the character who is hardest to fathom is Eliza. She seems deceptive, even to herself, which leaves a lot for the reader to figure out. You always know what character you are reading and whether it is past or present, as the stories seem to be moving forward in a kind of parallel universe where they must collide. Laura Lippman sucks you into her novel in the first few pages and then spits you out at the other end when she is finished with you. She's just that good. It's impossible to start reading a Laura Lippman novel and walk away from it. Even while you aren't reading it, the characters, the dilemnas are still with you. Her writing, her characters, her story - all are engaging. Her books are always a surprise.

Other reviewers have synopsized the story beautifully, and I won't add to that. Cliff Notes version: Eliza Benedict was abducted when she was 15 years old. She is now an adult leading a good life, with a loving husband and two kids with strong interesting personalities. The main trauma that remains is the question: why did her abductor let her live, when he had killed all his other victims? Then Eliza receives a letter from her abductor - Walter Bowman. He saw her in a magazine article and said he would know her anywhere. He is on death row and wants to to talk to her. It's an excellent book, and I recommend it highly. Why? 10. Laura Lippman is a skillful writer, an artist who draws characters until you can almost hear them speak. Each of her standalone novels introduces us to people we would never know until we meet them on her pages. 9. What would it be like to be a kidnap victim? While I'd prefer to never know this on a personal level, the insights are intriguing and haunting. 8. The kids' characters, while incidental to the story, ring so true: a snippy haughty teenager who, while she could be stereotypical, is not and a younger son who could be a stereotypical cuddle-muffin but is not. 7. An interesting look/discussion of the death penalty. Is it right? Wrong? Want to change your opinion? Want to reinforce your opinion? Here are some thoughts. 6. The pacing. Lippman sucks you in. I rarely say, "I couldn't put it down." This time, well... I couldn't put it down. I ate and slept with the book until I finished. (If anyone wants to borrow it, I apologize for the food stains.) 5. The story. The victim of a kidnapper/spree killer is begged to meet with her kidnapper on death row. There's a story to suck you right in. 4. The characters you meet along the way: the mother of the last victim, Walter's bitter ex-teacher advocate who, while she claims to not be obsessed with him, is surely obsessed in some ways, a shoddy journalist/novelist... Then there's Eliza herself, who has re-invented herself... or has she? There are many to hold your interest. 3. Sensuous descriptions. By sensuous I don't mean romanticized. I mean you will feel them. 2. There's always a clever twist. A moment you didn't anticipate. 1. The fact that Lippman has another novel up her sleeve which will surely explore some new arena that hasn't been touched on before. I look forward to it.

Laura Lippmann is one of those extraordinary writers that rarely disappoints. She digs deep for her characters, and we come to know them very well. She does not skimp on her words, and she is able to find a way for her characters to wind their way into our minds and often our hearts. Eliza Benedict has a wonderful life. Two very independent children, a husband with a profession that keeps them well taken care of, and allows Eliza to stay home. They are just back from England and are settling into a town in Virginia. Eliza has found summer groups and camps to keep her children busy, and she is now trying to forget the English terms to become once again ingrained into the US culture. At least, her children remind her each day of words she seems to mix. And, then, the teenage years she has been trying to forget come crashing back into her life. She receives a letter from a man who kept her hostage for six weeks one summer, a summer she wants to forget. Walter Bowman, has written a letter to her. He is on death row, convicted for killing another young woman after he had let her go. He recognized Eliza from a picture of her and her husband in the paper. He wants to see her, he says and ends by saying 'Id Know You Anywhere.' What could he want? Eliza does not want anyone to dredge up her story for her children's sake, but she realizes that Bowman is a dangerous man and if ignored will only go further. Eliza and her husband stand firm, but she finally realizes she has no option but to see this man. And, truthfully, she has always wanted to know why he let her go. He has killed a young woman, and Eliza suspects he has killed more than one. She thinks Bowman is a serial killer, the worst kind of human. Can she bear to go deep and remember those terrible weeks? How will she ever tell her children? As she talks with Bowman, she finally understands he wants to go further than she is willing. Can she go back there? ELiza faces the world of the unknown and the places she prefers not to go. Bowman is a monster, and he deserves to die. Can she dredge up those years, and if she does, would she ever be able to sleep with the windows open? Can she get past her fear? This is a tremendously fascinating and harrowing novel. It brings us to our baser fears, and we wonder how would we deal? This may be one of Laura Lippman's best novels. It is based on a real story, but names and situations have been changed. The mystery belongs to us, could we go there? Highly Recommended. prisrob 8-01-10 What the Dead Know: A Novel Life Sentences: A Novel