The Book Review of
“Look For Me” by Lisa Gardner
I always learn something from reading Gardner’s books. It is apparent from her works that she conducts a great deal of research in forensic science and legal procedures, filters through a large amount of informative details and weaves the most interesting parts into her plot lines. I was initially drawn to her books by her characterization of strong, determined and resourceful female leads. As my reading journey continued, I found her books also opened a gateway of knowledge into a line of work I barely knew in real life. She introduced me to the life of a child psych ward nurse, a 911 dispatcher, a police trooper and even a female prisoner. The last, I know, is not a profession, but no less interesting to read about.
There are two recurring themes in Gardner’s writing: troubled childhood and trauma recovery.
Gardner on Child Welfare
In her D.D. Warren series, Gardner directs a spotlight at troubled children, calling attention to this particularly vulnerable group. This book “Look for Me” tells a story of foster kids, and severals other books in the same series also revolve around children born with or into difficult situations, such as children with physical disabilities (“Fear Nothing”), children with mental illnesses (“Live To Tell”), children of narcissistic parents (“Never Tell”) and children sexually abused by pedophilic predators (“Catch Me”).
Gardner’s thrillers are not only exciting reads, but also offer a kaleidoscopic view into various public facilities and services. The crime plots may be fictitious, but the story setting is built on solid research. Schools, hospitals, law enforcement, government agencies, social volunteer groups —— there seems to be no corner of the society that Gardner’s antenna have not reached, investigated and reported.
Reading her books, you can see the tremendous efforts put forth by all the honorable people in our society to protect the younger generation from perils, to nurture deprived children with public resources, to reconnect challenged children, and sometimes their desperate parents, into a social support network. But at the same time, you also see the devil of human nature rearing its ugly head in the depravity of abusive parents, pedophilic criminals and callous bystanders.
All adults were once children. When children grow up, they gain power. Some of them wield this power to protect and guard the younger generation, whereas some pour their anger and frustration onto the defenseless young, and some exploit the curiosity and dependency of children to act out their depraved fantasies. Generations after generations, the war between child protectors and child abusers goes on and children’s welfare depends on the adults on their side winning the war.
A central character of this book is a high school teenage girl who spent several years in foster care, and as the story unfolds, it touches on various aspects and working stages of the US foster care system. Foster kids usually have problematic biological parents, whose custodial rights are terminated by the state on the account of negligence or abuse. Only after the biological parents prove in court that they are mentally, physically and financially stable enough to provide responsible child care, could they win back the custody of their kids. Before that, the children would be placed in foster homes for the sake of their safety and welfare.
However, when put into practice, these laws and policies to protect children may not live up to same ideal by which they were drafted. If the foster home lacks monitoring and supervision, these children, already under distress, become even more susceptible to exploitation and abuse. During the challenging times of parent-child separation, if the foster home fails to provide solace and support, some of children would break down or go astray. Feeling undeserved and unloved, they use drugs, alcohol, unprotected sex to sabotage their physical and mental well-being. Feeling lost in a hostile, estranged world, they join criminal activities to find a sense of community and belonging.
Gardner on Feminism
Another thing I always like about Gardner’s books is how she features strong female characters. In this book, Flora Dane, an abduction survivor (first introduced in “Find Her ”), trains herself to be a vigilante and organizes a support group to offer consultation for other victims. Sara, another survivor from a killing spree, joins Flora’s support group and uses her computer knowledge to help locate a missing girl.
It’s really refreshing to read stories of how female survivors of rape, kidnap and violence regain the control of their life and start to feel strong and powerful again. The survivors study self-defense skills from lock-picking to chemical burning, take on training courses in shooting, kick-boxing and running, bond with other determined survivors, and together form a formidable combat force to destroy the bad guys.
I always like the stories of victims turning into revengers. In a world where all women face constant threats of male violence, these stories tell women that they are not passive and powerless. The stories say that for those who are disgraced, tortured and brutalized, there is a way out of victimhood, and it is not by waiting, begging and praying. Her inner peace is not gifted to her by an omnipotent God, neither does it come back to her spontaneously as time goes by. To reclaim her control of life, she has to believe in her own strength and shrewdness. She has to plan, prepare, strategize, and take revenge on the offenders, rapists and kidnappers. She has to rack her brain to outsmart those who wronged her and hold on to a determination to fight till winning.
