The Right Side

by Spencer Quinn

A deeply damaged female soldier home from the war in Afghanistan becomes obsessed with finding a missing girl, gains an unlikely ally in a stray dog, and encounters new perils beyond the combat zone.

LeAnne Hogan went to Afghanistan and came back missing an eye and with half her face badly scarred. She can barely remember the disastrous desert operation that almost killed her, and suspects the fault is hers. Shattered by the sudden death of her hospital roommate, Marci, LeAnne's native land is now unfamiliar, recast in shadow by her one good eye, her damaged psyche, her weakened body. Arriving in the rain-soaked small town in Washington State that Marci had called home, she learns her eight-year-old daughter has vanished. When a dark, unreadable dog seems to adopt LeAnne, a surprising connection is formed and something shifts inside her. Obsessed with finding Marci's daughter, LeAnne and her canine companion are drawn into danger.

• ISBN10: 1432839640
• ISBN13: 9781432839642
• Publish Date: 5 July 2017 (first published 14 June 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 20 December 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Thorndike Press Large Print
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 551
• Language: English

Reviews

[Mystereity Reviews]

See this and all of my reviews at Mystereity Reviews

Poignant, eloquent, and spellbinding!

Sgt. LeeAnn Hogan is at Walter Reed, recovering from the disfiguring wounds and trauma suffered in a failed military operation in Afghanistan. Disoriented, angry and scared, she takes solace in the friendship with her hospital roommate, Marci. When Marci's suddenly dies, it sends LeeAnn adrift; signing herself out of the hospital, she takes off to an uncertain future, deciding along the way to visit Marci's hometown in Washington State. When she arrives, she finds that Marci's daughter, Mia, has gone missing. Feeling a responsibility to help, Marci is compelled to help find the little girl, the last thread that binds her to her dead friend. Along the way, she's forced to confront herself and her demons and start the road back to her new life.

The Right Side will definitely be one of my top books of 2017! More suspense than mystery, it was an fantastic read, and so hard to sum up all the things that I loved without rambling on too long! The pace was perfect, taking just the right amount of time to set up the main character and her world, not only LeeAnn's mental state after she was wounded, but also snapshots of her formative years, providing a strong base for her reactions and experiences in the later part of the book, which made it feel more authentic and realistic. Superbly written, I was quickly drawn into LeeAnn's struggles, I couldn't help but admire her. Her pain, confusion and struggle is palpable, leaving me slightly uncomfortable (in a good way, if that's at all possible!) and so grittily realistic that it's almost like reading a true story. I loved that Goody is a reflection of LeeAnn herself, even if she doesn't recognize it. Tough, resolute and enigmatic, they make a perfect pair. The satisfyingly ambiguous ending left the door open for further adventures with LeeAnn and Goody, something I truly hope will come to be.