The Perfect Witness

by Iris Johansen

When Teresa Casali was young she discovered she had a strange gift: the ability to read people's memories. But the gift seemed more like a curse as her mob boss father used her to gain the upper hand in his world of corruption and violence. Exposed by her own family to the darkest impulses of mankind, Teresa is alone and unprotected. She realizes that if she is to survive, she has to run. Out of nowhere, or so she believes, a man by the name of Andre Mandak appears. He kills her pursuers -- but that's not nearly enough for Teresa to trust him. It is his promise to get her into Witness Protection, along with his mind-blowing ability to help her control her gift before it consumes her, that convinces Teresa Casali to become Allie Girard. Living a normal life with a new family, she shuts the door to the past... although Mandak is clear: when the time is right, he too will benefit from her powers. For years Allie flourishes, until the day her cover is blown and the truth comes tumbling out. Once again she is on the run, with her own life and those of her loved ones at stake. But this time she will not be a pawn. This time she will use her finely honed gift to end the threat that began with her family's betrayal. From perfect target to perfect witness, Allie Girard is ready to take on the past even if it kills her.

• ISBN10: 1250020050
• ISBN13: 9781250020055
• Publish Date: 30 September 2014 (first published 1 September 2014)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 23 August 2021
• Imprint: St. Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

This book and me were not a good match. I'm beginning to wonder if Iris Johansen and I are a good reader/author match.
I mean, apart from the problematic relationship between the hero and heroine (she's 16 and he's an experienced adult) and the dodgy power dynamic going on between them (I mean he fixes some of her mental trauma) and the man-eating tiger owning bad guy it's not a terrible read. It just kept giving me a deep feeling of unease throughout. I didn't actually really enjoy the read and standing back from it I'm not 100% sure I want to read another book by the author. Some of her unquestioned assumptions aren't mine and I'm not sure they're what I want in my reading life.
The story opens with the 16 year old Teresa Casali running away from home and the armed thugs who want to stop her. She runs into Andre Mandak who saves her and offers her a chance at a second life as Allie Girard and a family to care for her. Horrible things happen again and again and they're forced to take the fight to darkest Africa (well actually whitest Africa) and the characters never really came alive to me. I didn't really care if they lived or died and the story just drifted to it's conclusion and I was left feeling that there was more that could have been done with the premise and the characters.