An easy, entertaining summer read – perfect for sitting on the beach or by a pool.

Until the last 50 pages, “Alone” is a fast-paced, fun suspense/mystery that keeps the pages turning. There are three separate storylines running, each of them interesting and each of them to some extent connected. But then, about 50 pages from the end Gardner throws in a plot twist to try and explain a central mystery of the novel and the whole thing goes out the window. What had been an effortless, entertaining story until that point instead becomes cliched, overdrawn and full of amazingly overdone coincidences to reach the end of the story. It feels as if Gardner’s editor told her—well, Lisa, you’ve got 50 pages so let’s wrap this thing up and she did. A disappointing end to what was, up to that point, an entertaining novel.