Her Last Day is the
first novel of a new series by T.R. Ragan. She is known for
writing riveting thrillers whose antagonist always seems to
be a gruesome serial killer. The three sub-plots throughout
the story are brilliantly weaved together.
The plot has Sacramento California private investigator Jessie
Cole drawn to detective work after her sister Sophie disappeared
ten years ago. Reporter Ben Morrison who wants to write a
series of articles on the still-missing Sophie approaches
her. He feels somehow connected to Sophie after seeing her
on a TV show about unsolved mysteries. He is hoping that finding
her will help him regain his memory that was lost in a horrific
car accident a decade ago. Besides finding out what happens
to her sister, Jessie is raising her niece, facing charges
for shooting a stalker, and is hired to find a mentally unstable
girl who is somehow connected to the serial murderer, the
Heartless Killer.
This novel explores many different types of illnesses, another
signature of the author. She noted, “In this book, there
is a character, Zee, who has schizophrenia. I wanted to explore
the different levels because after taking her medication she
functions normally. I also delve into Retrograde Amnesia,
which is what Ben was diagnosed with after the car accident.
Retrograde Amnesia is when the person does not remember anything
before the incident. With the other types of amnesia, people
are able to remember most of their past but have a hard time
with short-term memory. What Ben has is almost the direct
opposite.”
The characters in the book are extremely well developed. People
are able to sympathize with Ben, yet they also have some misgivings
about him. Jessie is the poster child for the song in the
Annie play, “It’s The Hard Knock Life.”
She is impulsive, compassionate, caring, stubborn, and way
too serious. Her mother left her when she was very young,
her father is an alcoholic, her sister was always in and out
of trouble, and then she disappeared leaving Jessie to bring
up her niece.
On the other hand, the antagonist, The Heartless Killer, is
very creepy. He has the traits of being controlling, manipulative,
and very dominating. What he does to his victims is extremely
horrific and he gets off on making sure they suffer. He could
sing the song, “Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me;” although
he is about the only one who would. Ragan spends a lot of
time writing these types of evildoers. “For some reason,
the easiest scenes to write were the ones with the serial
killer. For me, the creepiest scene in the book is when he
threw apples at the injured girl who is practically crippled.
Readers tell me they will never go to the setting of my books,
Sacramento because that is where all the serial killers live.”
The plot of this novel takes off from the very beginning and
never lets up. There are so many twists and turns that readers
could get whiplash. Ragan really knows to captivate her readers
and keep their interest level high.
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