A thrilling page turner set in the frozen north about a killer who rides the rails. Liked this one a lot. Wish there had been more Ronda and Mila on the trains! ( )

The Forgotten Girls by Owen Laukkanen is a fast-paced and spellbinding police procedural about a hunt for a serial killer preying on woman on the fringe of society (runaways, prostitutes, etc). Although this is latest release is the sixth installment in the Stevens & Windermere series, it can easily be read as a standalone.

FBI Agent Carla Windermere and BCA Agent Kirk Stevens are called in to investigate a man, Mark Higgins, who has a picture of a dead woman on his cell phone. He says he has no idea how the picture ended up on his phone and when Stevens and Windermere learn the dead woman was found by the railroad tracks in Idaho, they decide to investigate the odd series of events. They quickly discover there have been rumors of serial killer (known as the "Ghost Rider") who preys on women not far from the High Line-the trains that run between Chicago, IL and Seattle, WA. With the help of local Deputy Sheriff Kerry Finley, Kirk and Carla have identified twenty-five dead women who are most likely the victims of the ghost rider and they are hot on the trail of the killer and an at risk young woman they have identified as Mila, a friend of the last victim. With a massive winter storm bearing down on them, Kirk, Carla and Kerry are one step behind the elusive killer who is very much at home in the vast wilderness that serves as his home and his hunting grounds.

Carla and Kirk's investigation picks up steam immediately as they figure out how the picture of the deceased girl ended up on the stranger's cell phone. Using the other photos that Mark insists he did not take, they are able to track her travels, as well as those of her friend, Mila. Realizing almost immediately that Mila is in grave danger, they quickly issue a bulletin for the railroad bulls and workers to be on the look-out for her. Carla's boyfriend, Agent Derek Mathers, puts his computer skills to work and uses the various photos' metadata to pinpoint Mila's whereabouts. Tracking her movements, Kirk and Carla soon realize that Mila has figured out the identity of the ghost rider, but will they find her and the killer before it is too late?

A solid police procedural with an unusual storyline, The Forgotten Girls is a pulse-pounding mystery that is quite enthralling. Once Windermere and Stevens know the killer's identity, the manhunt is quickly thwarted by the weather and the vast territory they must cover during their search. Tracking a diabolical killer who is intimately familiar with the terrain is a herculean task but Kirk and Carla know they have to capture the ghost rider before he permanently disappears into the wilderness. Old and new fans of the clever investigative team in the Stevens & Windermere series are going to love this latest high-octane thriller by Owen Laukkanen. ( )

A serial killer is stalking women in the remote corners of the northwest. He works the train tracks, which pass through punishing territory. It's territory where people sometimes succumb to the elements, and where the unattached can go missing. A young runaway is one of many victims, but there is a difference. First, someone cares enough to come looking. Second, a stolen cell phone remains connected to the original owner's cloud, and sees the killer's uploaded pictures of the latest victim. Enter the FBI. Agents Stevens and Windermere pursue the killer in the depth of Montana winter. The weather is punishing, but he's still killing.

This is a book about catching a killer. It's not really about figuring out who the killer is- the agents figure that out reasonably quickly. Rather, this is about the physical act of tracking down a fugitive. The environment is fascinating, the killer is smart, and the hunt literally crosses the entirety of the United States. This was a suspenseful read that kept me turning the pages. ( )

The Synopsis
This is the sixth in a series of books by Laukanenen following detectives, Stevens and Windermere. In this installment, we are hopping on a train.

Kirk Stevens and Carla Windermere are on the hunt of a killer, known as the Ghost Rider. This is a person that hops along the High Line, traveling to and from as he wishes. He preys on the forgotten girls – runaways, prostitutes, girls who most likely have no one waiting on them. This man has been doing this for years, but local authorities never made the connection to a serial killer. It was believed that they were all separate instances, blaming the bad weather on most of the killings. Stevens and Windermere, with the help of those in-the-know of the train hopping, are able to piece together a series of deaths and learn that most, if not all of these, are linked to one person. And they have to find him.

Told from multiple perspectives, we get this story from the POV of the detectives, as well as Mila, a runaway who is on the hunt for the Ghost Rider after he killed her friend (she blames herself for the death and wants to avenge her friend). And in some instances, we are able to look inside the mind of the killer himself.

The Review
I enjoyed this book. I am a huge fan of thrillers but do not tend to read many cop thrillers, like this one could be labeled. I did not realize until after receiving the book that it was sixth in a series, which made me nervous going in. However, this is definitely a stand alone book; the only negative here is that there is little to no background on the detectives, Stevens and Windermere, but you are able to get a grasp of who they are throughout the book.

The story was an interesting premise: a serial killer that uses the trains to find his victims. This is a man who thinks that women owe him something and he assumes that just because they are women, they have used their feminine traits to screw men over in the past. He finds that it is his duty to teach them something. The women he chooses (for the most part) are waitresses at bars, prostitutes that hang around bars, and runaways he finds on the trains. He is able to sneak through unnoticed by locals and doesn’t stay long enough to really make himself stand out.

I thought this was well written and did well with the multiple perspectives. I found the plot progression to be believable, however I felt the story to be a little long. There is a part that you think Hey, this is it!, but then you realize there are a lot of pages left and we have more to go. While this is probably more believable in regards to hunting down a person, I think cutting out the second ending and giving the first ending (if you will) a bigger bang could have been beneficial.

I enjoyed the characters while reading this, but now that I am sitting down and writing this review, I am having a hard time recalling names. This realization that they really have not stuck with me makes me wonder how well the characters really were developed.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book and am considering checking out the first in this series, to see if it would be something I would like to look into more. If you are a fan of thrillers, and specifically like ones that have a lot of discussion about the background information in a case, this would definitely be a book to check out! ( )

He is a serial killer that has been well trained in mountain survival techniques by the military. He has been unlucky in love and is now obsessed with the mindset that all women hate him. No one will give him his chance. He preys on young woman that he thinks will not be missed by society. He rides the High Line, the trains that route through the northwestern United States in the roughest weather; blizzards, mega-snow and unspeakably low temperatures. When FBI agents Stevens and Windemere get a whiff of the existence of this "shadow, " they are relentless in their pursuit. I loved it. If you are looking for a theme with strong women who show their stuff, this one is for you. My thanks to the author and the Penguin First to Read program for a complimentary copy. ( )