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I'd Know You Anywhere

by Laura Lippman (Goodreads Author)

3.45 of 5 stars 3.45 · rating details · 9,826 ratings · 1,453 reviews

Eliza Benedict cherishes her peaceful, ordinary suburban life with her successful husband and children, thirteen-year-old Iso and eight-year-old Albie. But her tranquillity is shattered when she receives a letter from the last person she ever expects—or wants—to hear from: Walter Bowman.

There was your photo, in a magazine. Of course, you are older now. Still, I'd know you...more

Kindle Edition, 388 pages

Published September 17th 2010 by Harper Collins, Inc. (first published January 1st 2010)

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Community Reviews

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Jun 01, 2011 Angela rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really, Stephen King? "The best suspense novel of the year?" I read this book based on King's recommendation in Entertainment Weekly but, wow, NOT suspenseful, at least in the way that I feel suspense should work: fascinating premise, bread crumb trail of hints and insights, increased anxiety and second-guessing until, pow, the big reveal! Was the premise of the novel a good one? Yes. A woman who was kidnapped as a teenager is contacted by her kidnapper 20 years later, months before his schedule...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Kristen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

I originally bought this book off a discount pile only because the back cover copy was so well written, I thought I'd keep it around for my copywriter's swipe file.

It turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I like Lippman's easy style and her psychological insights into character. I like the questions she's raising: what does it say about you if a killer who murdered other girls took you but let you live as his temporary companion? Is it something to be grateful about? Does it mean something? If i...more

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Aug 10, 2010 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, vine-program, mystery, read-in-2010

In the summer of 1985, Elizabeth Lerner spent 39 days held hostage by Walter Bowman.

Years later, she's changed her name, married and built out a life for herself as Eliza Benedict. But all of that is about to change when a letter from Walter shows up at her house. Walter was tried and convicted of the death of a victim he took while he held Eliza captive and is facing execution in a few weeks. The letter came as the result of Eliza's photograph appearing in the society section of a local magazi...more In the summer of 1985, Elizabeth Lerner spent 39 days held hostage by Walter Bowman.

Years later, she's changed her name, married and built out a life for herself as Eliza Benedict. But all of that is about to change when a letter from Walter shows up at her house. Walter was tried and convicted of the death of a victim he took while he held Eliza captive and is facing execution in a few weeks. The letter came as the result of Eliza's photograph appearing in the society section of a local magazine that Walter read in prison.

Laura Lippman's latest novel is another stand-alone novel. While it would be easily classify it as a mystery story, "I'd Know You Anywhere" is something richer, deeper and far more satisfying than your standard "who done it?" mystery novel. Continuing a theme from many of her standalone works, Lippman explores the impact a crime has upon the characters in the story.

Lippman carefully crafts the story, expertly weaving in the events unfolding in the current time line as well as supplying information and flashbacks on what happened during Walter and Eliza's time together. Walter took Elizabeth captive when she stumbles across him burying his last victim (she doesn't see anything, just a man in the woods) and the two spend 39 days on the road together before Walter kidnapped and killed his final victim.

"I'd Know You Anywhere" asks the question of whether Eliza was a victim or an unwitting accomplice to Walter's crimes. The relationship between the two is fascinating as are the reasons that Eliza fears trying to leave Walter and what his retribution might be.

Also of interest is how the crime affects Elizabeth in the years following the events. As we meet the modern day Eliza, we see that the crime and those weeks have had an impact on her family, her friends and her relationships. Eliza's pre-teen daughter begins showing signs of rebellion and the struggle of what to tell her children and how much of what happened is a fascinating struggle.

If you've heard the buzz surrounding Laura Lippman and are curious as to why so many of us look forward to her latest offering, devouring it within hours of picking it up, "I'd Know You Anywhere" is a great starting point to discover the woman who could be your next favorite writer. (less)

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Jan 30, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-reviewed

This was actually better than I expected it to be, but it was still not as good as it could have been, which makes me sad. More 2.5, I guess, but I'm giving it a 2 because I'm a fussbudget.

So, good points! The protagonist bordered on a level of passivity that was almost annoying, but not quite, and she actually grew as a person throughout the course of the novel. Yay!

There was a semi-decent tension running throughout the book, although unfortunately the author did drop this a few times and I sta...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Ethan rated it 4 of 5 stars

After seeing this book on Stephen King's Best of 2010 list for EW, I became curious about this novel. Most reviews I read prior to beginning this story were mixed at best, so I really wanted to read this and form my own opinion.

In the mid 80's, young Elizabeth is abducted by an insecure young man named Walter. Unlike his previous victims, who were quickly raped and killed, Elizabeth travels with Walter for nearly forty days, and is only raped once. While traveling with Walter, Elizabeth witness...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Lara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

Book 30 of 2011

I was a little tentative going into this book. I'd read one Lippman before, and while I liked it, I think it was pushed a little too far for my tastes. It was as though Lippman wanted to incorporate every possible plot twist she had ever thought of into a singular book. This book was much, much better. This book really drew me in, made me think, made me argue with myself. I like that in a book.

I like that the story flips back and forth between the present day, and 1985. I enjoyed...more

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Dec 13, 2011 Wyma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-4-or-5-stars

So far I'm finding it hard to put down. Very compelling character, plot and writing.

Done. SPOILER ALERT!

This book is the story of "a nice person," as Ms. Lippman herself
put it, and Eliza's story is full of the sort of suspense that keeps you turning the pages. Slowly and deliciously, Eliza's past is revealed as it invades her current, lovely and almost perfect life.

Eliza had been kidnapped when she was fifteen and kept alive by a compulsive serial killer, who on death row wants to come back i...more

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Dec 24, 2011 Vanessa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bookmarks, read-in-2011

The premise of this novel was enough to hook me (along with the good reviews and the reputation of the author): Elizabeth Lerner, now a suburban wife and mother, receives a letter from Walter Bowman, the man who abducted and raped her when she was a teenager and is now on death row. After seeing her picture in a Washington DC paper, his letter includes the strange and inappropriately familiar observation "I'd know you anywhere." Elizabeth is horrified but also morbidly fascinated as she was his...more The premise of this novel was enough to hook me (along with the good reviews and the reputation of the author): Elizabeth Lerner, now a suburban wife and mother, receives a letter from Walter Bowman, the man who abducted and raped her when she was a teenager and is now on death row. After seeing her picture in a Washington DC paper, his letter includes the strange and inappropriately familiar observation "I'd know you anywhere." Elizabeth is horrified but also morbidly fascinated as she was his only victim who survived. The rest, an unknown number of teenage girls, were all killed shortly after he abducted them but Elizabeth was his hostage for 2 months before being rescued during a routine traffic stop. Through a series of events, including some badgering from a particularly odious prisoners' rights advocate, she is drawn into communicating with her kidnapper who is now facing down his looming death sentence for the rape and murder of his last victim, taken when Elizabeth herself was still his hostage.

This book in other hands (take your Jodi Picoult for example) could have turned into a Lifetime movie spec but Lippman, a former reporter and the wife of David Simon (the creator of "The Wire") has a lot more on her mind. This is a novel that covers topics ranging from the death penalty, the reliability of childhood memories and eyewitness testimony, the flaws and illogic of the justice system, and the unsavory but undeniable relationship between victim and perpetrator. Despite all of this, it's not a screed for or against the death penalty. What it is is a story about how that crime's effects progressively rippled out amongst a group of people including Elizabeth, her family, the parents of one of the murdered girls, and even Walter himself. There's also the question of what Walter wants from Elizabeth now and exactly what happened on the night that the last girl died including the uneasy question of what exactly was Elizabeth's involvement. As much as I disliked a lot of the characters in the book, I had to read the last 150 pages at once to find out.

If I had any complaints, it's that Elizabeth's character is at times almost too polite and too eager to avoid conflict. One event in particular involving someone essentially stalking and badgering Elizabeth as she walked her children to school made me think even someone that taciturn would be motivated at that point to pepper spray a bitch.

If you are looking for an action-packed thriller, look elsewhere and don't feel guilty. Come back to this novel when you are in the mood for a book that will make you keep thinking about it long after you are done.(less)

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Jun 01, 2012 Teresa Lukey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: didn-t-see-that-coming, inspirational, omg, kept-me-wondering, 4-stars

I definitely wavered between 3 and 4 stars on this one, but after letting it stew for a while, I decided it's a solid 4. The story was very creepy no doubt about it, but Eliza's lack of interest in doing anything more than the basics bothered me, probably because I, personally, have a hard time not taking charge.

Eliza was kidnapped by Walter Bowman when she was 15, the only know girl to have survived a Walter kidnapping. After being held captive for 5 weeks during which Walter killed another gir...more

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Apr 30, 2011 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When Eliza Benedict was fifteen years old, she was kidnapped. She was held prisoner for about six weeks. Eliza is all grown up and has a family. Eliza has tried to put the past behind her as much as she can. That is until, Eliza receives a letter that says…”There was your photo, in a magazine. Of Course, you are older now. Still, I’d know you anywhere.” The letter is signed by Walter Bowman. As if Eliza could ever forget the name Walter Bowman. With Walter’s letter, stirs painful emotions from E...more

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Mar 02, 2013 Jandy James added it · review of another edition

A psych-suspence novel. I grabbed the audio version at the library never having heard of the author or the book and was pleasantly surprised. 40-something year old Eliza and her family coped and moved on as best they could after Eliza was abducted and held for 39 days at age 15. Now the abductor is about to receive Capital Punishment - death - for murdering two other girls and Eliza is thrown into a position of being forced to take those potted-off memories out and re-look at and even re-write t...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Jane Stewart rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

It was enjoyable but I can’t say I “really liked it.” The weakest part was the plot resolution - kind of a nonevent.

The author does nice dialogue. Draws good pictures of interesting characters. I was intrigued with Eliza’s older sister Vonnie and Eliza’s daughter Iso. Vonnie and Iso were mean. Vonnie pinched Eliza as a baby and did other hurtful things as they were growing up. Iso lied, bullied, and stole. They were a contrast from Eliza who floated through life reacting to things. Eliza was not...more It was enjoyable but I can’t say I “really liked it.” The weakest part was the plot resolution - kind of a nonevent.

The author does nice dialogue. Draws good pictures of interesting characters. I was intrigued with Eliza’s older sister Vonnie and Eliza’s daughter Iso. Vonnie and Iso were mean. Vonnie pinched Eliza as a baby and did other hurtful things as they were growing up. Iso lied, bullied, and stole. They were a contrast from Eliza who floated through life reacting to things. Eliza was not a take charge person. That was probably why Walter didn’t kill her. At age 15 she was kidnaped and held for 39 days. He told her he would kill her family if she didn’t do what he asked, and she believed him. She had many chances to run or ask for help, but she didn’t. She could not rescue herself.

About half the story is current day and half 1985. In current day Walter is on death row and makes contact with Eliza wanting her to do something for him. We don’t learn until the end of the book what that is. The publisher’s blurb says “a terrible truth that Eliza kept buried inside.” I didn’t see that. There was no terrible truth. I saw it more as will Eliza do what he asks, or will she not, and why? There is not much plot to this book, other than watching the 1985 kidnaping. Much of the story is watching Eliza think about the past and what she knows.

We are told Walter killed other girls. I wanted to know more about those.

Walter is good looking but after a moment of interaction, women avoid him as if they are repulsed. It had to do with him looking away when a normal person would look at you. And he looks at you or your body when a normal person would not. That intrigued me. I needed to know more. I wanted to know what was going through their minds when women and girls interacted with him and rejected him.

Although Vonnie and Iso were secondary characters, I wanted more done with them. I wanted to see them change or something redeeming. If not, I wanted to see them get pay back for their meanness. But that was not what this book was about. At the end of the book, I felt an emptiness, something unfinished, about them.

I did not like jumping around in time. Some of it was ok when a large chunk of time is spent in 1985 and then a large chunk in current day. But jumping around within one day annoyed me. For example. X arrives at Eliza’s house but Eliza is not home. The daughter Iso lets X in to wait inside. The scene switches to Eliza who is at a meeting at school. The scene switches to Walter in prison pondering things. The scene switches to Eliza and her husband that night. The scene switches back to the afternoon when Eliza returns home from her school meeting and talks to X.

The narrator Linda Emond is one of the better ones. Her voice is calm and pleasant to the ear. Her pauses and interpretations are good.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Unabridged audiobook length: 11 hrs and 11 mins. Swearing language: none that I recall. Sexual language: the f word used once. Number of sex scenes: one rape scene briefly described, no explicit details. Setting: current day and 1985 mostly Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. area. Book copyright: 2010. Genre: mystery.(less)

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Jan 03, 2013 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'll tell you right up front that I'm a big fan of Laura Lippman and her stand-alones. Every Secret Thing was terrific as were several of her others. I'd Know You Anywhere? Not so much.

After spending six years in England with her husband and two children, Eliza Benedict seems ordinary enough, a woman coping with a demanding teenage daughter and a much more tractable younger son. But all is not as it seems. A letter from a convict on death row shatters Eliza's world. The man kidnapped Eliza when...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Sharla rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book, and it was another one I devoured with interest to find out more about the characters, the past, and their story. Lippman's prose is eloquent in a manner that I don't see frequently, and I found myself re-reading and relishing some of the passages and descriptions. I dog-eared this one a lot! Outside of the prose, it's a well crafted story of how the past rides alongside us, sometimes to the point of being a burdensome weight.

Some of my favorite passages:

"Her own days...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Neena rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: awardwinning-mysteries, psychological-mystery-thriller

Somehow whatever mystery book I read nowdays I end up giving it 1 or 2 stars. This book was no exception. The main protagonist Eliza was so passive. It was easy to understand her passivity at the time of her abduction as she was only 15, just a child in so many ways but later as a mother and a grown up woman I could not understand her being so submissive all the time. As a person who survived that tragic situation, she ought to possess some fire in her atleast later in life as a grown up.

Her pa...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Julie (julie37619) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When this one came out two years ago it was all over the book blogs I enjoy (seriously? I've been part of the blogging world long enough to say that?) and it's the first time that Laura Lippman really appeared on my radar. Eliza has a nice home, two kids, a great husband, and a past she'd like to forget. As a child, she was kidnapped by a serial killer and held hostage for six weeks. She was the only one of his victims to survive and her testimony led to his death row conviction. As his executio...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't usually give five stars to genre fiction. But Lippman does something really unique with this thriller, fleshing out characters completely in a stand-alone book, rather than taking multiple volumes for readers to connect with fully realized people. She can tell us an entire story about someone in a single paragraph, using metaphors, examples, remembered anecdotes, song titles and descriptive bits. Stephen King was right--it's amazing fiction, a delicious read.

I would imagine that most thr...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Angela Risner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had never read any of Lippman's books, but this was a recommendation by Amazon and the blurb sold me.

The story follows Eliza, who is a married mother of two. She and her husband recently moved back to the US from London. Eliza is shocked to receive a letter from the man who kidnapped and raped her the summer she was 15. He's now on death row for the murder of another kidnapped girl, Holly.

The reason that he didn't murder Eliza (then known as Elizabeth) is because she followed everything he sai...more

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May 15, 2012 MonsterReader marked it as books-that-i-need-to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: have-high-hopes, hooked-by-summary

"Eliza Benedict cherishes her peaceful, ordinary suburban life with her successful husband and children, thirteen-year-old Iso and eight-year-old Albie. But her tranquility is shattered when she receives a letter from the last person she ever expects—or wants—to hear from: Walter Bowman.
"There was your photo, in a magazine. Of course, you are older now. Still, I'd know you anywhere."

In the summer of 1985, when she was fifteen, Eliza was kidnapped by Walter and held hostage for almost six weeks....more

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Apr 07, 2012 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

I took my first cruise in February 2012, and I had to take the opportunity to utilize the ship's library. That's how I came across this book by Laura Lippman.

The premise really intrigued me. Eliza Benedict is kidnapped as a teenager is able to escape from her captor who is ultimately arrested for kidnapping and murdering other teenage girls. She grows up, gets married and has kids, and doesn't share this part of her past with her family. Everything changes when her captor, Walter Bowman, sees he...more

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Mar 11, 2012 CJ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think if Laura Lippman wrote the phone book, it would be interesting and I would read it. I find her words so easy to read and the stories she tells so evocative that I find myself wishing she would either write faster or drop by so we could sit on my deck, drink beer, and talk.

I'd Know You Anywhere is creepy. The premise of the story is a serial killer who contacts the only victim he left alive many years after their encounter. Lippman slips back and forth in time to tell the story of the kid...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman is deprived of any strong detail and lacks creative finesse. Lippman takes a good story, derived from a true crime, and churns out a lengthy novel that leaves the reader “bummed out” by the last page. Lacking any true emotional attachment to the key themes, characters, and ending, Lippman fails to develop the novel as a rich and satisfying adventure. Instead, Lippman chooses to use direct characterization to tell the reader everything he or she needs to kn...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Jenna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-of-2011, from-the-library

More of a 3.5, but definitely not a 4.

The thing that drove me batty about this book was the APATHY of the main character, Eliza. I guess that I like my protagonists with a little more fire, especially when they've been through a life altering and traumatic experience. I was frustrated with how she just seemed so accepting of everything and everyone's opinion of her, even though she kept lamenting how she was sick of people assuming things about her. And yet, when confronted time and again with p...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Cecilia Solis-sublette rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a quick, yet interesting read about the people who hold influence in our lives. In the case of Eliza, the most powerful influence in her life was the man who kidnapped her at 15. This is about how he caused her to forever doubt herself, to forever question here motives/decisions. The question, then, becomes who is prisoner and who is free? And while Eliza is the main character of this novel, there are other interesting characters whose motives must also be questioned, Peter - for one -...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Ariel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

I thought I'd ordered this in book form from the library and was surprised when it arrived as CD's. This turned out to be a happy accident because I had never listened to a book on CD before. After popping it in the CD player I found I enjoyed it a lot. It gave me a chance to get to another book. Since I have to ferry my daughter to school and various after school activities as I able to get through the book quite quickly and it made boring car trips more interesting. The theme of rape and some...more I thought I'd ordered this in book form from the library and was surprised when it arrived as CD's. This turned out to be a happy accident because I had never listened to a book on CD before. After popping it in the CD player I found I enjoyed it a lot. It gave me a chance to get to another book. Since I have to ferry my daughter to school and various after school activities as I able to get through the book quite quickly and it made boring car trips more interesting. The theme of rape and some profanity did not make this appropriate to listen to when my daughter was with me however. The book was quite easy to follow and kept my attention. Although the book was read slower than I normally read, I found the readers voice that she gave to the various characters to be enjoyable. I will definitely try another book on CD soon.

The story is about a woman named Eliza Benedict who is living the suburban dream life with her loving husband and two children in a dream house. One day she receives a letter from death row from Walter Bowman, the man who raped her when she was 15 and known as Elizabeth. The rest of the story moves back and forth in time between when Elizabeth was 15 and the present time. All of her life Eliza and the rest of the world is consumed with the question why of all of Walters victims Eliza was the one who was allowed to live. Eliza has to eventually decide if she is willing to meet with Walter so she can get some kind of closure before his execution and finally close the door to the past. Walter has his own motives for wanting to meet with Eliza and let's just say prison has not changed him for the better. The plot line involving Eliza's daughter Isis and some sort of bullying problem seemed like an after thought as it was not really part of Eliza and Walters story. I don't understand why that was tacked on. The character of Holly Tacketts mother was especially moving. She is broken by why her perfect daughter was murdered while Eliza was allowed to live. The character Barbra Lafortuny is a bit of a mystery to me. She was a victim herself but she is willing to run around for Walter and do all of his dirty work. I enjoyed the somewhat complicated relationship between Eliza and her sister Vonnie. When push came to shove Vonnie was willing to put aside their differences in order to stand up for Eliza. Laura Lippman does an exceptional job of developing all of the many characters in this story.

This book will really make you think about your stand on the death penalty. As the character Barbra LaFortuny points out you say that killing is wrong so you punish people by killing them. Walter is so awful though that anyone would have a hard time arguing that he should be able to live on earth with the rest of the human race. After 20 years he has not changed a bit from the selfish person who thinks he alone has the right to decide if someone should live or die. Whatever your stand on the death penalty this book will make you rethink i(less)

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Jul 05, 2011 drey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, mystery-suspense-and-thriller

Eliza is happy to be an anonymous suburban mother with a temperamental teenager and a sweet eight-year-old. Then one day a letter shows up and throws her into a tizzy, raking up memories of her past--one where she'd been kidnapped by a serial killer and lived to tell the tale. And now he's found her from behind bars, but why?

I'd Know You Anywhere starts with Walter trying to get a girlfriend, then swings between Eliza's current day and her time with Walter. It's a tense tale, told in spare langu...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, conversati-ohm

Eliza Benedict has the distinction of being "the one that got away". She was kidnapped by serial killer Walter Bowman in 1985 when she was fifteen years old and was held hostage for six weeks. She's always wondered why she was the only girl that Walter left alive. Eliza is now married with two children. One day she receives a letter out of the blue from Walter, who is now on death row for his crimes. Will she finally find out why Walter spared her? Or is Walter still manipulating her all these y...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Patricia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Eliza Benedict and her family have recently moved back to the United States after living several years in England. The move was brought about by Eliza’s husband’s employment. The children are just adjusting to the move. Eliza’s daughter Isobel (Iso) and her son Albie are in new schools and attempting to get used to life in the states after being gone so long.

Eliza’s ordinary life is suddenly interrupted when she receives a letter from Walter Bowman, a death row inmate. Walter had spotted Eliza’s...more Eliza Benedict and her family have recently moved back to the United States after living several years in England. The move was brought about by Eliza’s husband’s employment. The children are just adjusting to the move. Eliza’s daughter Isobel (Iso) and her son Albie are in new schools and attempting to get used to life in the states after being gone so long.

Eliza’s ordinary life is suddenly interrupted when she receives a letter from Walter Bowman, a death row inmate. Walter had spotted Eliza’s picture in a magazine and his letter states “I’d know you anywhere”. Walter had kidnapped Eliza when she was only 15 years old. Walter held Eliza hostage for40 days before she was finally released. This is a part of Eliza’s life that she hasn’t shared with her children.

Eliza’s full name was Elizabeth Hortense Lerner prior to her marriage. After her abduction, her parents moved and she entered a new school under the name of Eliza. Only her parents, her sister Vonnie and Eliza’s husband are aware of the past circumstances until a woman who has taken up Walter’s cause finds Eliza and encourages her to talk to Walter. Eliza finally decides after discussing the matter with her husband that she will speak with Walter. She installs a new telephone line and instructs Walter that the only hours she will be willing to answer the phone is during the time her children are away at school. Walter wants Eliza to visit him on death row. Eliza isn’t the only girl he kidnapped but she is the one who lived. He indicates if she will only visit him, he will reveal information to her about the other that he has previously refused to discuss.

The story of the kidnapping is told in flashbacks. It seems there were many times Eliza had the opportunity to escape but fear that Walter would carry out his threats to harm Eliza’s family held her back. Eliza remembers the many days she was held by Walter and her methods of coping with a horrible situation.

This is a book that I very much enjoyed and would highly recommend.

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May 16, 2011 Nanci rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: realistic-adult, suspense

A chilling, yet compelling story of two people--a socially awkward, narcissistic young man who is attracted to women but can't seem to charm them. Walter takes to driving lonely country roads and finds young women alone that he then kidnaps, rapes and kills. He feels that he was forced to kill them and engages in this activity for several years without being discovered.

Finally he kidnaps 15 year old Elizabeth and keeps her hostage for several weeks traveling and camping with her. After adding an...more

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May 02, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When Elizabeth Lerner was fifteen, something horrible happened to her: she was kidnapped by a serial killer. She was held hostage for nearly 6 weeks. She was beaten and raped. But she wasn’t killed. He killed girls before he kidnapped her, he killed girls after he kidnapped her. He did not kill Elizabeth. She has never known why.

Walter Bowman is scheduled for execution in just a few weeks. He has one final chance — and one secret ally — to bring out his version of the truth, and perhaps convince...more When Elizabeth Lerner was fifteen, something horrible happened to her: she was kidnapped by a serial killer. She was held hostage for nearly 6 weeks. She was beaten and raped. But she wasn’t killed. He killed girls before he kidnapped her, he killed girls after he kidnapped her. He did not kill Elizabeth. She has never known why.

Walter Bowman is scheduled for execution in just a few weeks. He has one final chance — and one secret ally — to bring out his version of the truth, and perhaps convince the governor to spare his life. But it all depends on Elizabeth Lerner. I’d Know You Anywhere tells the story of those final weeks, Walter’s last-ditch efforts, and Elizabeth’s search for closure.

This is a very interesting premise. Thinking about it, I can understand Elizabeth’s dilemma. Of course, she doesn’t wish that Walter had murdered her, but she has to wonder why he spared her. Did he love her more than the others? Was she less attractive to him than the others? Was he working up the courage for some desperate final crime? It’s the sort of thing you would think about on sleepless nights.

Elizabeth has moved on. As a teenager, her parents moved to a new town, she began using the name Eliza, eventually she married and moved to London with her husband. She has distanced herself from her old self, from the victim that she was, and built a new life, a life that is thrown for a loop when she gets Walter’s letter. I’d know you anywhere. He saw her picture in a magazine and tracked her down. He obviously has an ally on the outside, otherwise, he never would have been able to write to her. There are a lot of unspoken threats there: I can inform the media, I can tell your new friends, I could give a final interview and implicate you in some way. These feed on Eliza’s uncertainties, the delicate balance in her family, recently returned to the US from years abroad. He dangles the prospect of finally getting some answers in front of her, but she knows how well he was once able to manipulate her. Is it worth the risk?

One thing about the Lippman books I’ve read — there always seems to be a character I want to smack some sense into, and in this case, it’s Eliza. She knows he’s a liar, she knows he’s a manipulator, she knows that every contact she has with him draws her in deeper and makes her more vulnerable, but she does it anywhere. I wanted to shake her and say, “Tell him to go to hell and remind him that his ticket on that train is about to get punched. Do not give him the satisfaction of tormenting you any more.” But you know from the start she isn’t going to be able to resist.

It’s a difficult position. She has a new family and a very new, tenuous life in Maryland, not far from her old hometown. Her new acquaintances — it’s too early to call them friends — don’t know about her past and they would surely look at her differently if it came out. Her children are trying to adjust to a new school and a new culture and they don’t know anything about “the summer she was fifteen.” She doesn’t feel ready to tell them. He holds her anonymity hostage, and forces her to let him back in.

I was pleased with the ending, even if I think I would have handled things differently. It seemed perfectly in keeping with what we’ve learned about Eliza and how she has reacted to all of this. It tells us a lot about Walter and about his secret ally, easily the most pitiable character in the story. There’s enough mystery to keep you reading and it made me think — really think about how hard it must be for Eliza to put all this behind her. Thinking is always a good thing.

Laura Lippman grew up in Baltimore and was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. She has published 10 Tess Monaghan novels and 5 stand-alone novels, including a book I reviewed earlier, What the Dead Know. My copy of I’d Know You Anywhere was provided free of charge by the publisher.

Originally published on my website, AliveontheShelves.com.(less)

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About Laura Lippman

Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at The (Baltimore) Sun. She began writing novels while working fulltime and published seven books about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism in 2001. Her work has been awarded the Edgar ®, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards. She also has been nominated for othe...more

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