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Last Girl Dancing
Atlanta detective Jess Brubaker, determined to find the truth surrounding her sister Ginny's disappearance, goes undercover in a sordid nightworld with her partner, and lover, Hank Kamien, where they both become the target of a serial killer who holds the key to finding Ginny. Original.
311 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 5, 2005
About the author
Holly Lisle
110 books456 followersHolly Lisle has been writing fiction professionally since 1991, when she sold FIRE IN THE MIST, the novel that won her the Compton Crook Award for best first novel. She has to date published more than thirty novels and several comprehensive writing courses. She has just published WARPAINT, the second stand-alone novel in her Cadence Drake series.
Holly had an ideal childhood for a writer…which is to say, it was filled with foreign countries and exotic terrains, alien cultures, new languages, the occasional earthquake, flood, or civil war, and one story about a bear, which follows:
“So. Back when I was ten years old, my father and I had finished hunting ducks for our dinner and were walking across the tundra in Alaska toward the spot on the river where we’d tied our boat. We had a couple miles to go by boat to get back to the Moravian Children’s Home, where we lived.
“My father was carrying the big bag of decoys and the shotgun; I was carrying the small bag of ducks.
“It was getting dark, we could hear the thud, thud, thud of the generator across the tundra, and suddenly he stopped, pointed down to a pie-pan sized indentation in the tundra that was rapidly filling with water, and said, in a calm and steady voice, “That’s a bear footprint. From the size of it, it’s a grizzly. The fact that the track is filling with water right now means the bear’s still around.”
“Which got my attention, but not as much as what he said next.
” ‘I don’t have the gun with me that will kill a bear,’ he told me. ‘I just have the one that will make him angry. So if we see the bear, I’m going to shoot him so he’ll attack me. I want you to run to the river, follow it to the boat, get the boat back home, and tell everyone what happened.’
“The rest of our walk was very quiet. He was, I’m sure, listening for the bear. I was doing my damnedest to make sure that I remembered where the boat was, how to get to it, how to start the pull-cord engine, and how to drive it back home, because I did not want to let him down.
“We were not eaten by a bear that night…but neither is that walk back from our hunt for supper a part of my life I’ll ever forget.
“I keep that story in mind as I write. If what I’m putting on paper isn’t at least as memorable as having a grizzly stalking my father and me across the tundra while I was carrying a bag of delicious-smelling ducks, it doesn’t make my cut.”
You can find Holly on her personal site:
Hollylisle.com
You can find Cadence Drake, Holly's currently in-progress series, on her site:
CadenceDrake.com
You can find Holly's books, courses, writing workshops, and so on here:
The HowToThinkSideways.com Shop, as well as on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and in a number of bookstores in the US and around the world.
Holly had an ideal childhood for a writer…which is to say, it was filled with foreign countries and exotic terrains, alien cultures, new languages, the occasional earthquake, flood, or civil war, and one story about a bear, which follows:
“So. Back when I was ten years old, my father and I had finished hunting ducks for our dinner and were walking across the tundra in Alaska toward the spot on the river where we’d tied our boat. We had a couple miles to go by boat to get back to the Moravian Children’s Home, where we lived.
“My father was carrying the big bag of decoys and the shotgun; I was carrying the small bag of ducks.
“It was getting dark, we could hear the thud, thud, thud of the generator across the tundra, and suddenly he stopped, pointed down to a pie-pan sized indentation in the tundra that was rapidly filling with water, and said, in a calm and steady voice, “That’s a bear footprint. From the size of it, it’s a grizzly. The fact that the track is filling with water right now means the bear’s still around.”
“Which got my attention, but not as much as what he said next.
” ‘I don’t have the gun with me that will kill a bear,’ he told me. ‘I just have the one that will make him angry. So if we see the bear, I’m going to shoot him so he’ll attack me. I want you to run to the river, follow it to the boat, get the boat back home, and tell everyone what happened.’
“The rest of our walk was very quiet. He was, I’m sure, listening for the bear. I was doing my damnedest to make sure that I remembered where the boat was, how to get to it, how to start the pull-cord engine, and how to drive it back home, because I did not want to let him down.
“We were not eaten by a bear that night…but neither is that walk back from our hunt for supper a part of my life I’ll ever forget.
“I keep that story in mind as I write. If what I’m putting on paper isn’t at least as memorable as having a grizzly stalking my father and me across the tundra while I was carrying a bag of delicious-smelling ducks, it doesn’t make my cut.”
You can find Holly on her personal site:
Hollylisle.com
You can find Cadence Drake, Holly's currently in-progress series, on her site:
CadenceDrake.com
You can find Holly's books, courses, writing workshops, and so on here:
The HowToThinkSideways.com Shop, as well as on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and in a number of bookstores in the US and around the world.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 7, 2008
I was expecting more out of a plot that was set in the sleazy world of strippers and prostitution but this book was so superficial in its usage of this plot device that it would have been better to have chosen something different. The two protagonists are also not well-drawn though the heroine fared better than Hank, the hero.
All throughout the book, Hank came across as boring and conservative - which did not gel with the author's description of him as an ex-Ranger AND a psychic. I mean, wow - as an ex-Ranger, Hank would have some back story but nothing is said about him. I didn't know what he was like, what events in his life shaped him into the man he is today, who his friends were and what drives him. His whole character consists of a guy who operates a martial arts school after being an ex-Ranger. He was like an inanimate object in the book at worst and at best, a seeing-eye dog. At least Jess had some emotional aspect to her but not much either. The annoying thing is that both the plot and the characters had so much potential.
All throughout the book, Hank came across as boring and conservative - which did not gel with the author's description of him as an ex-Ranger AND a psychic. I mean, wow - as an ex-Ranger, Hank would have some back story but nothing is said about him. I didn't know what he was like, what events in his life shaped him into the man he is today, who his friends were and what drives him. His whole character consists of a guy who operates a martial arts school after being an ex-Ranger. He was like an inanimate object in the book at worst and at best, a seeing-eye dog. At least Jess had some emotional aspect to her but not much either. The annoying thing is that both the plot and the characters had so much potential.
February 21, 2019
This book not only had me on the edge of my seat but it had me so enthralled I couldn’t put it down to nap (so we are talking serious levels of gripping here). From the blurb I had no idea I was going to be reading another undercover stripper book so soon but boy am I glad I didn’t stop reading it.
.
Strippers are being brutally murdered and our heroine is a detective who goes undercover as a stripper to get behind it all. She is partnered with an ex-Rangers psychic who, off the books, will be helping track down the sadistic killer. The heroine hates psychics and the hero hates beautiful women but they manage to team up (in more than one way) to find the killer.
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The one thing I loved about this book is that it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. It doesn’t go to into the killer’s psyche and police work as a lot of modern romantic thriller/suspenses do so I wasn’t overloaded. Because the hero is a psychic you see into the killers mind and that was enough thank you very much. I love this author but unfortunately I think this now means I’ve read every one of her romantic suspenses and that makes me sad.
.
Strippers are being brutally murdered and our heroine is a detective who goes undercover as a stripper to get behind it all. She is partnered with an ex-Rangers psychic who, off the books, will be helping track down the sadistic killer. The heroine hates psychics and the hero hates beautiful women but they manage to team up (in more than one way) to find the killer.
.
The one thing I loved about this book is that it doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. It doesn’t go to into the killer’s psyche and police work as a lot of modern romantic thriller/suspenses do so I wasn’t overloaded. Because the hero is a psychic you see into the killers mind and that was enough thank you very much. I love this author but unfortunately I think this now means I’ve read every one of her romantic suspenses and that makes me sad.
August 14, 2017
my rating 3,75
July 21, 2008
Lisle is better known as a science fiction novelist, but this foray into romantic suspense is quite successful. The premise, a detective going undercover as a stripper (and actually getting naked in the process), isn’t particularly believable, but when the other main character is a man who can read people through things they have touched, you’re already suspending disbelief. Ultimately, the characters were likeable and the mystery was decent (I didn’t guess whodunit until it was practically revealed). I’m not a huge sci-fi fan, but I would be interested in reading more of Lisle in this genre.
October 11, 2016
Great read. Quick, a little too tell-y, good details, nice tension, good love scenes, great characters and the only real fault was the twist, which I could easily see coming. Lucky, the reason behind the twist was so fucked up and unpredictable that I'm still satisfied. Great job overall.
Read
June 10, 2016this had me wondering til the end
October 10, 2016
Someone at one of my go to book swap spots really enjoys a lightly sexual romance. This one wasn't bad. Predictable but readable.
January 8, 2022
Wow. This book had such an amazing plot and characters. I would recommend this to everyone. Lots of steam and suspense with plot twists. Just wow
December 31, 2013
A "guaranteed great read" stamp accompanies this book, and it is well deserved. This was a very good story. The first half, though, was better than the last. The main character, Jess, dedicated her life to being a police detective in order to find out what happened to her twin sister when they were in their twenties. Hank, her love interest, was a former Army Ranger who had been injured in the line of duty. Somehow his injuries released his ability to touch things and people and be able to know about them. Really, his psychic ability almost takes away from the story and Hank and Jess's relationship. The story had minor issues, but overall a good read.
January 19, 2009
I was very disapointed by this book. I'm a big fan of Holly's tutorials and her fantasy books such as Talyn. However, for me, this book was a disaster from start to finish. I knew who the killer was in their first scene (and I never guess who the killer is), the romance is predictable... overall it is a write-by-numbers novel.
And the very last line of the novel is so bad, I didn't know if I should laugh or wince.
Aside from that, it's an easy, light read. If you have a rainy afternoon free, you could do worse, however I can reccomend much better.
(Sorry Ms Lisle.)
And the very last line of the novel is so bad, I didn't know if I should laugh or wince.
Aside from that, it's an easy, light read. If you have a rainy afternoon free, you could do worse, however I can reccomend much better.
(Sorry Ms Lisle.)
April 29, 2008
I've read a lot of Holly Lisle's articles on writing, which I have enjoyed/found useful and/or helpful. I found this at the library. I like murder mysteries and thought I'd check this out since I thought Lisle wrote mostly fantasy and sci-fi which I usually don't read.
It was a good quick read...finished it in about 4-5 hours. I liked her versions of the stereotypical noir femme fetale and super-masculine companion.
It was a good quick read...finished it in about 4-5 hours. I liked her versions of the stereotypical noir femme fetale and super-masculine companion.
June 28, 2013
Although I am a fan of Holly, I am disappointed in this novel. I knew who the killer was from the beginning, and I usually can't figure Holly out until later in a story. The characters are great and the plot had potential, but she didn't succeed. Holly 's element of surprise and mystery was lost in this novel.
January 8, 2011
Eh, this one was just okay for me. Not up to her usual creepiness in her romantic suspense. It was pretty straight forward and easy to figure out what happened. Not my favourite of this talented author.
January 8, 2013
This was a very quick read and kept me engrossed the whole time.The undercover plot was thrilling and the characters very likeable.The hero Hank was intriguing and such a sweety.Great romantic thriller!
September 17, 2007
full of suspense.. cleverly written.. every bit of everything is in there.. romance.. eerie.. drama.. and what have you.. i like!
March 5, 2008
page turning who done it
April 3, 2010
Good tale with a twist... now in Mallorca
January 28, 2011
Review to be added later.
May 5, 2011
je mettrais 2.5 en fait.
May 5, 2015
3.5
I enjoyed this. I connected with the main character; I liked who she was, found her believable.
I did predict the killer, but not as early on as expected.
I enjoyed this. I connected with the main character; I liked who she was, found her believable.
I did predict the killer, but not as early on as expected.
November 15, 2007
read 12.01.06
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews