Smoke

Lydia Strong #4

by Lisa Unger, Lisa Miscione

Lydia Strong's old writing student, Lily, has been missing for weeks. Before her disappearance, Lily had left a strange phone message for Lydia, asking for her help. But until now, Lydia did not pay much attention to the message because Lily tended to call occasionally. But when she learns that Lily had been looking into her brother's suicide, Lydia becomes concerned. In this fourth of Lisa Miscione's intense and gripping thrillers, Lydia teams up with her husband, ex-FBI agent, p.i. Jeffrey Mark, to uncover the truth behind Lily's disappearance.

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Romance

384 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 2005

About the author

Lisa Unger is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of twenty-three novels, including her upcoming release SERVED HIM RIGHT (March, 2026). With books published in thirty-three languages and millions of copies sold worldwide, she is regarded as a master of suspense.

Unger’s critically acclaimed novels have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, L.A. Times, The Boston Globe, Sun Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times, and many others. She has been nominated for, or won, numerous awards including the Strand Critics, Audie, Hammett, Macavity, ITW Thriller, and Goodreads Choice. In 2019, she received two Edgar Award nominations in the same year, an honor held by only a few authors including Agatha Christie. Her short fiction has been anthologized in The Best American Mystery and Suspense, and her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and Travel+Leisure. Lisa is the current co-President of the International Thriller Writers organization. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.

Reviews

[Christina Falcon]

I could not put this book down!!! I'm so upset to find out that this is a series in which i read the last book 1st...

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the books Lisa Unger wrote under her maiden name of Lisa Miscione about Lydia Strong. I think I may have read one of the earlier books a long time ago. This books starts out well but starts to drag in the middle. I felt like it was never going to get to the point. I am not sure if it is me or the books I have chosen lately but I feel like too many words are spent between page one and the end to tell a simple story...

[Karen Roebuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhh

[Rhea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smoke was a perfect finish to an amazing series. This book was well-crafted, smartly plotted and filled with suspense. Each book in the Lydia Strong series was better than the last. I'm so sorry this series is over. It's only been one day since I finished it and I already miss Lydia and Jeff so much!

[Wanji · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all this book needs to be a LOT shorter than 328 pages. I don't know why it's that long when most of it is irrelevant to the story. Miscione just adds details such as the specific type of cars that the main character drives. Why would I need to know that she drives a Mercedes? By the time they found a clue that could help solve the case, it felt anti-climatic to me. It was like, "Oh, that's what happened? Cool." And then I couldn't stand the main character Lydia Strong. She felt fake from the start. Then from a review it said that she named the character's husband after her own. That killed it even more for me. It looked as if she was just basically writing a fantasy life for herself.
I've never read a book like that, heck I didn't even finish this one. I plan on never reading another book by this woman again. Just a plain waste of time.

[Patricia Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent mystery. This book is by author Lisa Unger writing under her maiden name. The books have been re-released now under Lisa Unger and I got this copy of one of the books. Lisa Unger has always been one of my favorite mystery authors. I've read all her books and I was not surprised that this book was good. But I was very happy that it was as good as it was. This was a really good story and I never figured it out. Lots going on, lots to read but very interesting. This is about a character that is in several of her earlier books. I definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys a good mystery/thriller.

[Denise MacDonald · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book a bit confusing and boring at times. I didn't read the other books in the series, so that might be one reason why. I did like that the author didn't repeat things over and over like some mystery writers do.

[John Hanscom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 4th in a really good series. This was a little less good, as it focused less on the female protagonist, but still a great read.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently discovered the author 'Lisa Unger,' and thoroughly enjoying her work, I decided to go back to the beginning and try her early books. Her first books were about the character 'Lydia Strong,' and while I could tell she didn't have the same kind of experience writing this series as her more current books, was still entertained by them. This fourth installment involving Lydia Strong is the best of the four, but I still recommend reading all of them from the beginning since it really helps to understand her character, and the development of the other characters associated with her. You can tell that the author was more confident in her writing by the fourth Lydia Strong book - there's complexity and nuance. I still prefer her newer work but have decided this is worth a four out of five rating.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook to and from work - it was only marginally better than the bullshit that is on the radio. I am a big fan of Lisa Unger's work. She wrote this under a pen name - Lisa Misione, probably because this Lydia Strong series really does suck in comparison to her other novels. I also listened to the third book in this series which was much more interesting.
Unger lives in Pinellas County Florida. I lived there for 16 years so I'm pretty familiar with the area. Some of the story takes place in the Tampa Bay Area. I know she got her inspiration from Scientology - who has there world headquarters there in Clearwater. She changed it around a bit but as a former resident I see the parallels. I thought this might make me enjoy the book for but it didn't.

[Lucy Takeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read numerous novels featuring nefarious cult religious groups, mercenary groups, and hidden pasts. This one is very powerful, and I evidently started with Book 4 in the series. ( Yeah, I'll be looking for the first three!)
Lydia Strong is a true crime author, and her husband's a private investigator. They end up involved with a religious cult, stolen diamonds, faked suicides, weapons dealers, and psychopaths. Lydia has an ex-student that had called for help, and then suddenly disappears. LOTS of twists and turns in plot and assumptions!

[Loretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the final installment of Lydia and Jeffrey's trilogy, they take over the case of the missing girl, Lily Samuels, who was a student of Lydia's. This investigation takes on the suspicious "religious" organization, A New Day. All sorts of killings and suicides occurred as they move through this investigation to find her. The side story is about Mount and Jessamyn, police officers in the missing persons department, who had to give up the search for Lily, but turned it over to Lydia and Jeffrey. However, they never forgot that case.

[CYNTHIA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lydia Strong's old writing student, Lily, has been missing for weeks. Before her disappearance, Lily had left a strange phone message for Lydia, asking for her help. But until now, Lydia did not pay much attention to the message because Lily tended to call occasionally. But when she learns that Lily had been looking into her brother's suicide, Lydia becomes concerned. In this fourth of Lisa Miscione's intense and gripping thrillers, Lydia teams up with her husband, ex-FBI agent, p.i. Jeffrey Mark, to uncover the truth behind Lily's disappearance.

[Sandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense and Raw...

An edge of your seat, hold your breath and heart-stopping story! It starts out a little slow, then you just can't lay this book down. I loved it, but it scares me knowing it could be true somewhere out the

[Patty]

DNF I really like Lisa Unger's books but this one is the 4th in a series I have not read. It is SLOW, SLOW and it is wallowing in events that must have happened in the first three. I am at page 102 and so bored that I have to quit.

[Linda Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved as all the rest of her books that I have read. Kept me guessing until the end.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't read the first 3 so maybe that makes a difference. But I did not care for Lydia. Therefore it was hard to get into this story.

[Jenny Coyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Lydia's students is missing and when the police ask for her help she is more than willing to give it.

[Mary Greiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa Unger always gives us a great story, with a few twists. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this one while commuting.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Missing girl, cult, really bad people. Lydia Strong and police officer , Jessamyn, are both tough girls.

[Amanda Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

These Lydia strong books are great.

[Lowrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it was more like a 4 star book (the twist got a tad convoluted), BUT i loved the series overall, and I found its resolution to be good.

[Agatha Glowacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanted more of Lydia but still enjoyed the plot and characters and writing. Really like this series. Don’t usually like cult topics but it worked here

[S.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally love Lisa Unger’s books, as they are entertaining and a good escape read. This is a fast paced story with some interesting characters and many unbelievable scenes, but a fun read.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the 4 series books.
Did I like her main character? Not particularly.
I often felt Lydia was boring and a singular entity with superficial relationships.
The stories were entertaining and had drama, mystery and chaos. Woo hoo. Who could ask for more?

[NitzyNYC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too meandering - and then everything just got tied up too perfectly at the end. 😐

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one.

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have learned that Lisa Miscione is author Lisa Unger's maiden name. "Smoke" is the first novel that I have read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also understand that "Smoke" is the 4th title in the series, A Lydia Strong Thriller, but it can definitely be enjoyed as a stand-alone title.

One of the reasons that I enjoyed the novel so much is that instead of just one strong character (no pun intended)of Lydia Strong, I felt that the author had taken the time to give definitive characterization to 4 characters, Lydia Strong and her husband Jeff and NYPD Detectives, Matt Stenopolis and his partner Jesamyn Breslow. There is also an air of mystery about Lydia and Jeff's employee and friend Dax that keeps the reader attuned to any further information that might be divulged.

I also liked the turns when Lydia and Jeff questioned their pursuit of the clues to find Lily Samuels and shared other "what if" the clues should have been pursued in a different way because they had not made the right interpretations of the clues and/or events occurring and instead of solving a case they were adding more jeopardy to Lily's life and others.

Even an action-packed, suspense novel normally follows one path of pursuit. This thriller presents many possible alternatives in the midst of solving a case and was an interesting read. It might also give some empathy and understanding to why true investigations are time-consuming.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in investigations.

[Pamela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even though I really liked the first three, just like some other reviewers, I did not like this book. More than half-way thru and I finally stopped reading it. I couldn't care what the outcome of the book was. Quite the disappointment. I didn't like the story. Lydia hasn't seen the missing woman for a year and-a-half and considers Lily as a mentoring student. Yet later on she tells every one how much she cared for her. Which is it? If you cared for Lily, you would have returned her phone call two weeks prior to finding out she's missing. But instead, as usual, she's caught up in her own life and dismisses the call. And who the hell saves voicemail messages from over a decade ago? Give me a freakin' break! As you can deduce, I found the protagonist, Lydia Strong, to be very selfish and a total bitch. I couldn't stand her anymore. It's always be considerate of her feelings, yet she never thinks of anyone else, not even her husband's. She's just irritating as hell. She's actually the main reason I gave up reading the book.