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    The Day I Died: A Novel
    The Day I Died: A Novel
    The Day I Died: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Day I Died: A Novel

    Written by Lori Rader-Day

    Narrated by Hillary Huber

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    From the award-winning author of Little Pretty Things comes this gripping, unforgettable tale of a mother's desperate search for a lost boy.

    Anna Winger can know people better than they know themselves with only a glance—at their handwriting. Hired out by companies wanting to land trustworthy employees and by the lovelorn hoping to find happiness, Anna likes to keep the real-life mess of other people at arm’s length and on paper. But when she is called to use her expertise on a note left behind at a murder scene in the small town she and her son have recently moved to, the crime gets under Anna’s skin and rips open her narrow life for all to see. To save her son—and herself—once and for all, Anna will face her every fear, her every mistake, and the past she thought she'd rewritten.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 11, 2017
    ISBN9780062660848
    Author

    Lori Rader-Day

    Lori Rader-Day is the Edgar Award–nominated and Anthony, Agatha, and Mary Higgins Clark Award–winning author of Death at Greenway, The Lucky One, Under a Dark Sky, The Day I Died, Little Pretty Things, and The Black Hour. She lives in Chicago, where she is cochair of the mystery readers’ conference Midwest Mystery Conference and teaches creative writing at Northwestern University. She served as the national president of Sisters in Crime in 2020.

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    Reviews for The Day I Died

    3.5/5

    82 ratings24 reviews

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    • 4/5
      intriguing mystery thriller novel..the narrator voice was clear with excellent speed.
    • 3/5
      Anna Winger has spent thirteen years hiding from her former husband. She and her teenaged son, Josh, have lived in Tennessee, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, and are now residents of Parks, Indiana, where Anna freelances as a handwriting expert for corporations, private individuals, and the police. Things start to go wrong when Josh becomes increasingly rebellious, impertinent, and unpredictable. Furthermore, Anna is under pressure to help solve two kidnapping cases, one involving an executive and the other, two-year old Aidan Ransey, who "had bottomless brown eyes and tousled hair like the fuzz of a baby bird." Some townspeople dismiss Anna's profession as "hocus-pocus," but she firmly believes that handwriting can reveal a great deal about a person's character.

      Having fled a man she detests, Anna confronts her past when, after a heated argument, Josh runs away. In desperation, she returns to her former home to search for the boy and, once again, experiences the feelings of fear and helplessness that drove her to go on the run in the first place. "The Day I Died," by Lori Rader-Day, features a heroine whose narration reveals that, beneath her carefully constructed fa̤ade, Anna is vulnerable, guilt-ridden, and frightened.

      In "The Day I Died," the author explores the nature of small towns, where everyone knows everyone else's business. In addition, Rader-Day touches on the horrors of domestic violence; how secrets and lies drive a wedge between parents and children; and the importance of facing reality, no matter how unpleasant the prospect may be. Unfortunately, the novel goes off the rails during its concluding pages. In addition to throwing mind-boggling coincidences into her over-the-top plot, Rader-Day places Anna in mortal danger when the heroine makes an effort to right some egregious wrongs. Although this work of fiction is too convoluted and implausible to earn a strong recommendation, Anna's love for Josh, determination, and grit will earn readers' sympathy and admiration.
    • 3/5
      Meh. Great start followed by meandering plot with wishing washy heroine and some implausable twists at the end. Not a book I would totally recommend but just an ok read.
    • 3/5
      Anna Winger is a handwriting expert and single mother who's been moving from place to place with her son in an effort to escape her past and barely making ends meet. As the novel starts, she's given a job helping to find a missing boy believed to have been kidnapped by his mother. This case leads to far deeper matters than it seems at first and results in her being forced to finally confront her past, both her childhood and her marriage, and possibly have a chance of salvaging her present and future.As this really isn't a genre I read much of, it took a while for me to get into the book. Part of this was simply due to the way handwriting analysis is treated and how skilled Anna is at it; I strongly doubt that it's possible to reliably tell anything about someone's personality from how they write (as opposed to, say, their emotional state when they wrote a specific sample), and I'm positive that it isn't possible from a singe letter (in the case in the book, a capital D). However, this matter faded into the background as the story progressed, beyond being a reason people who know of her skill tend to be cautious around her.The later part of the story seems to rely on a surprising amount of coincidence, but most of them are either explained away by the details of what's going on or at least don't seem anywhere near as unlikely as they did at first. (As an example of the latter category, Anna happening to see something at a rest stop seems like an unbelievably unlikely occurrence when it first happens, but the explanation of events means that what Anna saw was more likely to be somewhere along that highway.)While it takes about half of the book to reveal just what Anna is constantly running from, there are enough hints that it's not really a surprise. It also helps to explain why she frequently seems to try to burn bridges almost as soon as there's any sign one might be built. The ending also makes it seem that she's finally recovering. The book also manages to avoid making a couple of characters into cardboard villains; one appears to have reformed over the years and the other plays a critical role in rescuing someone (although neither is absolved of their early actions or treated as if they should be).(I received a copy of this from the publisher. I have no idea why they sent it to me, but felt it best to note that they did.)
    • 3/5
      Lori Rader-Day introduces what might have been an intriguing new element for an overloaded genre in her latest novel The Day I Died. A handwriting expert with a traumatic history who consults with law enforcement, business and the private sector, Anna Winger can glean information from provided samples in a Sherlockian style. She is an eccentric, guarded and prickly character who over the past thirteen years been perpetually uprooting herself and her teenage son in order to escape a shadowy, menacing presence from her past. As her rebellious son struggles to adjust to their latest new town, Anna is enlisted to help a highly skeptical sheriff with the case of a missing toddler. Continually defensive about her abilities and what they can contribute to the case, Anna is begrudgingly drawn in by the community despite being distracted by her tendency to mistrust and avoid any entanglements. She is tempted to run away again when it seems that her true identity has been discovered and her son becomes increasingly insistent about learning about his origins. Soon events force Anna to return to her childhood home, and some incredible connections crop up between her current work and her own past. Rader-Day skillfully portrays the contentious mother-son relationship, and one is left feeling truly sorry for the teen whose mother is incapable of recognizing how detrimental her decisions have been to his life. The handwriting analysis angle is provided to give the novel a twist, but seems a bit dated given the our increasingly digitized world. So many current thrillers feature a damaged female protagonist armed with a rough exterior and similar issues or backstories that whole sections of bookstores could be devoted to them. So, any differentiators from the typical formula are refreshing—if they can be well-executed and avoid being too “gimmicky” in their deployment. Unfortunately, The Day I Died falls short in both areas. Anna’s feats of handwriting analysis abilities are not exciting enough to overcome the slow pace of the first section of the book, and the plot only starts getting interesting in the final third of the book when Anna returns to her hometown. The coincidences needed to combine Anna’s present and past strain plausibility, and Anna herself is such an alienating character that she is almost a caricature of unlikability. There is also a “romantic” subplot that contributes very little and becomes an add-on that appears forced and unnecessary. Ultimately, The Day I Died is relegated to a merely passable entry in a field that already provides too much rich competition for it to stand out successfully from the crowd.Thanks to the author, Harper Collins/William Morrow and Library Thing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars.

      The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day is an intriguing mystery about a missing young boy.

      Anna Winger is a handwriting analyst who assists federal and local law enforcement with a variety of cases. When two year old Aidan Ransey goes missing, she is asked to aid Sheriff Russ Keller with the investigation. Keller reluctantly turns documents relevant to kidnapping over to Anna but the two continue to clash over his lack of cooperation with her requests. Anna is also growing increasingly concerned over her thirteen year old son Joshua's increasingly troubling behavior. When Joshua begins asking difficult questions that she is reluctant to answer, Anna eventually has no choice but to face the past she has been running from for over thirteen years.

      Anna was forced to make a rather decision years earlier which has resulted in an itinerant, solitary lifestyle for her and Joshua. Having recently relocated to Parks, Indiana, Anna is already second guessing whether or not she made the right choice to settle in the small town. Seriously lacking the anonymity she desperately needs to feel safe, the missing person's case attracts far more attention that she desires. She is also rather troubled by the parallels between herself and Aidan's mom, Leila Ransey. She is already struggling to maintain her objectivity as she examines the documents associated with the disappearance when she meets Aidan's father, Bo. Their encounters bring back unpleasant memories of her own past and Anna continues to worry about whether or not she can remain impartial during the investigation.

      Adding to Anna's discomfort is Sheriff Keller's skepticism about the veracity of handwriting analysis. His office is on the periphery of the investigation but he continues to follow leads in an effort to locate the missing boy. A shocking murder adds another complication to the case and Keller reluctantly continues to seek assistance from Anna as they recover documents that are pertinent to the investigation. Their interactions continue to be a little adversarial as Anna offers her expert opinion on the evidence he provides for her analysis.

      The pacing of the novel is somewhat slow as Anna becomes increasingly introspective during the investigation. Her self-confidence is gradually undetermined as she juggles her professional duties with the increasingly tense situation with Joshua. Completely out of her depth as she deals with her suddenly tumultuous relationship with Joshua, Anna is stunned when he takes matters into his own hands after she fails to give him the answers he desperately needs. With nowhere else to turn, Anna is forced to return to the place where her life went so tragically wrong but will she find what she is searching for?

      With an unusual premise and a unique lead protagonist, The Day I Died is a compelling mystery with plenty of twists and turns. Despite the suspense surrounding Aidan's disappearance, the storyline quickly becomes bogged down in the secrets of Anna's past. However, the various story arcs finally come together in a rather unexpected (and far too coincidental) manner. Lori Rader-Day brings the novel to an action-filled conclusion that neatly ties up all of the loose ends.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer program.Anna has been running away for 13 years. Now her son, Joshua, is tired of moving to a new location whenever his mom feels threatened. He is also tired of not knowing the truth about the secrets his mother has protected him from since he was born. The plot revolves around Anna's work analyzing handwriting, a kidnapping she is helping police with, and her struggles with her son. The characters are interesting and fleshed out nicely. The first part of the book takes place in Indiana, and the last third is in northern Wisconsin. I've spent a lot of time in that part of Wisconsin and appreciate the accurate descriptions that capture the lakes, forests, and resort towns of that area. A good thriller; the plot twists made me unable to put the book down until I found out what was next. Highly recommended!
    • 3/5
      I liked the overall plot, although I was a little skeptical about the ability to read so much into a person's writing. As I was reading the story, I was thought I might give it a 4 star rating, but once the action started to take place in Sweetheart Lake, it gradually became a 3 star novel. The ending was a little too "over the top" for my liking.This arrived in my mail box as an early reviewer book, but it was published in 2017, and I don't remember requesting it.
    • 4/5
      This book showed up unexpectedly on my doorstep along with a win from LibraryThing Early Reviewers, courtesy of the publisher. What a fun surprise. It was of a genre I enjoy, a topic of interest, and a situation with which I was a bit familiar. I found it a page-turner, easy to pick up, hard to put down. Really held my attention as it was captivating from the start and I needed to pay attention to figure out what was going on. I felt the middle got bogged down a bit , dragged on, and became unnecessarily repetitive with an unnecessary and unconvincing (literal) roll in the hay. Strong beginning and end, with a confrontation that had my heart racing. I will likely recommend this title to others and share my copy via a local Little Free Library.
    • 4/5
      Anna, the protagonist in this multi-stranded story, is subcontracting her handwriting analysis expertise to the FBI and also aiding the local sheriff in locating a missing child. There are also cases involving drugs, missing evidence, and more. We learn she was abused as a child and has been on the run from another abusive relationship for most of her adult life, moving from place to place to protect herself and her now thirteen-year-old son from her former boyfriend. This is not a simple story, but Lori Rader-Day handles all the parts with skill, often dropping in little bits of seeming trivia, which later on lead to major moments in the story.It is hard to believe Anna could learn as much as she does from the handwriting on a grocery list or a signature on an evidence form, but that is a minor niggle. This is a well done thriller.
    • 4/5
      Anna Winger has been running from her past for 13 years. She and her son, Joshua, are constantly on the move. She has now settled into a small town in Parks, Indiana. Anna is a handwriting expert, and because of these skills, her FBI friend, Kent, has asked her to help on the abduction case of a 2 year old boy, Aidan Ransey.
      The sheriff is skeptical of Anna and her skill, but he lets her look at the case. He continues to ask her assistance on other cases. Anna is getting involved in the town, which is very unlike her, as she likes to keep her distance.
      Her son, Joshua, is starting to ask questions about Anna's past and his family. This terrifies Anna.
      This all leads to a terrifying clash of situations, Anna's past, and the many people she never wanted to face again. Additionally, there is an underlying story of drugs and seediness that needs attention.
      I thought the book went on a bit too long, and the ending was a little far-fetched, but all-in-all, it was an enjoyable read and one that kept you interested. The author did a nice job tying all the threads together.
    • 3/5
      Anna Winger, a handwriting expert, is called in to provide possible clues to case where a child has gone missing. Anna lives with her 13 year old son Joshua, leaving town after town to escape being recognized or discovered by her violent ex boyfriend and Joshua's father. As Anna gets deeper into the case of the missing child, she ends up back in her home town and comes face to face with her past. The book is a fast moving thriller and was enjoyable to listen to. The author, Lori Rader-Day is coming to town for an event in the fall and I'm looking forward to hearing her speak now that I've read one of her books.
    • 5/5
      Brilliant. Lori Reader Day is a rock star story teller.
    • 3/5
      I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.Anna Winger lives an isolated existence, keeping herself and her son as separate from the world--and her past-- as she can. She makes a living from analyzing other people's handwriting, searching for clues about who they truly are. When the police call on her to help with the case of a missing boy, her past begins to bleed into her present in all the ways she had fought so hard to prevent.Anna is a fantastically strong, complex, and fascinating character. She feels so real, and I was rooting for her the entire book.Her profession as a handwriting analyst was also fascinating. I loved the way Rader-Day weaved it into the book, and loved learning more about how handwriting analyst works and is used.The dual mysteries, of the missing boy and of Anna's past, were very intriguing. Rader-Day uses flashbacks and small clues to keep readers guessing and intrigued.I was able to figure out the solution to one of the main mysteries pretty early on. This was a bit disappointing, as I prefer it when, with a book centered around secrets from the past, the secrets come as a big surprising twist to me.Rader-Day has a good writing style that lends itself well to this genre. She has created a strong complex protagonist in Anna, and weaved a compelling story around her. The solution to the second of the two mysteries caught me completely by surprise, and made for a gripping read.
    • 4/5
      This book turned out to be more exciting than I anticipated. I loved how the author skillfully weaved together multiple mysteries (Anna’s story and missing children). Anna barely survived intimate partner violence, and got away when she was pregnant. She runs for many years, limiting her ability to connect as well as her son’s sense of stability. She is finally interested in a man in her latest town, and finds herself helping in the investigation of a missing boy. Thanks to Librarything and publisher for copy in exchange for honest review.
    • 4/5
      This was a tense thriller whose resolution relied heavily on "coincidence", which maybe should have bothered me, but in the end, it diddn't. Life can be like that. Often times, the thing you least expect to be true, is. I did not find Anna to be immediately likable, and I found some of her choices along the way to be odd, even downright unbelievable, but she grew on me, and I was able to suspend disbelief to stay in the story. These characters are very well written, and I appreciate that they make the effort to look past surface appearances and don't judge one another on rash actions. These people feel real to me in a way that characters don't always feel. There were enough twists and turns to keep it interesting up to the very end, with a few moments of thinking I knew exactly what was happening, only to find out I didn't.
    • 4/5
      Anna Winger is a handwriting specialist, a single mother to teenage son Joshua, and someone with a past she would rather keep hidden from everyone - including Joshua. Called upon by Sheriff Russell Keller, a small-town sheriff who has his own doubts about Anna's abilities, in the case of a missing toddler, Anna reluctantly agrees to help. She soon finds herself too deeply involved in the lives of the small-town folks in Parks, Indiana, and she's not sure who to trust. When something happens that hits far too close to home, Anna finds herself investigating more than just a missing toddler.Author Lori Rader-Day is a good writer. (I've never read any of her other books.) Dialogue is succinct, and the plot moves along nicely, despite an occasional slow-down when Anna gets too introspective. Fortunately, those slightly draggy parts weren't so draggy as to motivate me to skim. The book actually has three different plot threads going on: the search for the missing toddler Aidan, the other plotline involving Anna (which I won't reveal here, in order to avoid spoilers), and a handwriting-related case from Anna's past. Frankly, I thought that Rader-Day could have done without this last plotline; it was basically included just to reveal to us Anna's vulnerability and state of mind. It just wasn't a significant enough plotline to warrant its existence.As far as the other two plot threads, they seem completely unrelated to each other, but they do eventually tie together - unfortunately, in a much too pat way. The element that connects them is just too convenient for my liking.Despite the drawbacks that I've mentioned above, I did still enjoy the book quite a bit. The drawbacks just prevented me from giving it 5 stars.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program. Anna Winger has the talent to determine characteristics of people through the analysis of their handwriting. When she is called upon to help in the disappearance of a young boy, she could never guess that this mystery would tie in to her current life and the secrets she is trying to keep hidden. Anna has a son of her own- one that she has kept secrets from regarding her former life and his father. Anna is forced to confront her past and the ghosts she has kept hidden while trying to find her son and the young kidnapped child. Rader-Day takes the reader on a journey filled with suspense that will keep the reader guessing until the very end. This is a great read- well defined storyline that will keep the reader well entertained!
    • 4/5
      My review may be tainted by a growing weariness with novels that rely on creating suspense and tension by keeping dialogue and descriptions vague. At least Rader-Day keeps the reader interested with other elements such as the main character's capacity for analyzing handwriting and a slow-burning romantic development. The tone is more tense and anxiety-ridden than thrilling and the pacing is moderate. Sound plotting and a believable-enough resolution help set this one apart from the rest.
    • 5/5
      This book was an excellent read with just the right pacing. Anna Winger, a handwriting analyst, has been on the run since she was pregnant with her son. The reasons why and the backstory are slowly revealed throughout the book. Anna can work from anywhere and whenever she feels the need, she picks up and moves her and her son to new location. When Anna and her son move to a small town, Parks, Indiana, they get too involved. A toddler disappears and she agrees to take a look at some notes from the case. The local police are a bit skeptical, but will take any assistance. She also starts to build relationships with a cranky neighbor living below as well as with other individuals, which is abnormal for her. As her son starts acting up and also goes missing, Anna must face her past. I thought that the story was interesting and the characters were sympathetic and believable. This was an excellent read for those who love a good mystery!
    • 3/5
      Thriller with a twist and a love story. Anna is an expert handwriting analyst moving from place to place. Anna is contracted to work with the local Sheriff to help locate a missing child and has details surface so the details of Anna's past that she just can't run far enough away from.
    • 5/5
      "The Day I Died" by Lori Rader-day was an interesting suspense novel. Anna Winger is a handwriting analyst that mainly works at home. She and her teenage son, Joshua move around a lot. At first she's not a very likeable charm. But as the story progresses you realize SHE wants it that way. The local police get her involved in a local baby disappearance, where a note was left. This is where things start to get interesting. A good read.
    • 4/5
      When four-year-old Aidan Ransey disappears, Sheriff Russell Keller asks handwriting analyst Anna Winger to use her expertise on a ransom note. Anna is reluctant, but agrees to help despite her resolve to keep a low profile and not to become involved. Whenever she feels threatened or fears discovery, Anna and her thirteen-year-old son, Joshua, move. They have no permanence in their lives, something that suddenly seems to disturb Joshua. But Anna knows she doing the right thing; she must protect Joshua . . . and herself . . . from the things of the past that threaten them. But in her effort to protect her son and keep herself safe, Anna may have made a grave error . . . .Complex characters in a compelling mystery set the tone for this suspenseful tale although Anna’s introspective consideration of her personal situation and her continually-wavering self- confidence have a tendency to slow the story’s momentum. The kidnapping of the young boy is, for a time, pushed aside but ultimately resolves itself in an unexpected way. Although readers will easily guess most of the secrets of Anna’s past, the steadily building suspense is sure to keep the pages turning.Recommended. I received a free copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Readers program
    • 3/5
      A special thank you to Edelweiss and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

      We meet Anna Winger, a handwriting analyst with a messy past, who is called upon to use her talent on a high-profile case in the small town that she is currently living in. As a handwriting expert, she is able to identify the writer's personality traits and psychological state. Some believe in her craft and use her to profile individuals, while others consider her to be a charlatan. For Anna, her profession allows her to keep people at arms-length and keep her anonymity while supporting her son.

      She immerses herself into the case of a missing boy. Unfortunately for her, the case awakens elements of her past, things she's tried to keep hidden, and she is unable to outrun it any longer.

      This is my first book by Rader-Day and it won't be my last. I enjoyed this story and would like to read more about Anna. She is a well-writen character with an interesting talent, this would make a great series.