About the Author

By Peter de Jonge

Reviews

De Jonge, a James Patterson coauthor (Beach Road), delivers his first solo effort, a routine crime thriller set in New York City. NYPD Det. Darlene O'Hara, "beautiful and thirty-four, with wavy red hair and the kind of freckles men try to lick off shoulders," is looking for missing NYU student Francesca Pena, "a very pretty teenage girl with long jet-black hair and bottomless brown eyes," when she learns that Pena's brutally beaten body has been found in East River Park. While her professional colleagues soon focus on David McLain, Pena's hometown friend who initially reported her missing, O'Hara doubts McLain is guilty. As the evidence against McLain mounts, she persists in her search for the real killer, a quest that leads her to cross lines, risk her job and become a wanted person herself. Predictably, O'Hara's digging reveals Pena had a secret life. Few readers will be surprised that the detective manages to crack the case in the nick of time. (Apr.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

The first solo effort by James Patterson's coauthor (Beach Road) delivers enough twists and turns for any thriller reader. New York detective Darlene O'Hara shares her hard-drinking ways and renegade streak with many a fictional cop, but there are some things that set her apart. She has yet to make it to Homicide, so she's forced to investigate the murder of Francesca Pena, a 19-year-old NYU student, off the clock and under the radar. Once a teenage mother, O'Hara feels a connection to both Francesca, who survived a troubled childhood, and suspect David McClain, Pena's erstwhile beau. David reminds her too much of her own son for her to believe him capable of the rape, torture, and murder. Instead, she worries at each scrap of evidence until it leads her further. O'Hara comes to some disturbing conclusions, but even after she and her partner make their arrests some questions remain. De Jonge conveys enough texture that it isn't hard to imagine this on the big screen. Here's hoping that we see O'Hara again.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.