About the Author

Brian Freeman is an internationally bestselling author of psychological suspense novels, including Immoral, Stripped, Stalked, In the Dark, The Burying Place, The Bone House, and Spilled Blood, which won the 2013 ITW Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel. His books have been sold in forty-six countries and twenty languages and have appeared as main selections in the Literary Guild and the Book of the Month Club.

Joe Barrett has appeared both on and off Broadway as well as in hundreds of radio and television commercials. He has earned multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been nominated for the prestigious Audie Award. He has narrated books by such authors as Trevanian, Brian Freeman, Don Winslow, and James W. Huston.

Reviews

Detective Jonathan Stride believes that, according to the laws of human nature, most people leave behind a trail. He is hard-pressed, however, to find one in the disappearance of a teenage girl in Duluth, MN. When a second girl goes missing a year later, he carefully builds his case, even without a body. A skillfully drawn courtroom scene ends with the murder of the accused and the apparent resolution of the case. But that's just when things really get complicated: the action shifts to Las Vegas, where the Minnesota menace seems to have relocated. In this compelling debut thriller, Freeman turns in a psychologically gripping, virtuoso performance, with a detective who is likely to return. He deftly lays bare the demons lurking in many of us while keeping us tantalized through a series of plot shifts. Highly recommended. [A BOMC and Literary Guild main selection.-Ed.]-Roland Person, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

A Harlan Coban-esque murder/psychological suspense structure and some uninspired writing ("He saw urgency written in her face") add up to a mildly interesting but unsurprising thriller for first-timer Freeman. Called to investigate the disappearance of beautiful teenager Ruth Stoner, Duluth, Minn., police detective Lt. Jonathan Stride is haunted by the disappearance of another teen, Kerry McGrath, 14 months earlier. Stride's an honest, likable cop, full of angst over the cancer death of his beloved wife. He has a great working relationship with diminutive partner Maggie Bei, who's been in love with him for years. As Stride and Mags investigate, the only aspect of the case that becomes clear is that everyone involved with the crimeAthe victim, her family and her friendsAis guilty of something. Tweezing apart these strands of guilt and trying to connect them to the missing Ruth occupies Stride for more than three years. Finally, in an extended denouement, the pieces fall into place, and Stride is able to solve not only the mysteries of both Ruth and Kelly, but mend his own fractured life as well. BOMC and Literary Guild main selections; Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild alternates. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.