by Ace Atkins
Part of Spenser, book 12
First published 1986
A letter arrives from Susan while Hawk sits behind bars. She writes that she's running from someone dangerous. Within a day, Spenser has freed his partner through methods that don't involve lawyers or paperwork. The two men head west on a mission that turns into a brutal journey across America. Someone has taken the woman Spenser loves, and that someone has left bodies in their wake. Spenser and Hawk follow a trail marked by violence and death. They need to find Susan before her captors decide she knows too much. The hunt reveals connections that explain why so many people had to die. Spenser faces the possibility that saving Susan might cost him everything he values. The case forces him to confront how far he'll go when the woman he loves disappears into a web of killing that stretches from coast to coast.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: America, Catskill
Period: 20th-century
386 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Dell
Content warnings: violence