by Ace Atkins
Part of Spenser, book 2
First published 1987
Fourteen-year-old Kevin Bartlett vanishes from Appie Knoll, the kind of wealthy suburb where trouble rarely surfaces. At first, everyone assumes the boy ran away. Then a ransom note arrives, designed like a comic strip panel. Private detective Spenser takes the case and quickly discovers that Kevin's affluent family harbors deep resentments and bitter conflicts. The missing teenager has been making unusual companions, including Vic Harroway, a muscular body builder who becomes Spenser's primary lead. Harroway refuses to cooperate with words, preferring to communicate through violence. Spenser must match that physical intensity when the investigation turns dangerous. As time runs short and Kevin's life hangs in the balance, Spenser realizes that beneath Appie Knoll's respectable surface lies a web of family dysfunction and desperation that may have driven a vulnerable boy into the wrong hands.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Appie Knoll
Period: contemporary
205 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Dell Publishing Co., Inc.
Content warnings: kidnapping