Part of Alex Delaware, book 20
First published 2007
Alex Delaware receives an urgent call about a missing teenager. The psychologist partners with LAPD detective Milo Sturgis to track down the vanished girl. Their investigation leads them through the dark corners of Los Angeles, where they uncover a web of secrets involving the girl's troubled family history. As Delaware digs deeper into the psychological dynamics at play, he realizes the disappearance connects to a larger pattern of violence. The case forces him to confront how family trauma can echo across generations. Delaware must use his clinical expertise to understand the motivations driving both victim and perpetrator. The search becomes a race against time as Delaware and Sturgis piece together clues that reveal the true danger lurking beneath the surface of suburban life.
Genres: mystery, crime, detective, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: race-against-time, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Los Angeles
480 pages · Ballantine Books
Content warnings: violence