by Ace Atkins
Part of Spenser, book 18
First published 1992
A decade has passed since Spenser pulled a frightened teenager from his violent father's grip. Now that same boy stands before the Boston detective as a young man, desperate for help. His mother has vanished without explanation, and Spenser is the only person he trusts to find her. What begins as a missing person case quickly becomes something deeper. The search forces Spenser to confront choices he made years ago and examine the connections between past and present. As he tracks the woman's disappearance, Spenser discovers that some rescues create bonds that last a lifetime. The investigation becomes a reckoning with his own history and the weight of old promises.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, reckoning-with-the-past
Setting: Boston
Period: Decade
352 pages · Mass Market Paperback · G.P. Putnam's Sons