Part of Alex Delaware, book 6
First published 2004
Dr. Alex Delaware receives an urgent phone call that takes him back eleven years. The voice belongs to Melissa Dickinson, now eighteen and wealthy, but Delaware remembers the frightened seven year old who once called a hospital helpline seeking comfort. Melissa had found solace in therapy sessions with Delaware back then. Now she calls again with a new terror. Twenty years earlier, Melissa's mother Gina suffered a brutal acid attack that destroyed her acting career and left her physically and emotionally damaged. The attacker served his time and has returned to Los Angeles. Melissa fears he plans to target her reclusive mother again. Before Delaware can help calm his former patient's anxieties, Gina vanishes without a trace. Delaware must abandon his therapist role and turn investigator. He needs to uncover what really happened to Gina Dickinson. The case forces him into a world where past violence threatens to explode into present danger. Unless Delaware can solve the mystery, Gina may become another casualty of rage that has already produced madness and death.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: investigative-journalist, past-trauma, second-chance
Setting: Los Angeles
Period: 20 years earlier, 11 years ago
Audio CD · Random House Audio
Content warnings: violence