When Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Faith Mitchell arrives at her mother's house, she finds a bloody hand print on the front door and a trail of blood leading from the door back to the locked shed where Faith's mother keeps her gun. Faith sees her infant daughter hidden in the locked shed and that her mother's gun safe is open. The gun inside it is gone. Faith knows her mother's in trouble, so she calls for back up and rather than wait, she goes into the house, looking for her mother. Instead she finds a dead man and then stumbles upon a hostage situation in her mother's bedroom. The hostage taker demands a trade--whatever it is that he's looking for in exchange for Faith's mother. But Faith has no idea what the intruders are looking for or what they might be referring to. Unfortunately the hostage situation heads south and when both men end up dead, there's no one left to question about the events that took place in the house prior to Faith's arrival, the whereabouts of her mother or the motives for any of it.
Following a jurisdictional dispute between the GBI and the Atlanta Police Department, the APD wins jurisdiction, leaving Faith's partner, Will Trent and her boss Amanda Wagner (also a longtime Mitchell family friend) on the outside of an investigation in which APD pegs Faith as a possible suspect. Will has no choice but to ride shotgun with his boss as they track down former members of Faith's mother's corrupt narcotics unit to piece together why an Asian gang has targeted Faith's mother and what that gang is looking for. What neither Will nor Faith can fathom is that this vendetta against her mother may have its origins in her personal life rather than her work life, and when the dust settles, the fabric of Faith's family may never be the same again.
In the midst of the investigation, there are developments in both Will's and Dr. Linton's personal lives. I don't want to give too much away, but there's a harrowing, brutal confrontation between Will and his estranged, abusive wife, Angie. This is one woman who doesn't let go easily, and thus, the drama that she stirs up will not end pretty.
I highly, highly recommend you pick up this book the next time you visit the library. Unless you haven't read any Slaughter books in which case I recommend you start at the beginning of the series and read them in order--you won't regret it.
--Reviewed by Ms. Angie
Comments