by RidleyPearson (Author)
A wave of babynappings has terrified parents from San Diego to Portland. And when the Pied Piper - named for the penny flute he leaves in the cribs of his victims - claims his first Seattle infant, the investigation draws in homicide detective Lou Boldt. Assigned temporarily to Intelligence so he can spend more time with his kids while his wife is hospitalized for chemotherapy, Boldt's role is to keep the FBI out of the Seattle Police Department's way. But FBI special agent Gary Flemming is a tough adversary - so tough it almost seems as if he's intentionally sabotaging the SPD's investigation. Then the Pied Piper snatches Boldt's own daughter, promising that unless Boldt throws both the Feds and the SPD off his trail he'll never see his child again. Caught between his professional obligations and his fear for Sarah's life, Boldt launches his own private manhunt. Lou, with the help of John La Moia, his replacement in homicide, and police psychologist Daphne Matthews, his closest friend in the department, form a sub rosa task force under the noses of the Feds and the SPD, and soon discover how the Piper has managed to stay a step ahead of the police, elude capture, and find his small victims. The chase moves from Seattle to Portland to New Orleans, culminating in a thrilling denouement in the daffodil fields of Washington's Skagit Valley.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Publisher: Orion
Published: 15 May 2003
ISBN 10: 0752857223
ISBN 13: 9780752857220
Book Overview: 'Pearson continues to meld the small-scale, detail-driven precision of the best procedurals with the large-canvas, screw-tightening suspense of such high-concept thrillers as SILENCE OF THE LAMBS...As always, Pearson builds suspense incrementally, brilliantly amassing details until his plot reaches critical mass at just the right moment. Several Boldt adventures ago, we rashly labeled Pearson the best thriller writer alive ; time has done nothing to tarnish the accuracy of that claim.' Booklist 'A killer combination of Patricia Cornwell and John D. MacDonald with a soupcon of Thomas Harris.' Stephen King 'Ridley has been called the best thriller writer alive , and there's no disagreement here.' New York Post Pearson's US sales have been doubling from book to book.