NEW COVER FIRST TIME AVAILABLE IN EBOOK AND PAPERBACK. To Be Released on July 25, 2023
This fast-paced sequel to Irvin's romantic suspense novel, A Deadly Wilderness, will keep readers turning the pages long after it 's time to turn out the lights.The day Daniel Martinez's foster son Benny Garza is kidnapped at a wedding reception, homicide detectives Deborah Smith and Alex Luna find the bones of a little girl not far from Benny's abduction site.Determined to save Benny and solve a five-year-old murder, the team of investigators travels from the seamy underside of San Antonio's drug-dealing gang territory to the back roads of rural America where secrets fester in simple country homes. Their investigation rips off the bandage that covers the cracks in an overburdened, understaffed foster care system and reveals the painful reality that children are all too often battered, terrified victims of the people who should love them the most.
Homicide Detective Deborah Smith fights to hang on to her new found sobriety despite the pressures of her job and her past, while Alex Luna fights to get a foothold in her life. Thrown together on related cases, they risk everything—even their lives—to bring a kidnapped boy home and unmask a child’s murderer.
“On a blazing South Texas day dozens of law enforcement officers, family, and friends gather to celebrate a wedding. Detective Deborah Smith is happy for the couple, but she’s fighting a loneliness that makes her long for her best friend—whiskey. Then the unthinkable happens. Colleague Daniel Martinez’s foster son, Benny, disappears during the reception. Deborah is assigned to team up with Detective Alex Luna to search for the missing boy. Instead of finding Benny, they make a horrifying discovery on the groom’s property: the skeletal remains of a small girl.
Torn between salvaging his marriage and trying to save a child he’s grown to love, Daniel fears both are slipping beyond his grasp; and Deborah struggles to hang on to her newfound sobriety in the face of the pressure of her job and her past, while Alex chips away at her resolve not to trust him—or any man.
The team of investigators travels from the seamy underside of San Antonio’s drug-dealing gang territory to the back roads of rural America where secrets fester in peaceful country homes. Their investigation rips off the Band-Aid that covers the cracks in an overburdened foster care system and reveals the painful reality that children are all too often are battered, terrified victims of the people who should love them the most.
As the two investigations become more and more entwined, Deborah, Alex, and Daniel must risk everything—even their lives—to bring a little boy home safely and unmask a child’s murderer.
– Reviews –
