Derek Nikitas

After reading a number of rave reviews of this book, I decided to read it and am glad I did. The story is unique and entertaining.

A seventeen year old girl is at the mall with her father when someone attempts to rob the father of his wallet. When he refuses and attempts to drive off, the attempted robber shoots and kills the girl's professor father.

Another woman is in a minor car accident at the bank when she is attempting to deposit a large amount of money for her boyfriend. We can see her show more distress and fear of the boyfriend in the aftermath of the accident.

When the world of these two women collide at a dangerous time, they must figure out a way from a hellish situation in the midst of a gang of sadistic thugs.

A local police detective seems the only person willing to pay the price to save the teenager.

A powerful story that shouldn't be missed. show less

This is a gritty, painful-to-read novel. Wynn Johnston is a gifted mathematics student whose mental problem-solving ranges from significant divisions (such as Pi, to as many decimal places as he can hold in his head) to the esoterically philosophical. As these thoughts increasingly dominate his mind, one begins to wonder whether they are the cause or the consequence of the nightmarish events that occur. Because Jodie Larkin, despite the crimes that open the novel, is together with her son show more Cal essentially only a peripheral character whose wounds have long divided her from her family. Cal, too, is estranged from his adoptive parents, his best friend and himself. Division between parent and child, husband and wife, siblings - the most profoundly connected of relationships may be shatterd by hidden cracks and chasms. show less

Disturbing but compelling book. Well developed characters with various intersecting plotlines. While there are teen characters, fairly graphic sex scenes and violence make this appropriate for older teens.

Great crime stories by authors I knew and many I didn't. You get classics like "Thin Mints" by Daniel B. O'Shea and "Deviances" by Frank Bill, and crazy stuff like "Vampires are Pussies" by Chris La Tray. Gave me some new writers to follow like Jonathan Woods. And it all supports a local St. Louis independent bookstore, Subterranean Books. You'll gave to go to their store or website to get it, but you won't regret it. Not a bad story in the book, and some great ones.