Delacorte
Featuring: Michael Ormewood; Jonathan Winston Shelley; Will Trent
400 pages ISBN: 0385339461 EAN: 9780385339469 Kindle: B000JMKRAW Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List
As a teenager, Jonathan Winston Shelley got involved in
drugs and then was convicted of the savage rape and murder
of Mary Alice Finney, who attended the same high school in
Decatur, Georgia. Paroled at age 35, he has a job at a car
wash, barely making enough money for groceries and the rent
for a shabby apartment. All he wants to do is learn how to
live like a normal human being again. But will fate allow
him a second chance?
Meanwhile, Detective Michael Ormewood reluctantly joins
forces with Will Trent, an agent of the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation, to solve the rape and murder of a prostitute
named Aleesha Monroe. This case has a disturbing connection
to recent attacks on two teenage girls: the victim's tongue
has been bitten off. But the girls were left alive, and
they were much younger than Aleesha. Is this just a bizarre
coincidence or has a sexual predator become a killer?
Ormewood is almost relieved to have a tough case to
distract him from his problems at home; for Trent, it's a
new encounter with on-again off-again girlfriend, Angie
Polaski, a tough vice cop.
All four people will be drawn together in unexpected ways,
living in a world where no one is quite who they seem to be
and where there are no heroes, only survivors.
This story is not for the squeamish. The language is rough
and details of the murders, as well as Shelley's
experiences in prison, are graphic, but I found that I
could not put this book down. Ms. Slaughter draws readers
into the messy lives of these people while building the
suspense to a nail-biting level. The characters are
complex, with some surprising secrets, and there's not a
wasted scene in the plot. I was sometimes horrified,
sometimes saddened, but always fascinated by this terrific
read.
From Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs to its stark inner-city
housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of
wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must
cross those boundaries, too. Among them is Michael
Ormewood, a veteran detective whose marriage is hanging by
a thread -- and whose arrogance and explosive temper are
threatening his career. And Angie Polaski, a beautiful
vice cop who was once Michael's lover before she became
his enemy. But unbeknownst to both of them, another player
has entered the game: a loser ex-con who has stumbled upon
the killer's trail in the most coincidental of ways -- and
who may be the key to breaking the case wide open.