Fall, 1985. Four fifth-graders make a gruesome discovery in the forest near a local park in quiet, pleasant Oak Knoll, California. A woman has been murdered and buried in a shallow grave, her eyes and mouth glued shut. The children's teacher, Anne Navarre, arrives at the scene as well, shocked and horrified not only at the body but that her students now have these nightmarish images in their heads. Her studies in psychology never prepared her to deal with something like this -- particularly with one of the students, who shows a disturbing fascination with the crime scene.

When another young woman disappears and local police connect two previous killings in the area with the same MO, they know time is of the essence. Detective Tony Mendez contacts his former teacher at the FBI Academy, Vince Leone, one of the bureau's stars in the still-developing field of profiling. Leone's overworked colleagues aren't sure there's enough criteria to involve a formal FBI investigation, so Vince decides to go on his own time. He, Mendez and Anne are soon sucked into the hunt for a serial killer, which involves sifting through the dirty laundry hidden behind the pristine facades of suburbia. Turns out the murderer isn't the only one in Oak Knoll who has some damning secrets.

This compelling chiller follows not only the pursuit of a vicious, cunning criminal, but the devastating effects on the children who witnessed his handiwork. It's soon revealed that these kids didn't have fairy-tale home lives to start with, and their roles as witnesses bring them and their parents into a harsh spotlight. There are some very unpleasant people in this pleasant little town, and readers will find themselves fascinated as much as disturbed. While I felt that some of the characters were a bit flat, the book grabbed me from the first and never let go.