A phone call alerts single mom Sarah Keller letting her know that her five year old daughter Zoe has been injured in a school bus crash along with some other classmates. As Sarah dashes into the ER department at the local hospital in Oklahoma, she is taken aback when she see the look on the doctor's face. Even more shocking is the news that a scan done on Zoe to check out her injuries had revealed a microchip embedded in her small body.

Still reeling from the news, Sarah just knows that she has to get out of there before anything else happens to Zoe. She can't take a chance that the hospital staff will take the time to listen to her story and Zoe is now at risk. She needs time, but how to get Zoe out of there? Sarah knows this will make her look bad, but what can she do?

Sarah's sister Bethany made her swear that to her dying day Sarah is to take care of wee baby Zoe. So from the time Zoe was six weeks old, Zoe has cared for her and loves her will all her heart. She would do anything to protect her precious baby!

Over time, Sarah has developed skills to make her successful as a shadow tracer -- tracking down those deadbeats and criminals who live their lives off the grid, so not to be caught. Some are good at this, but even off the grid, people can still be traced in the shadow and now Sarah knows this is where she has to run. But, as the hunter becomes the hunted, Sarah realizes that not only will the police be after her, but as news gets out, Zoe's father's family will be as well.

The Worthes are pure white trash, with a bad dose of a God put to shame and polygamy the family game. Yet, by using God's name in vain and taking resources for themselves, they are now an extremely formidable, vicious and fanatical cult whose members would stop at nothing till they got Zoe in their clutches. Is there anyone she can trust? How can she find a way to escape?

THE SHADOW TRACER is the latest suspense thriller from Edgar Award-winning author Meg Gardiner. With its brilliantly conceived plot and lightning --paced action, you are immediately pulled right into the action as the story moves from the seemingly ordinary to the unimaginable, yet realistic horror. I literally could not put this down, except for scant moments and read it through the night until I came to its astonishing ending. Definitely worth losing sleep over! I have now added Gardiner to my list of favourite unbeatable suspense authors!

Gardiner's characters are very well drawn from that of the aggressive FBI Agent Curtis Harker, the psychotic Worthe cult family members to that of US Marshall Michael Lawless and others. I particularly like Sarah as a character and how she highlights how quickly and ruthlessly communication technologies can be used in the shadows both on and off the grid. Although written as a stand-alone thriller, I do hope that Gardiner might consider turning this into a series with more on Sarah and possibly Michael, both very strong and resourceful characters. Anyone who loves suspenseful thrills and chills are sure to find this a hellishly exciting read! Enjoy!