In her mind and from her training, Sergeant Julie Worth of
the Missouri State Patrol knows she did the right thing.
Still the armchair critics back in the office are not so
sure and launch the investigation into the shooting at the
shopping mall. Julie, who is known for following the rules,
gets assigned to cold case desk duty by the Missouri State
Criminal Investigation Unit.
Normally used to more action filled assignments, Julie
peruses through the files. In most cases the investigating
cops had done all they could have done with the info they
had, but then Julie starts to notice a number of missing
girls cases and suspects a serial killer might be
involved. After getting permission to re-interview people
related to the files, Julie re-opens the investigation.
Meanwhile, the office womanizer Charles Clegg gets wind of
why the attractive cop had come to the factory where he
works (when he half-heartedly feels like it.) Having
murdered some of the women and doing some snooping on the
cop, Charles decides he will mess with Julie's life to
distract her from the investigation. Figuring he has a
clean and untraceable trail, his idea of fun is to kidnap
Cheryl, Julie's own fifteen year old daughter!
Despite his careful planning, things do not as the cold-
hearted Clegg expects and things swirl into deadly and
dangerous waters. Will the police find the perpetrator
before it is too late? What will happen to this young
teenager? How can they find a meaningful clue that would
help?
After retiring from over five decades in the entertainment
business, Gene Hackman has been gaining acclaim for his
work as a novelist. PURSUIT is every parent's nightmare,
but especially so for those in law enforcement. Hackman
has done a powerful job in setting up the situation
affecting his main character, Sgt. Julie Worth and
describing her emotions and reactions both as a mother and
as a police officer. He has a great strength in character
description and the diverse reactions of people to the
challenges they have faced due to Clegg's sleazy actions. I
particularly liked how well he describe Cheryl's reactions
as she attempts to cope with the unthinkable.
As the abductor is identified fairly early in the story,
the plot development centres on how the police start
developing their clues as well as Clegg doing his best to
thwart their efforts. I found the story to be quite a
powerful page turner, especially as the story builds in
dramatic intensity. While I found the writing a little
uneven in some sections, I am sure fans who like
suspenseful thrillers will fully enjoy the intriguing
stalking and tracking in PURSUIT!
GENE HACKMAN brings his richly diverse literary voice to a gripping new thriller that pits a devoted police sergeant against a predator who may cost her everything that matters. “I’ll say this for the last time. Take your hand off the shotgun.” In a tense standoff with a shopping mall shooter, Sergeant Juliette Worth has the suspect about to surrender— then in a few explosive seconds, she takes him down. Usually a by-the-book cop, Julie has too much at stake, raising her daughter on her own, to break protocol—until the mall killer pushes her over the line. Instead of kudos for saving his hostage, the Missouri State Criminal Investigation Unit hands Julie cold case duty. Among the forgotten files, she uncovers a disturbing connection between disappearances from years ago—all pretty girls, all presumed runaways. Now Julie’s instincts have her hunting a predator still very much in the picture. Someone who pulls Julie into a harrowing chase—by abducting her own daughter. . . .
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