Starred review from October 15, 2012
This taut, frightening psychological thriller from Edgar-winner Klavan (The Identity Man) charts the efforts of Dan Champion, a deputy in Tyler, N.Y., to find a criminal who may not exist. Three years earlier, as an NYPD detective, Dan infiltrated a sex trafficking ring that specialized in children, killing one of the organizers. But the ringleader, known only as the Fat Woman, eluded him. If she is real, no one has actually seen her. The case broke something in Dan, who, aided by his drug use, immediately began seeing visions of Alexander, a little boy, and of Samantha, a beautiful redhead. Now, Dan’s dreams bump against reality when a naked, semiconscious Samantha turns up on a river bank with an enigmatic message for Dan: “They’re coming after us.” Soon Samantha vanishes from the hospital, and assassins start stalking Dan. The edgy story complements a lead character whose fragile memory can’t always separate the real from the imaginary. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media.