After rescuing a teenage girl from two kidnapper/rapists and shooting them 18 times, Det. Elizabeth Black, a 13-year veteran in North Carolina, faces suspension. Adrian Wall, a former cop, is just getting out of prison after 13 years, having been tortured by a sadistic warden seeking a robbery stash. Wall was convicted of leaving Julia Strange's body on the church altar where Elizabeth's father is pastor. A second and then a third murdered woman appear on the altar of the now abandoned church and Wall is the suspect. When nine graves are found beneath the altar, Elizabeth and Wall, both now fugitives, frantically try to evade capture while seeking the real killer.
VERDICT Hart is a former stockbroker and defense lawyer whose last two novels have won consecutive Edgar Awards (The Last Child and Down River). He is a skilled writer who can plumb the minds of a wide range of characters while building tension with an intricate plot and revealing backstories. The somewhat overly idyllic ending doesn't detract much from readers' wonder at this accomplished achievement. [See Prepub Alert, 11/23/15.]
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