Eight years ago, nine-year-old Telly Ray Nash killed his abusive father to protect his younger sister, Sharlah. Telly wasn't charged, but he and Sharlah were shuffled off to separate foster homes. Eight years later, Bakersville, Oregon, officers identify Telly as the dead-eyed shooter in a convenience store double murder. Sheriff Shelly Atkins calls on retired FBI profiler Pierce Quincy for help, and Quincy's suspicions that Telly is on a rampage are confirmed when they find his foster parents' bodies. Photos of Quincy's foster daughter, Sharlah, on Telly's cell phone point to a nightmare scenario, especially after Sharlah goes missing. Now, Sharlah's life may depend on Quincy figuring out why Telly murdered the foster parents he seemed to bond with and is now targeting his little sister. Gardner adds depth to the instantly relatable cast with subtlety, and themes of family and forgiveness anchor this fast-paced suspense story to the series' bigger picture. A long-awaited delight for Quincy series fans (after Say Goodbye, 2008) and a thrilling escape for newcomers. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The return of a successful series will drive interest of the always-popular Gardner's latest.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2016 Booklist

A teenager with a troubled past becomes the prime suspect in a string of brutal murders, but ex-FBI profiler Pierce Quincy and his partner, Rainie Conner, think there's more to the story.For the past three years, Pierce and Rainie have fostered Sharlah Nash, now 13, with the hope of soon adopting her. Sharlah's childhood is the epitome of troubled: when she was 5, her drug-addict father killed her mother and then tried to kill her and her older brother, Telly, but Telly, then 9, bashed his head in with a baseball bat. The siblings were fostered apart, with Sharlah ending up with Pierce and Rainie, whose expertise as parents seems to come from their combined resumes as a former criminal profiler and cop, respectively. Telly, we learn in expansive flashbacks from the now-teenager's point of view (Sharlah has her own, crowding an already packed narrative), bounced around before landing, age 17, with Frank and Sandra Duvall, a kind couple who are obviously not what they seem. In what appears to be an explosion of unexplained rage, Telly allegedly murders the Duvalls and then kills two people in a gas station before heading off into the Oregon woods, sparking a manhunt and fears that he's coming after Sharlah. Pierce and Rainie (last seen in Say Goodbye, 2008) work with local law enforcement to build a psychological profile of the teenwhich is questionable given the excessive amount of guesswork and second- and thirdhand information usedwhile trying to protect their daughter from harm. With its shaky armchair psychology and excessive plot threads, this is a series low point. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gardner's partners in crime fighting and in life-retired FBI profilers Pierce Quincy and Rainie Conner-return in fine fashion, helping the sheriff's department in Bakersville, Ore., zero in on a suspected rampage killer on the run. Complicating matters, the hunted, caught on camera, is Telly Ray Nash, the older brother of Pierce's and Rainie's 13-year-old foster child, Sharlah, whom they hope to adopt. The tricky plot unfolds using storytelling devices that dual readers Daniels and Schnaubelt handle effortlessly. Using a straightforward approach for the passages centering on Quincy's activities, Daniels provides the profiler with a mature, thoughtful, but worried voice. Schnaubelt easily covers the chapters featuring a hard-boiled Rainie and a determined Sheriff Shelly Atkins, but it's in the passages narrated in present tense by the confused, fearful, dog-loving teenage Sharlah that her performing skills are put on full display. A Dutton hardcover. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.