The Missing Girl

A stranger stalks the five sisters of a closely knit family in this taut drama. Alternating the viewpoints of the predator, who cultivates the anonymous appearance of “any respectable, ordinary man,” and the Herbert girls, who cross his path each day on their way to and from school, Mazer (After the Rain ) keeps readers on the edge of their seats with the knowledge that one of the five will be targeted for foul play. Distracted by worries—their father's disabling injury, dwindling funds, and individual problems they face at school—the girls pay little notice to the man and are oblivious to his growing fixation on the youngest sister, 11-year-old Autumn. The author relays her subsequent kidnapping suspensefully yet judiciously, conveying the terror Autumn experiences but only suggesting her actual molestation. Sharply delineated characters, engrossing narrative and Mazer's keen insight into the psychology of both stalker and victim keep the tension ratcheted way, way up. Ages 12-up. (Feb.)