Sharp’s second Charlie Fox thriller to be published in the U.S. (after 2005’s acclaimed First Drop
) opens with a harrowing scene of the hard-hitting British bodyguard slowly bleeding to death in the frigid New Hampshire woods. Flashback to London: under the watchful eye of her boss and sometimes lover, Sean Meyer, Charlie reluctantly takes a job protecting recent lottery winner Simone Kerse and her young daughter, Ella, from Simone’s ex-boyfriend. Determined to find her long-estranged father, Simone travels to Boston with Charlie and Ella in tow. Charlie has her suspicions when a mysterious man approaches Simone, claiming to be her father, and these suspicions soon become frighteningly real when secrets about the Kerses’ past come to light, culminating in a gun battle that leaves Charlie struggling to piece together why a client shot her own bodyguard. Sharp expertly builds the suspense in a nonstop thrill ride that should win her many new American fans. Author tour. (Sept.)
