The Short Drop

The disappearance of Suzanne Lombard, the 14-year-old daughter of U.S. senator Benjamin Lombard, propels FitzSimmons’s suspenseful first novel. Ten years later, Suzanne is still missing, but there’s a break in the case. George Abe, the head of a consulting group who once worked for her father (who’s now vice president and running for the presidency), persuades former computer hacker Gibson Vaughn, who was Suzanne’s childhood friend, to look for her. Gibson works with two of Abe’s investigators, an ex-CIA officer and an ex-L.A. police detective, both of whom have serious skills and very little regard for Gibson’s abilities. Tossed into the mix is a professional killer whose employers have hired him to dispose of everyone who’s searching for Suzanne. The plot builds slowly, but it will keep readers turning the pages until the end, even though the denouement may come as little surprise to veteran thriller fans. Agent: David Hale Smith, Inkwell Management. (Dec.)