A Deadly Influence

In this smart series debut from Omer (the Zoe Bentley mysteries), Lt. Abby Mullen, an NYPD hostage negotiator, receives a phone call from Eden Fletcher begging for help. Eden’s eight-year-old son, Nathan, has been kidnapped. As children, Abby and Eden lived on a farm as part of a cult; they were among the few surviving when the police raided the community in New York’s Suffolk County. Abby builds a response team made up of FBI agents, Suffolk County police, and the NYPD, all the while struggling with repressed childhood memories. Abby and her team, knowing that Nathan’s older sister, Gabrielle, is using her large following on social media to raise the $5 million ransom, begin to suspect the kidnapper may be one of Gabrielle’s followers. In due course, they narrow their focus to someone from the cult. The suspense mounts as the kidnapper becomes more and more desperate and the action builds to a nail-biting rescue attempt. Readers will eagerly await Abby’s next outing. [em]Agent: Sarah Hershman, Hershman Rights Management. (Mar.) [/em]