False Step

At the start of this cleverly plotted thriller from Stone (Jane Doe), Veronica Bradley, an occupational therapist living near Denver, Colo., is stunned to see a local news video of her husband, Johnny, running through the woods carrying a small child. He has found three-year-old Tanner Holcomb, who had been missing in the mountain wilderness for four days. Johnny instantly becomes a national hero, but Veronica is frightened by the attention, since it threatens a secret that could destroy her carefully constructed life. When police discover that Tanner had been kidnapped and that his wealthy family paid a $1 million ransom, Johnny’s serendipitous rescue comes under scrutiny. Was he involved in the crime? Veronica is his only alibi for the day of the child’s disappearance, but even she begins to have her doubts. Danger and savage emotions surface as she discovers that she’s not the only one whose life is built on secrets and lies. Stone keeps the reader guessing to the end. (July)