Blood Highway

Wohlsdorf follows her debut, 2016’s Security, with a powerful thriller that focuses on the travails of Rainy Katherine Cain, a preternaturally smart 17-year-old who lives in Minneapolis with her insane mother, a cancer nurse. Mom literally refuses to admit Rainy exists, so she has had to become quite adept at foraging for herself. One day, Rainy comes home from school to discover Mom has committed suicide. Soon afterward, she’s kidnaped by Sam, her supposedly dead father, who has escaped from prison so he can grab her and the $3 million he believes her mother hid away from a robbery. They embark on a horrific odyssey that eventually takes them to the woods in Northern California. A sadistic psychopath, Sam alternates between crooning to his “Kat” that he just wants to take care of her, and robbing and murdering people they run across. Sergeant Blaine, a Minneapolis police detective, follows as best he can, but things keep getting worse. This intense story can be painful to read, but it’s more than worth the ride. Five-city author tour. Agent: Emma Sweeney, Emma Sweeney Agency. (Aug.)