The Last Witness

Members of the Philadelphia PD tangle with ruthless drug and human sex traffickers in bestseller Griffin’s explosive 11th Badge of Honor novel, this one, like 2010’s The Vigilantes, coauthored with son Butterworth. Homicide sergeant Matt Payne, dubbed the “Wyatt Earp of the Main Line” for a wild shoot-out in the Florida Keys, is on a mandated vacation when Maggie McCain, chief administrator of Mary’s House, a charity aiding abused or neglected children, is forced to go into hiding, carrying with her a possible key to busting the traffickers. Recalled to duty, Payne teams with Sgt. James Byrth of the Texas Rangers, and tries to locate Maggie. Meanwhile, Maggie’s risky decision to try to turn the tables on the vicious thugs hunting her has dire consequences. The authors use equally strong primary colors to paint both the bad guys and the heroes such as Payne and Byrth. Agent: Robert Youdelman, Rember & Curtis. (Aug.)