Too Far Gone

Miller's newest crime thriller eschews customary protagonist Winter Massey for FBI Special Agent Alexa Keen, who specializes in resolving high-profile abduction cases. While in New Orleans for a law enforcement seminar, she gets drawn into a case the authorities are desperate to keep quiet: Gary West, the husband of billionaire heiress Casey LePointe, has been kidnapped, without a note or motive. As Alexa navigates a Fed-weary police department, LePointe's reluctant, influential uncle and treachery at every turn, another threat looms: the approaching Hurricane Katrina. Miller digs into the underbelly of New Orleans and the minds of some deeply damaged characters, building tension while Katrina builds in strength. In a genre typified by predictable twists and stereotypical antagonists, Miller's entry is a refreshing change, providing genuine surprises and rich secondary characters. Unfortunately, Alexa is not a particularly original creation, saddled with a straightforward traumatic childhood story to explain her familiar workaholic-with-a-heart-of-stone act, but Miller's work with Alexa's adversaries, as well as the LePointe family, more than makes up for it. (Sept.)