Sacrifice Fly

O’Mara’s solid debut introduces Raymond Donne, ex–Brooklyn cop turned Brooklyn school teacher, whose well-intentioned attempt to locate eighth-grade student Frankie Rivas takes him back into the world he left behind. Instead of the boy, Donne finds the body of Frankie’s father, Francisco, in their apartment and Frankie and his younger sister, Milagros, missing. Seeing the police make little progress in their investigation, Donne tries to help, but is rebuffed by Detective Royce. A disparate cast of characters includes classic bad cop Jack Knight, a former colleague; Elijah Cruz of EC Medical Supplies, who looks after less fortunate fellow parishioners; and irritating oddball bar-fly techie Edgar “Emo” O’Brien. Donne pushes enough buttons to find himself kidnapped and his family threatened, until he has no choice but to pull out all the stops. Readers will enjoy meeting a complex, conflicted, and capable hero able to navigate the varied strata of Brooklyn despite the occasional bruising to body and soul. Agent: Maura Teitelbaum, Abrams Artists Agency. (Oct.)