Method 15/33

In Kirk’s harrowing first novel, a kidnap victim—16 years old and pregnant—meticulously plots her escape. Although locked in a sparsely furnished third-floor room of what she believes to be a white farmhouse, the nameless narrator is confident that she can turn the tables on her male captor (“I had the wits to beat this horrible, disgusting thing”). Her visitors include a doctor and a couple she calls Mr. and Mrs. Obvious, who intend to take her baby. Fueled by a desire for revenge, she carefully catalogues every possible asset that she might use: a loose floorboard is #4, a pencil sharpener is #15, and so on. Meanwhile, FBI special agent Roger Liu investigates the abduction case of Dorothy M. Salucci, another in a series of missing pregnant teens, and he tracks a slim lead to rural Indiana. Back at the farmhouse, the narrator sets out to rescue herself, and with great cunning and patience she carries out the plan she calls 15/33. Her willpower and ingenuity prove more than a match for the callous brutality of those who wish her ill as this exciting tale builds to a surprising climax. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron & Associates. (May)