From the start, Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren suspects Jason knows more than he will admit. He seems detached, almost uncaring about his wife's disappearance, and reluctant to cooperate with the police. Where is the frantic husband, desperate for news of his wife? His one saving grace in D. D.'s eyes is that he seems genuinely loving and protective toward Clarissa. With the only other suspect being a registered sex offender in the neighborhood, and each passing minute making the trail grow colder, D. D. uses every means possible to break through Jason's icy calm and uncover whatever he is hiding. This leads her to discover more cracks in the carefully constructed public image of this "normal" family. Apparently Jason isn't the only one who's been keeping secrets...

Lisa Gardner excels in writing about the darker side of human nature and the extraordinary lengths people will go to in order to survive. Her characters are rarely painted in black or white but in various shades of gray. I would think I'd made up my mind about someone and then decide I wasn't absolutely sure. The inclusion of Clarissa adds an emotional punch to a suspenseful, gritty story, and the details about manipulating information on computers are fascinating (and a little scary). I love Lisa Gardner's books and this one is no exception.

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