Synopsis:

Lulu Lavender has been kidnapped. Her family has been brutally murdered. With the sheriff's office consumed by a high-profile case of a missing white teenager from a prominent family, it falls to Patrol Lieutenant Buck Shelton to investigate Lulu's abduction.

The trail leads Buck to the Arizona/Mexico border and a dark world of bizarre supernatural forces, desperate power seekers, vigilantes and drug dealers, and ultimately to a bloody showdown between good and evil--with an innocent girl caught in the cross fire....

 

"Missing White Girl is frequently enthralling. Mariotte hits upon some fascinating topics, including those of immigration and the Border Patrol, Mexican and American patriotism, and the terrible things people will do when they feel maligned and desperate. He throws in just enough grit and gore to appease action junkies, but doesn't use it as an easy selling point to the Saw crowd.

"But his true masterpiece is Buck Shelton. In his hero, he's crafted one of the finest new sleuths in fiction: a very real man who finds solace in the challenges of his job when things get rough at home, who isn't so hardened that a dead family of four can still shake him to the core--and who isn't afraid to make solving a crime a little bit personal. It would be a pleasure to see Buck again."
--Tucson Weekly

"Missing White Girl offers a gripping supernatural thriller set in the rugged terrain of Cochise County, while weaving an insightful commentary about race and class on the U.S./Mexico border."

--Daily Dispatch (Douglas, AZ)

Book Excerpt:

1

The back of a van or truck, she guesses, but hard, anyway, and ridged. She rolls on the turns, slams into solid steel when the vehicle brakes suddenly. A hump that keeps ramming into her spine might be a wheel well. Head pounding, blindfolded. Duct tape holds an awful rag stuffed in her mouth and straps down her hair, bites her flesh.
No idea how long she’s been riding, or who took her.
Or why.
No idea….

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Topics/Categories:

Border issues, Horror, News Media

Best Sellers:

Independent Mystery Booksellers Association

Type of Work:

Novel

Publishers:

Penguin Group, Inc.

Purchase From:

Mysterious Galaxy

Original Publish Date:

2007-05-29

ISBNs:

978-0-515-14308-9

Formats:

mass market, e-book