This intense thriller establishes Dane (No One Lives Forever
) as a diva of the flawed, baggage-laden but likable heroine. Putting romance on the back burner and the business of catching bad guys first, hard-boiled Chicago bounty hunter Jessica Beckett pursues a personal vendetta against child abuser Lucas Baker. When Baker turns up dead and is linked to a multinational human trafficking organization, Globe Harvest, the cops tag Jess as a possible suspect, but she's already off on another chase, looking for a teen who may have been a Globe Harvest victim. The search takes Jess from Chicago to Alaska, puts her in personal peril that evokes flashbacks to her nightmarish youth and surrounds her with a dazzlingly imaginative supporting cast of characters. Dane pulls out all the stops en route to the dramatic, rose-tinted finale. (Feb.)
