cover image The Shadow Tracer

The Shadow Tracer

Meg Gardiner. Dutton, $26.95 (368p) ISBN 978-0-525-95322-7

Edgar-winner Gardiner’s second stand-alone (after Ransom River) boasts another of the strong female characters she’s known for and enough pulse-pounding action to satisfy the most avid thriller fan. Sarah Keller swore to her dying sister, Bethany, that she would take and protect Bethany’s baby, Zoe, from the father, Nolan Worthe, and his father, Eldrick Worthe, “the patriarch and self-proclaimed prophet of the Fiery Branch of the New Covenant”—a fanatical religious cult that extends across four Western states. Five years later, Sarah has made a new life for herself and Zoe in Oklahoma City, Okla., where a doctor examining Zoe figures out that Sarah is not the girl’s mother, as she claims to be. For FBI agent Curtis Harker, Sarah is the key to his vengeance on the Worthes for killing his wife. For the Worthes, tracking down five-year-old Zoe is vital to their survival. Desperate Sarah calls on U.S Marshal Michael Lawless for aid. The ensuing bloody cross-country race is packed with surprises and harrowing escapes. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. (June)