cover image L.A. Burning

L.A. Burning

D.C. Taylor. Crooked Lane, $27.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-64385-778-7

Cody Bonner, the vulnerable, tough-minded protagonist of this stunning thriller from Taylor (the Michael Cassidy series writing as David C. Taylor), rejected the decorative social role intended for her as a movie star’s daughter and instead slid into addiction and crime as a teen. After serving six years in prison for a bank robbery, she’s now intent on solving the murder of her identical twin, Julie, a lawyer whose body was found on a Malibu beach two years earlier. While she’s gathering information from her high school friends who are now showbiz execs, her attention is drawn to Harry Groban, her mother’s powerful agent, who has allegedly sexually abused young women. When she learns that Julie had been investigating Groban, she begins feverishly planning her revenge. But she hasn’t been paying enough attention to a determined LAPD lieutenant, who’s out to nail her for the bank robberies she got away with. As the action builds relentlessly to an apocalyptic conclusion in the heart of a Southern California wildfire, Taylor reveals how complex human motivation can be. He’s upped his game with this frightening, exciting eye-opener. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, DeFiore and Co. (Feb.)