Girl Lost

Angelo (Hunting the Witness) kicks off the King Legacy series with a propulsive if crowded thriller about a former CIA agent grappling with her past. Luna Rosati has just returned to her hardscrabble hometown of Millie Beach, S.C., in search of the daughter she gave up as a troubled 18-year-old. She’s hoping to ask her former mentor, a detective named Stryker, for help, but before she can, he’s abducted from a local diner in broad daylight. Luna reluctantly teams up with her ex, police officer Corbin King, to search for Stryker and the police commissioner’s daughter, who disappeared six weeks earlier. Soon, Luna learns that a local girl from a rehabilitation program for troubled teens has also gone missing. Believing that this girl might be her long-lost daughter, Luna begins to suspect that all three disappearances are linked. As Luna and Corbin’s investigation brings them to the center of an organ trafficking ring, they struggle to summon the faith it will take to get to the bottom of the case and decide whether they can start over again as a couple. While the many plot threads sometimes become tangled, Angelo’s tenacious leads and zippy prose keep the pages turning. Fans of Lynette Eason and Melissa Koslin should take note. (Sept.)