The First Time I Saw Him

Dave’s heart-pounding sequel to The Last Thing He Told Me picks up five years after artist Hannah Hall’s husband, Owen, disappeared and left her to care for his surly teenage daughter, Bailey, in Southern California. In the interim, Hannah and Bailey have forged a close relationship, and worked toward repairing Bailey’s connection with her maternal grandfather, Nicholas, whose involvement with a crime syndicate sent Owen on the run. The women’s stability is disrupted when Owen reappears at one of Hannah’s art exhibitions and slips a message into her pocket warning her that she and Bailey are in danger. For reasons Hannah doesn’t understand, a deal brokering their safety has fallen through, and the women are forced to flee. Meanwhile, chapters following Nicholas and Owen reveal that the men have spent the last five years working to orchestrate an elaborate compromise with Nicholas’s former colleagues that guarantees their family’s permanent freedom. The pacing is brisk from the very first page, with Dave nimbly juggling multiple perspectives and timelines en route to a finale that provides readers with satisfying answers to their questions. The result is a solid suspense novel with plenty of appeal for Dave fans and newcomers alike. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Jan.)