Tom Coffey delivers a gut-wrenching debut, a sensational thriller that could be torn from today's headlines. Plunging deep into the morality of a city renowned for sin -- Los Angeles -- this is the story of the murder of a girl. Edgy, intense, and possessed of a voice sharp enough to cut flesh, Coffey's piercing novel will carve its way into your psyche.

Her name is Megan Wright. Pretty. Thirteen. Nice house. Private school. When she is raped and murdered, it's a story, and Ted Lowe is the one to report it. He's been a reporter for a lot of years, but this is the first time he actually sees a body. Megan was indeed pretty. The crime scene is anything but.

As Ted smoothly uncovers the facts surrounding Megan's death, he finds that the glittery facade of her perfect life was just that -- a thin sheen easily wiped away with the answers to a few questions. Megan was secretive. She stayed out late. Her parents were divorced. And she was seeing a boy.

The suspects slowly accumulate: the cold-as-ice mother, the surfer-deadbeat father, the friends, the boyfriend who happens to be the son of one of the richest men in California. It could be any one of them. For any reason. And the spun-out decay of an entire city begins to close in around Ted: he's written too many tragic accounts, listened to the police band so long it might as well be background noise...and watched helplessly as his emotions fell away from him like dead leaves.

Suddenly, Ted's questions stop being answered. Phones slam down, doors slam shut. And he realizes that while he has managed to gather more facts and leads than even the police, there are some people who do not want this case solved. And if the life of a thirteen-year-old girl was worth taking, so is the life of a reporter who's seen too much.

Exhibiting a supreme talent for heart-pounding twists, Tom Coffey brings readers a slick and riveting mystery, a page-turner sure to prove one of the most stunning suspense novels of the year.