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Overview
Police Specialist Sonora Blair of the Cincinnati Homicide Division is awakened in the middle of the night with an urgent summons to take a deathbed statement. When she arrives at the hospital, the victim is unable to talk, but her questions elicit one key detail: the psycho who perpetrated this gruesome crime is a woman. Driven and determined, Sonora is committed to finding this killer before she strikes again - no matter the cost to her private life or the politics of her career. When the murderer begins to call Sonora - taunting, mocking her, trying to lure her into a twisted woman-to-woman complicity - the stakes go up, and the case becomes all too personal.Handcuffed to the wheel of his car, he is doused with gasoline and set on fire. Police Specialist Sonora Blair of the Cincinnati Homicide Division is awakened in the middle of the night with an urgent summons to take a deathbed statement. The victim can hardly speak, but he gives Sonora one key detail--the psycho who commited this gruesome crime is a woman.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
A female cop faces off against a female serial killer in Hightower's thriller. (Nov.)Library Journal
Sonora Blair, a Cincinnati homicide detective and single mother of two, is summoned in the middle of the night to the scene of a particularly gruesome murder. There, a naked, hideously burned young man is handcuffed to the wheel of his car. A deathbed interrogation reveals the perpetrator to be a woman, and Sonora soon learns that the murderess has a history of torching her victims. After a series of suspenseful developments, it soon becomes painfully evident that the killer is watching Sonora's every move and that the detective and those she loves are potential targets. To anticipate the next maneuver and to catch this twisted sociopath takes all of Sonora's tough police experience and nerve. Hightower's first mystery novel, Satan's Lambs (LJ 5/1/93), was well received, and this follow-up is no less riveting. Recommended for fiction collections.Sheila Riley, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.Wes Lukowsky
When college student Mark Daniels returns home to Cincinnati, he makes the mistake of going out for a beer. He's later found naked, handcuffed to his steering wheel, and on fire. He dies but not before telling homicide cop Sonora Blair that his killer was a woman. When photos of the victim--watching the flames close in--are delivered to his surviving brother, Sonora realizes this is no ordinary criminal. Soon the killer makes contact with Sonora, who has been identified by the media as working on the case. It's apparent that the killer, Selma, both identifies with and also despises Sonora. Though the serial killer genre is overworked, Hightower--winner of the 1994 Shamus for "Satan's Lambs" puts a unique spin on it by inserting females into the two key roles. The conclusion is extraordinary; it's not a shoot-out, though bullets fly. Sonora and Selma reach a meeting of the minds that will leave readers pondering the thin line differentiating madness from sanity.Book Details
Published
November 1, 1996
Publisher
Harpercollins (Mm)
Pages
448
Format
Paperbound
ISBN
9780061094569