Lost Girls

After World War II and the emergence of the United States as the leading world power, one single man was chosen to create an agency known as The Cellar to police all the other agencies as they formed (CIA, FBI, ATF, DEA, etc.).

With its founder on his deathbed, a new face is commanding the Cellar: Hannah Masterson. Her first task may prove to be the most harrowing of her career.

Deep in the forests of Kentucky, a girl is being held captive.

In Alabama, a young pre-school teacher is murdered in front of her students.

In the panhandle of Florida, a college undergrad is kidnapped from a nightclub.

These seemingly unrelated crimes catch the eye of the Cellar and trigger a most intense and frightening investigation. Cellar operatives Jack Gant and Neeley are chosen to track down those responsible. Enlisting the help of profiler Susan Golden, the three-person team is dragged up and down the Eastern Coast of the US, following a trail of caches into a vicious trap. The men responsible aren't your ordinary criminals. They are highly trained Special Forces Sniper Team, and their crimes ignite an intricate plan of revenge.

But as is always the case with the Cellar, nothing can be taken for granted. Underneath this web of deceit lies an even more shocking crime—a conspiracy that men of power will sacrifice their lives and the lives of their families to protect.

After World War II and the emergence of the United States as the leading world power, one single man was chosen to create an agency known as The Cellar to police all the other agencies as they formed (CIA, FBI, ATF, DEA, etc.).

With its founder on his deathbed, a new face is commanding the Cellar: Hannah Masterson. Her first task may prove to be the most harrowing of her career.

Deep in the forests of Kentucky, a girl is being held captive.

In Alabama, a young pre-school teacher is murdered in front of her students.

In the panhandle of Florida, a college undergrad is kidnapped from a nightclub.

These seemingly unrelated crimes catch the eye of the Cellar and trigger a most intense and frightening investigation. Cellar operatives Gant and Neeley are chosen to track down those responsible. Enlisting the help of profiler Susan Golden, the three-person team is dragged up and down the Eastern Coast of the US, following a trail of caches into a vicious trap. The men responsible aren't your ordinary criminals. They are highly trained Special Forces Sniper Team, and their crimes ignite an intricate plan of revenge.

But as is always the case with the Cellar, nothing can be taken for granted. Underneath this web of deceit lies an even more shocking crime—a conspiracy that men of power will sacrifice their lives and the lives of their families to protect.

Publishers Weekly

An alias of prolific bestseller Bob Meyer-whose second novel with Jennifer Crusie, Agnes and the Hitman, is due in August (Reviews, June 4)-Doherty is a bestseller in his own right with his Area 51 books, among others. This terrific follow-up to Bodyguard of Liescontinues to track the Cellar, a government organization whose task is to police rogue agents in the CIA, FBI and other U.S. bureaus. Maj. Jack Gant is called in from his South Carolina island home to oversee an investigation involving the abduction of Emily Cranston, daughter of Fort Bragg Special Warfare Center commander Col. Samuel Cranston. The motive for the abduction is revenge, and the perpetrators have been highly trained in how to carry it out-by the U.S. government. As related crimes pile up, Doherty delivers top-notch action and adventure, creating a full cast of lethal operatives armed with all the latest weaponry. Excellent writing and well-drawn, appealing characters help make this another taut, crackling read from Doherty. (Aug.)

ROBERT DOHERTY is a pen name for Bob Mayer. He grew up in New York City, graduated from West Point and spent twenty years on active and reserve duty in the Infantry and Green Berets. Mayer has over thirty books published under his own name and four pen names. There are over two million copies of his books in print and he is published in a dozen foreign countries. His Area 51 books have been consistent USA Today Bestsellers. A screenplay based on Area 51 has been written by the same writer who wrote the screenplay for the hit science-fiction movie Alien. Don't Look Down (co-written with Jennifer Crusie) was a New York Times bestseller. He lives in Hilton Head, South Carolina.