The Shadow Tracer: A Thriller

by Meg Gardiner

Overview

From award-winning author Meg Gardiner, co-author of Michael Mann’s Heat 2

Sarah Keller is a skip tracer, tracking criminals who have gone on the lam. She’s also a single mother to five-year-old Zoe, living quietly in small-town Oklahoma—until an accident sends Zoe to the ER, and their life changes in a heartbeat. Medical tests reveal a desperate secret Sarah has been hiding for years: Zoe is not her daughter, but rather a girl once rescued from a nightmare of murder, vengeance, and harrowing family ties she can’t possibly remember. Sarah does. And someone wants to make sure she never forgets.

Now Sarah must abandon her carefully constructed life and take Zoe on the run. Using her knowledge as a skip tracer to stay off the grid, she must remain one step ahead of her pursuers if she is to stay alive, save Zoe, and bury the past once and for all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101624289
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/27/2013
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	980 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Meg Gardiner is the author of eleven critically acclaimed novels, including the Evan Delaney series: Mission Canyon, Jericho Point, Crosscut, and the Edgar® Award winning China Lake. She is also the author of The Shadow Tracer, The Nightmare Thief, The Liar’s Lullaby (a Stephen King Entertainment Weekly “Pick Hit”), The Memory Collector, and The Nightmare Thief. Originally from Santa Barbara, California, she divides her time between London and Austin.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for The Shadow Tracer

“A plot-driven cat-and-mouse game for adrenaline junkies with surprises in every chapter.”—The Boston Globe

“Gardiner lifts the suspense to an almost unbearable level.”—Bookreporter.com

“Pulse-pounding action…packed with surprises and harrowing escapes.”—Publishers Weekly

“Beautifully executed.…Gardiner firmly plants herself in the hallowed suburban nightmarish grounds of Lisa Gardner and Harlan Coben.”—The Providence Journal

“Gardiner will keep you up half the night with nonstop action and nary a pause for breath.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Heart-stopping….Gardiner steadily ratchets up the suspense.”—Booklist

“Should not be missed.”—Library Journal

“Great crime fiction…Get ready for a rollicking roller coaster ride.”—The Best Reviews

Further praise for Meg Gardiner, hailed by Stephen King as “the next suspense susperstar.”

“[A] tidal wave of adrenaline.”—People (3½ out of 4 stars)

“A high-wire act with suspects and subplots whizzing back and forth between action-packed chapters.”—The Washington Post

“[A] freezerload of scare-you-silly chills.”—Stephen King

“A first class thriller…that will have you glued to the pages.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“Gripping suspense.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“A humdinger of a thriller, with shocks and twists galore.”—Tess Gerritsen

“[An] appealing, entertaining thriller...twist after twist.”—The Baltimore Sun

“A crackerjack thriller…intense…Devious twists abound.”—The Miami Herald

“Smart, lively prose.”—The Washington Post

“Steeped in nonstop action, psychological terror…and unpredictable twists.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel

“A book no reader of thrillers will be able to put down...Meg Gardiner gives us everything.”—Elizabeth George

“Harrowing.”—Jeffery Deaver

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Shadow Tracer

“A plot-driven cat-and-mouse game for adrenaline junkies with surprises in every chapter.”—The Boston Globe

“Gardiner lifts the suspense to an almost unbearable level.”—Bookreporter.com

“Pulse-pounding action…packed with surprises and harrowing escapes.”—Publishers Weekly

“Beautifully executed.…Gardiner firmly plants herself in the hallowed suburban nightmarish grounds of Lisa Gardner and Harlan Coben.”—The Providence Journal

“Gardiner will keep you up half the night with nonstop action and nary a pause for breath.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Heart-stopping….Gardiner steadily ratchets up the suspense.”—Booklist

“Should not be missed.”—Library Journal

“Great crime fiction…Get ready for a rollicking roller coaster ride.”—The Best Reviews

Further praise for Meg Gardiner, hailed by Stephen King as “the next suspense susperstar.”

“[A] tidal wave of adrenaline.”—People (3½ out of 4 stars)

“A high-wire act with suspects and subplots whizzing back and forth between action-packed chapters.”—The Washington Post

“[A] freezerload of scare-you-silly chills.”—Stephen King

“A first class thriller…that will have you glued to the pages.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“Gripping suspense.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

“A humdinger of a thriller, with shocks and twists galore.”—Tess Gerritsen

“[An] appealing, entertaining thriller...twist after twist.”—The Baltimore Sun

“A crackerjack thriller…intense…Devious twists abound.”—The Miami Herald

“Smart, lively prose.”—The Washington Post

“Steeped in nonstop action, psychological terror…and unpredictable twists.”—South Florida Sun-Sentinel

“A book no reader of thrillers will be able to put down...Meg Gardiner gives us everything.”—Elizabeth George

“Harrowing.”—Jeffery Deaver

From the Publisher

Gardiner's latest stand-alone revisits the story of Thelma and Louise, with Thelma played by a professional skip tracer and Louise by a refugee from kindergarten. As she escaped a burning building five years ago, Sarah Keller promised her dying sister, Bethany, that she'd protect Bethany's daughter Zoe from the monstrous Worthes, the polygamous family of self-anointed prophets--"white trash mafia who got a bad dose of God"--into which Bethany had unwisely married. With the unexpected help of Deputy Marshal Michael Lawless, Sarah succeeded in going off the grid in Oklahoma City and raising the little girl as her own. When a series of freak accidents outs Sarah and Zoe and makes national headlines, imprisoned patriarch Eldrick Worthe, whose desire to recover Zoe for their family is intensified by darker motives, sends Grissom Briggs, the Worthes' "Shattering Angel," after Sarah, together with two of Eldrick's granddaughters, Fell and Reavy, to serve as his "wives of the wind" and well-armed wingmen. Sarah, whose experience as a skip tracer has taught her a bit about vanishing without a trace, grabs Zoe, phones Lawless and heads to Roswell, N.M., where he's arranged a more secure hideout for her. But "more secure" is only a relative term when you're pursued by avenging angels with shotguns, and Sarah's flight leaves a blood-soaked trail behind her. Realizing eventually that she can't remain on the run indefinitely, Sarah hatches a scheme to turn the Worthes against each other. A series of expertly planned surprises awaits both the pursuers and their prey. If you can accept the preposterous setup, the ruthlessly two-dimensional villains and the world's most uncomplaining 5-year-old, Gardiner (Ransom River, 2012, etc.) will keep you up half the night with nonstop action and nary a pause for breath.

Kirkus Reviews