The Stolen Hours

by Allen Eskens

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens writes a well-paced cat-and-mouse story that pits a budding DA and a serial killer. Each character attends to their craft so well that we turn each page wondering what’s the next move on this chess board of life versus death. Eskens writes, despite the themes of his books, very empathetic stories that are both tense and heart tugging. We invite you to read an author who is quite beloved by customers in our Minnesota stores.

A woman finds herself in a race not only for justice but for her life in this "riveting, hold-your-breath" new mystery from the bestselling author of The Life We Bury (Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author).

Lila Nash is on the verge of landing her dream job—working as a prosecutor under the Hennepin County Attorney—and has settled into a happy life with her boyfriend, Joe Talbert. But when a woman is pulled from the Mississippi River, barely alive, things in the office take a personal turn.
 
The police believe the woman’s assailant is local photographer Gavin Spenser, but the case quickly flounders as the evidence wears thin. It seems Gavin saw this investigation coming—and no one can imagine how carefully he has prepared.

The more determined Lila is to put Gavin behind bars, the more elusive justice becomes. Battling a vindictive new boss and haunted by the ghosts of her own unspeakable attack, which she’s kept a dark secret for eight long years, Lila knows the clock is ticking down. In a race against an evil mastermind, it will take everything Lila’s got to outsmart a killer—and to escape the dark hold of her own past.

“A near-perfect thriller, The Stolen Hours is a true nail-biter that will have you reading long into the night.” —Book Reporter

“Even readers who predict the tale’s biggest twist before it arrives will still have the breath knocked out of them by the surprises that follow.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“There’s not a moment misplaced or a second lost. With the precision of a watchmaker, Eskens assembles the fine parts of a mystery and sets them to the tempo of a thriller, leaving the reader breathless.” —Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316703512
Publisher:	Little, Brown Book Group
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	4,390
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Allen Eskens is the USA Today bestselling author of The Life We Bury, which has been published in twenty-six languages, and five other novels, most recently The Shadows We Hide and Nothing More Dangerous. His books have won the Barry Award, the Rosebud Award, the Silver Falchion Award, and the Minnesota Book Award. Eskens is a former criminal defense attorney and lives with his wife, Joely, in greater Minnesota.

Editorial Reviews

A riveting, hold-your-breath, frightening mystery. The Stolen Hours is a thoroughly captivating legal thriller.”
 —Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Wife

“In Allen Eskens’ newest thriller The Stolen Hours, there’s not a moment misplaced or a second lost. With the precision of a watchmaker, Eskens assembles the fine parts of a mystery set to the tempo of a thriller, leaving the reader breathless.” 
 —Craig Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire Mysteries

“Eskens captures the legal drama skillfully. But it's how he nails his characters, with believable dialogue and shrewd interplay, that makes this work stand out. Oh, and there's a fabulous twist at the end. Wouldn't you know it?”
 —Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"The Stolen Hours is as good as it gets; a heart-pounding and utterly engaging thriller that had me turning the pages at warp speed. At the core of this magnificent and beautifully told story is Lila, a strong yet vulnerable woman in search of the truth. But Eskens cleverly lets her share the spotlight with two other women whose strengths and weaknesses play off of and enhance each other. Alone, each is a character that readers will identify with and root for. Together, they're unstoppable. I loved this book!"

—Karen Dionne, New York Times bestselling author of The Marsh King’s Daughter and The Wicked Sister

"A rousing legal thriller that’s also an acute study of female victimization and male privilege."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A nail-biting thriller."—Shelf Awareness

“The plot provides satisfying twists and poses thought-provoking questions about gender. Eskens reliably entertains.”—Publishers Weekly

“Intense and satisfying.” —Booklist
 —Booklist

From the Publisher

07/26/2021

Lila Nash, the heroine of this tense thriller from Edgar finalist Eskens (the Max Rupert series), is poised to land her dream job as a prosecutor for Hennepin County (Minnesota) once she passes the bar. But Lila has a secret that threatens to undo her: eight years earlier she was drugged and attacked while attending a party in high school, an attack so brutal it led to her being institutionalized and estranged from those who care about her. Meanwhile, photographer Gavin Spencer, a serial killer, has identified his latest victim, Sadie Vauk, a bridesmaid who slighted him at a wedding where he recently worked. When Sadie survives Gavin’s attempt to kill her, she’s able to identify him because of his severe speech impediment. Soon, Lila is forced to face her own demons as she matches wits with Gavin while building a case against him. In the end, readers may wish Gavin had proven to be a more formidable adversary than he turns out to be, but the plot provides satisfying twists and poses thought-provoking questions about gender. Eskens reliably entertains. Agent: Amy Cloughley, Kimberley Cameron & Assoc. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A talented team of narrators perfectly present this fast-paced, engaging legal thriller. Lila Nash is getting closer to her dream job working for the prosecutor in Hennepin County. When she begins working on the case of an attempted murder of a young women, unexpected connections to other crimes and to her own troubled past come to light. Detective Niki Vang suspects Gavin Spenser, a local photographer, of the crimes and builds a case with Lila's help. Christine Lakin portrays Lila as determined and passionate, Macleod Andrews perfectly voices Gavin's twisted narcissism and Tina Huang's Niki is focused and empathetic. The narration by all three perfectly captures the challenging police investigation, legal fight and personal relationships depicted. Another compelling story in this series and a must listen! K.S.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2021 - AudioFile

A talented team of narrators perfectly present this fast-paced, engaging legal thriller. Lila Nash is getting closer to her dream job working for the prosecutor in Hennepin County. When she begins working on the case of an attempted murder of a young women, unexpected connections to other crimes and to her own troubled past come to light. Detective Niki Vang suspects Gavin Spenser, a local photographer, of the crimes and builds a case with Lila's help. Christine Lakin portrays Lila as determined and passionate, Macleod Andrews perfectly voices Gavin's twisted narcissism and Tina Huang's Niki is focused and empathetic. The narration by all three perfectly captures the challenging police investigation, legal fight and personal relationships depicted. Another compelling story in this series and a must listen! K.S.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2021 - AudioFile

★ 2021-07-28
A law clerk still battling demons from her past must rise to dizzying heights in preparing a case against a serial sex killer.

Lila Nash has never truly recovered from her rape when she was 18. She’s cut herself, tried to kill herself, spent years in therapy, powered her way through law school, and landed a plum entry-level job with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office despite the fact that Frank Dovey, the new prosecutor, has hated Lila ever since she and her law school mentor, professor Boady Sanden, embarrassed him in court. Now Andi Fitch, the aggressive prosecutor to whom Dovey has assigned Lila as an assistant in the serene confidence that she’ll fail, presses her to make the case against wedding photographer Gavin Spencer, who’s accused of assaulting and nearly killing bridesmaid Sadie Vauk. Spencer, a serial predator who plans and executes his murderous assaults meticulously and has a special gift for seeing around curves and destroying the evidence that might incriminate him, is a ruthless antagonist. As Eskens demonstrates, however, he’s cut from the same cloth as Frank Dovey, whose bloodless campaign against Lila is every bit as unscrupulous. Even readers who predict the tale’s biggest twist before it arrives will still have the breath knocked out of them by the surprises that follow. And they’ll all cheer when fragile Lila finally gains the strength to stand up to the oppressors in her life and wrestle it back from them.

A rousing legal thriller that’s also an acute study of female victimization and male privilege.

Kirkus Reviews