Publishers Weekly
Sherer takes a break from his Emerson Ward series (Death Is No Bargain, etc.) with this solid stand-alone, a mystery thriller set on an island near Seattle. Jack Holm, who's just lost his PR agency job, has a lot more to worry about after his flight attendant wife, Mary, goes missing. An overly descriptive opening slows the action, but tension builds as Jack faces life as a single father with two unruly kids, 10-year-old Tyler and 15-year-old Kelsey, who fear the worst. Meanwhile, in therapy sessions, Jack reflects on an unraveling marriage, alcoholism, soccer brawls, a car wreck and other family woes that culminate in the discovery of Mary's battered body on a Christmas tree farm. Earthy detective Ed Mankewicz suspects Jack's involved, though after Jack's arrest, the evidence against him isn't clear either to Jack, his slick lawyer or the reader. Creepy-looking strangers lurking around the local school add suspense to an unrelenting tale of personal calamity that ends on a gratifying note of hope. (Mar.)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Library Journal
Stay-at-home dad Jack Holm wonders where his flight attendant wife is-she left one morning without leaving a note or saying goodbye. Soon, her body is found, and the police turn their attention to Jack. Although packed with action, this mystery is too unbelievable, and Jack is an unsympathetic hero. Not recommended.
Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Murder nearly destroys a Seattle family. Jack Holm is in therapy to resolve problems with his emotionally distant wife. Since losing the lucrative job that brought him to Seattle, he's been surviving by freelancing while Mary, a flight attendant, is picking up extra trips, often on short notice. Because Mary, who's more interested in drinking than sex, leaves most of the household chores and child raising to Jack, he doesn't miss her when she's away for several days. He finally reports her as a missing person, but it's too late, and when her body is discovered, raped and beaten, he becomes the prime suspect. His struggles to help his moody teen daughter Kelsey and his desolated younger son Tyler are cut short when he's arrested and Child Services indicates plans to place the children in foster homes. Good lawyers keep Jack out of jail and with his children, but he realizes that he alone is interested in finding the real murderer. A child-porn CD discovered in a bag Mary mistakenly exchanged with a friend and some threatening phone calls give him a lead. With help from a Chinese computer expert and moral support from a new love, he pursues a dangerous killer. In a shift from his Emerson Ward mysteries (Death is No Bargain, 2006, etc.), Sherer creates a suspenseful tale of a family stressed by the conflicts murder reveals.
