The Black Road

Book excerpt: The honeymoon is over for newlywed criminologist Marina Esposito. Her house is in flames. Her detective husband is in a coma. Her baby daughter is missing. And then her phone rings . . . "I have something you've lost," the voice said. "Your daughter." The voice on the other end wants to play a game. If Marina completes a series of bizarre tasks within three days, she wins her daughter's life. If she fails, her little girl dies. The clock starts now. In a desperate race against time, Marina begins to suspect that the madman is someone she knows—someone with a past as troubled as her own. But the truth is far darker than she imagines . . .