The Girl in the Face of the Clock

Book excerpt: Charles Mathes has impressed readers with his inventive series of "Girl" stand-alones in which a different female heroine must uncover a dark secret about her family's past. In this fourth addition to the series, Mathes brings readers Jane Sailor, a young woman who choreographs stage combat for theatrical productions.She is working at a regional repertory company when she gets an ominous phone call urging her to return to New York: something has happened to her father. Jane has been expecting this call for years.Aaron Sailor was a promising painter before he fell down the stairs of their Soho loft.He has been in a coma for the past eight years, and the doctors have made it clear that there is no chance for recovery.This phone call from the nursing home can only mean one thing. But her father is not dead, Jane learns to her surprise.Still unconscious, he has suddenly begun to speak.What he says is as baffling as it is upsetting."No, Perry, don't do it.No, Perry, no."Were these the last words that Aaron spoke before his head was smashed on the vestibule floor? Could his fall perhaps have not been an accident?And who was Perry? Searching through her father's old papers Jane stumbles across a name she has never heard before.Perry Mannerback turns out to be an eccentric billionaire who spends his time giving away money and collecting rare clocks.Jane goes to work for him, hoping to find some answers, but instead discovers the real question: Will she get out of this alive? From the high stakes world of New York City art galleries to the underbelly of London's antique trade to the puzzling attentions of an international financier, Jane follows the trail of a killer as Charles Mathes takes his readers on another dazzling adventure.