Virgin Lies - Paul Lucas, Bk 2 Author:Roderick Anscombe One summer day, Boston forensic psychiatrist Paul Lucas gets a call from his social worker wife, Abby: A nine-year-old girl has gone missing. Paul, an expert interrogator, is called in to help evaluate the testimony of the only witness: a homeless woman who happens to be a paranoid schizophrenic. — Further interviews with other possible witnesses... more » go nowhere, frustrating detectives and calling into doubt Paul's role in the case. Believing the girl is alive but soon to die, Paul is pushed to the brink of a professional abyss -- harangued by local media, distrusted by police, and pressured to save the day by Abby, whose stake in the search becomes deeply personal.
With time running out, Paul has to make a choice: to uphold the central oath of his profession or to do whatever it takes to find the girl -- even if he must crack the mind of a vulnerable patient, and risk everything he has in the process.« less
Fascinating novel that works as a well-paced thriller, yet also explores how far one might go to save the life of a child who's been abducted. Quick and enjoyable read that also raises questions that keep coming into your thoughts days later.