Lost Girls

DI Kim Stone has been called into the station because there has been an abduction of two girls.  The mother of one of them specifically asked for Stone.  She claims to be a friend, however Stone denies the friendship.  However, she wants to be SIO on the case.

She gets her team together and they plan to operate out of the home of one of parents.  Naturally the parents are apprehensive and fearful.

Stone and DS Bryant go to the leisure centre where the girls were abducted from and viewing the CCTV discover that a woman had provided a distraction so that a man, who was impersonating a cop could gather up the girls.  Based on a photo of the woman, one set of parents recognise her as their ex-nanny.

DS Dawson discovers that the nanny’s flat has been trashed.  Now, they needed to find her before whoever was after her.  Within hours the parents received identical texts telling them that their daughters were safe for now, but the games would begin tomorrow.  However, late that night a witness is badly beaten to death.

The next text to the parents offers one daughter’s life for the most money.  The other child will die.  Now the parents are in opposition to each other.

A profiler and a negotiator have been added to the team, much to the chagrin of Stone.  Shortly after their arrival, the clothes of the two girls are found distributed throughout the yard of one of the parents.

Forty-eight hours after the abduction, the woman who aided in the abduction is found tortured to death.  Stone can only hope that the girls are not in the hands of this sadistic killer.  Will she and her team be able to save the girls or will they just find bodies.

Author Angela Marsons’ thriller is a tense, fast paced novel that will keep the reader on the edge of their seat, turning pages to find out what is going to happen next.  I found this book hard to put down.