The Bodies Left Behind
by Jeffery Deaver
Simon & Schuster, November 11, 2008, $26.00

Police deputy Brynn McKenzie is tired, hungry, and glad to be home after a long shift, but when Sheriff Tom Dahl calls her to check out a 911 call from an isolated vacation house near Lake Mondac, she’s eager to go. The drive through the dense forest of Marquette State Park is long and lonely. On the way, the sheriff radios back that the call was a mistake—the cell phone owner had called back saying he and his wife were fine—but Brynn, a specialist in domestic violence cases, decides to make sure.

Silence greets her at the house. No one answers the doorbell and when she tries the door, it swings open. Pushing inside, she sees the contents of a briefcase and backpack spilled across the floor. Nearby, a couple lie face down in a spreading pool of blood. Before she can retrieve her cell phone from the car, Brynn hears whispers and realizes the killers haven’t left. What follows is a night of nonstop, terrifying flight and pursuit, death and survival where Brynn’s training, endurance and wits are tested.

A master of suspense, Deaver throws his protagonist (and his villains) into one impossible situation after another, upping the stakes and building the tension. Bodies rushes into high-speed action, cutting away only briefly for subplot or back story. Unfortunately, after the thrill ride of the chase with its jaw-dropping plot twists, the murder investigation wrap-up seems abrupt, anticlimactic and may leave some readers feeling cheated. But does Deputy Brynn McKenzie have the potential to be a new series character for Deaver? She certainly has promise.