The Girl in the Face of the Clock

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...