Out of Reach: A Novel

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In her acclaimed debut Blind Run, Patricia Lewin proved her brilliant command of heart-stopping tales of suspense—and the staggering human emotions that go with them. Now in Out of Reach, Lewin returns with a gripping new thriller—a beguiling story of a man and a woman entering a battle against an unseen evil . . . the kind that targets the most innocent among us.A rising star in the CIA, Erin Baker is driven by a tragedy from her past. When she was a child, her eight-year-old sister, Claire, was kidnapped. Though Claire was miraculously found, she was changed forever. As was Erin, who now just might get what she’s always wanted most: the chance to make a difference in someone’s life. But she must be willing to risk everything she holds dear.A covert officer overseas, Erin now works stateside in the world’s most sophisticated intelligence-gathering organization. But her life takes an unexpected turn when she spots an ice cream vendor performing magic tricks for kids. She has seen this man before—the day her sister disappeared. Obtaining access to records few are allowed to see, Erin pries open her sister’s cold kidnapping case. With her arsenal of data banks and espionage techniques, Erin hopes to finally bring the criminal to justice. When a boy disappears near her home, Erin is certain there is a link between the two cases. She meets Alec Donovan, an FBI agent on the hunt to find the missing child, whose record for locating missing children is unquestioned. Suddenly Alec and Erin find themselves on a desperate pursuit—from the streets of America’s most peaceful neighborhoods to a horrifying underworld where children are stolen and trafficked. And as they get closer to the truth, they make their own lives, and the lives of everyone they love, into perfect targets for a killer.With its deeply-drawn characters, relentless pace, and powerful depiction of human courage in the face of danger, Out of Reach is a gritty, terrifying novel of a nerve-wracking race against time. With echoes of today’s most shocking headlines, this is fiction at its most passionate and suspenseful.From the Hardcover edition.From Publishers WeeklySpunky kids at the mercy of bad guys are once again the focus of this second suspense novel by Lewin (Blind Run), in which a covert CIA operative and martial arts expert goes up against a child kidnapping ring. Erin Baker is on assignment in D.C., keeping an eye on the city's embassies, when she spots a magician she saw the day her seven-year-old sister, Claire, was snatched 19 years before. Convinced that she can help find a boy who was recently kidnapped, Erin joins FBI agent Alec Donovan, working with him to dismantle an international child-slavery ring operating under diplomatic immunity. Meanwhile, the story shifts focus to follow the kidnapper as he dons disguises to match wits with his pursuers, and describes abuse through the eyes of Ryan, a boy imprisoned on a German diplomat's Middleburg, Va., estate. Tension builds as Erin confronts the kidnapper on a jogging path and the evil German at an embassy ball, coming to a head when Alec's team storms the Virginia mansion. There is no shortage of twists and surprises, but the fast-paced plot can't make up for the cardboard-cutout characters (pretty Erin is a single parent and demonstrates martial arts to CIA recruits in her spare time; tough yet sensitive Alec falls for her right away; the evil German loves his guard dogs) or the uninspired prose ("The following ten days were particularly intense"). An action movie in print, this thriller offers recognizable characters, a few surprises, a little romance and the chance for the heroine to wear a variety of outfits to face down the villains. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistErin Baker's life changed drastically the day her sister Claire was kidnapped. Even though her sister was found four years later, Erin has always blamed herself for not looking after her. Now, years later, Erin has become a CIA agent, and cares for Claire, who has been committed to a mental institution, and Claire's young daughter. Working in Washington, D.C., Erin reads about a child's abduction in Baltimore, and all her painful memories resurface, especially after she sees an ice cream seller performing magic for children in the park. She then realizes that she saw the same man before her sister disappeared, and contacts the FBI. Special agent Alec Donovan believes Erin's far-fetched theory because he's heard rumors about a magician who kidnaps children. The two become rogue agents searching for a kidnapping ring that leads them to a high-ranking diplomat. Fans of Lewin's first book, Blind Run [BKL Ja 1&15 03], will find this white-knuckle chase through a murky world where children are the prey of adult monsters a worthy successor. Patty EngelmannCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved