In this exciting, character-driven police procedural by acclaimed author Gary Corbin, rookie policewoman Valorie Dawes has a mission: take serial child molesters like Richard Harkins off the streets of her small hometown of Clayton, CT--for good.
But Valorie's past includes childhood abuse trauma of her own, and her battle with this cunning, vicious criminal awakens memories and emotions she'd rather forget.
Battling sexism within the department and vilification in the media as a reckless incompetent, Val finds few allies in the pursuit of this elusive, cruel criminal, even as he continues to victimize women and girls in the community.
Can Valorie overcome the trauma she suffered as a child and stop Harkins from hurting others--or will her bottled-up anger lead her to take reckless risks that put the people she loves in greater danger?
A rookie policewoman, who was molested as a young girl, pursues a serial child molester, and struggles to control the emotions his misdeeds awake in her.
Valorie Dawes carries a serious emotional scar from being molested in her youth by a family “friend,” a tragedy referred to by family members only as “The Incident.” Her namesake uncle, a well-known Clayton, CT police detective, learned of her ordeal only days before being gunned down in the line of duty. Resolving to continue in his footsteps, she becomes a Clayton policewoman at the age of 22.
But Val’s self-doubts emerge and multiply when she encounters bullying and chauvinism from many of the seasoned male cops in her department. Only her partner, Gil, manages to crack through her veneer of mistrust of men by showing patience, kindness, and confidence in her. Under Gil’s tutelage, Val shows promise as a talented, thoughtful, and quick-thinking street cop, earning praise from her superiors–and continued resistance from old-school line cops, jealous of her quick rise.
But despite Gil’s support, Val becomes increasingly isolated within the department and vilified in the public eye as reckless and incompetent. Complicating matters, a blogger, Paul Peterson, somehow gains inside knowledge about her and is quick to sensationalize her mistakes on his trashy “police-accountability” website.
One of Val’s early mistakes involves getting overpowered in a domestic abuse encounter with a serial child abuser, Richard Harkins, who proves to be both elusive and cruel. His escape haunts her and she spends an increasing amount of her time and energy trying to track him down before he strikes again and subjects any more young girls to the fate Val encountered in her own youth.
Can Valorie overcome the trauma she suffered as a child and stop Harkins from hurting others like her—or will her bottled-up anger lead her to take reckless risks that put the people she loves in greater danger?
