Allen Eskens The Stolen Hours

Lila Nash is on the verge of landing her dream job-working as a prosecutor under the Hennepin County Attorney-and has settled into a happy life with her boyfriend, Joe Talbert. But when a woman is pulled from the Mississippi River, barely alive, things in the office take a personal turn. The police believe the woman's assailant is local photographer Gavin Spenser, but the case quickly flounders as the evidence wears thin. It seems Gavin saw this investigation coming-and no one can imagine how carefully he has prepared. The more determined Lila is to put Gavin behind bars, the more elusive justice becomes. Battling a vindictive new boss and haunted by the ghosts of her own unspeakable attack, which she's kept a dark secret for eight long years, Lila knows the clock is ticking down. In a race against an evil mastermind, it will take everything Lila's got to outsmart a killer-and to escape the dark hold of her own past. "A near-perfect thriller, The Stolen Hours is a true nail-biter that will have you reading long into the night." - Book Reporter "Even readers who predict the tale's biggest twist before it arrives will still have the breath knocked out of them by the surprises that follow." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "There's not a moment misplaced or a second lost. With the precision of a watchmaker, Eskens assembles the fine parts of a mystery and sets them to the tempo of a thriller, leaving the reader breathless." -Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries