The Reaping
A Reed and Steinbeck Thriller
By-the-book forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck and rogue BCA agent Van Reed must catch a cold-case killer who’s returned to abduct a small town’s children one by one in this heart-stopping novel from the Edgar Award–nominated author of The Taken Ones.
In 1998 an Alku, Minnesota, family of five was brutally murdered in their sleep. The event shook the insulated community but, without any solid leads, was relegated to the cold case files, where it moldered for twenty-five years. Until today.
Agent Harry Steinbeck hoped never to return to the northland, a place that holds terrible memories of his sister’s abduction. But when a recent homicide is connected to Alku’s unsolved mass murder, he and cold case agent Evangeline Reed have no choice but to investigate.
The case grows impossibly darker as, one by one, the children of Alku begin disappearing. And Harry and Van can’t shake the sensation that someone is watching every move they make.
As an elusive killer’s trail leads to a truth more sinister than either imagined, Harry knows there’s only one way to crack this case: he must finally face the secrets of his own past—even if doing so will cost him everything.
“A gruesome murder. A bizarre town. And one of fiction’s best new detective pairings. Jess Lourey weaves together an incredibly unique story, taut with suspense and filled with odd characters you’ll find creepy, fall in love with, and suspect—all at the same time. I tore through this book.” —John McMahon, Edgar Award Finalist, The Good Detective
“Mystery and horror mix in a creepy novel whose suspenseful ending hints at a very special sequel.” —Kirkus Reviews