Just Jennifer

15 Seconds by Andrew Gross (William Morrow, July 2012)

In his fifth solo novel, James Patterson co-author weaves a story of revenge and two fathers’ love for their daughters that hits the ground running and doesn’t stop until the final page.  Young Amanda Hofer has just run down a young mother and her infant son in their front yard.  She was high on Oxy and is in prison facing a twenty year sentence with a father out for vengeance for his daughter’s life which she feels is over.  Plastic surgeon Harry Steadman is in Fort Lauderdale to attend a medical conference and play a few rounds of golf. While trying to find his hotel, he makes a wrong turn and ends up handcuffed in the back of a police car, for what, he’s not quite sure.  Next thing he knows, he is released and back in his own car, but witnesses the drive-by, execution style murder of the arresting officer.  He finds himself being shot at and fleeing the scene, becoming Florida’s most wanted fugitive.  Harry is now on the lam after finding his best friend dead and learning that whoever is masterminding this plot has his daughter.  His only hope is a dispatcher, Carrie, who has just returned from bereavement leave and who, for some reason, believes Harry.  Readers will either guess who is pulling the strings or feel the tell comes a little early in the plot, but as the rest of the plot unfolds and Carrie and Harry chase down leads and make connections, the tension remains high and the trademarked pace Gross is famous for never slows until the very end.