Abductions, Kidnapping & Missing Persons

Most of the killers in this book looked completely normal. That's what the people who knew them always said afterward. These weren't strangers who emerged from the shadows—they were con men and caregivers, fathers and lovers, people with reputations carefully maintained right up until the moment everything came apart.

We tell ourselves we would know. That a killer would carry some visible mark, and that the people we trust could never be capable of the unthinkable. But the most chilling crimes are committed by the husband across the breakfast table, the coworker closing the shop, the polished stranger who remembers your children's names. This collection moves through quiet suburbs, small towns, and faraway cities to reconstruct thirty-six cases where evil wore an ordinary face.

How does a man shake the hand of the First Lady of the United States in May, then drive home and bury a teenage boy under his linen cupboard before midnight? How does a Polish picnic organiser, a precinct captain, a children's hospital clown, run twenty seven young men into the dirt beneath his own kitchen floor across six straight years on a quiet suburban street, while his neighbours bring round Christmas hampers and the postman calls him by his first name?

'An unputdownable high-octane thriller... a thick plot, searing narrative... a masterclass in crime storytelling.' -S. Hussain Zaidi, India's leading crime writer 'A must-read for those who wish to understand how the Indian police functions to outwit criminals under the most trying circumstances...

Chaos rules in a small Southeastern Missouri County. Madison County spans 500 square miles and has a population of approximately 13,000 people. The county seat is Fredericktown with a population of approximately 4,000 people. This rural county should be a safe place in beautiful Americana, but it hides a dark secret. Fredericktown is one of the most dangerous places to live in America. Check out this quote from neighborhoodscout.com.