A Spree Killing and Finding Your Place in a Foster Family

Telly and Shalah Nash grew up in an abusive home. One night their drug addicted father stabbed their mother and took after the kids with a kitchen knife. Nine-year-old Telly managed to kill his father with a baseball bat, but in the process he broke Shalah’s arm. Because of the trauma, the siblings have been separated for eight years.

Each child has found a foster family they can begin to love. Shalah lives with Quincy and Rainie, FBI profilers, and a retired police dog, Luka. Shalah has gradually begun to love and trust her foster parents and they are ready to adopt her. Telly has also found a family he feels comfortable with. Frank and Sandra Duval, a science teacher and a homemaker, took Telly on as a project to get him ready to face the adult world when their own son, Henry, went off to college.

The security the siblings are finding is shattered when Sandra and Frank are found brutally murdered. Quincy and Rainie are recruited to help in the search for Telly who they believe is on a spree killing triggered by something that happened in the Duval family.

The characters in this book are all working on trust issues. The author has done an excellent job showing how difficult it is for foster parents and their children to deal with trust issues. The problems of teens coming from abusive homes are well portrayed. It’s worth reading this book because of the well developed characters.

The plot is good and has a number of twists. The author lays down enough clues that you can play the game along with the profilers. However, the beginning of the book is rather slow. As Quincy and Rainie try to discover what could have caused Telly to snap, they go over the same story numerous times. The action doesn’t really get going until after the middle of the book.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it. If you’re looking for violence and sex, this isn’t your book. However, it you like thrillers with well done psychological background, you’ll enjoy this one.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.