A Wolf In The Woods by Nancy Allen
Book 4: Ozarks Mysteries Series
Publisher: Witness Impulse / HarperCollins
Publication Date: eBook - February 20, 2018 / Paperback - April 17, 2018
Format: Paperback - 320 pages
Kindle - 1065 KB
Nook - 891 KB
ISBN: 978-0062438799
ASIN: B01EFLYKGYBNID: 978-0062438782
Genre: Legal Thriller / Mystery / Suspense
Buy The Book:
Buy The Series: Ozarks Mysteries Series
Book 1: The Code Of The Hills
Book 2: A Killing At The Creek
Book 3: The Wages Of Sin
Book 4: A Wolf In The Woods
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author/publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.
Book Description:
McCown County assistant prosecutor Elsie Arnold is prepping an assault case when a girl is found beaten and bloodied at a roadside no-tell motel. Elsie tries to convince the teen to reveal who attacked her, but Mandy is too scared—and stubborn—to cooperate… and then she disappears. Elsie’s positive a predator is targeting the Ozark hills, yet the authorities refuse to believe their small town could be plagued by sex trafficking.
Then middle school student Desiree Wickham goes missing, but only Elsie suspects it could be connected to Mandy’s assault. As she digs deeper into the events leading up to Desiree’s disappearance, she stumbles upon an alarming discovery: local girls are falling prey to a dubious online modeling agency, and never seen again. Elsie shares her concerns with Detective Ashlock and the FBI, but they shut her out.
She takes matters into her own hands and lands an interview with the head of the modeling agency. But when she meets him face-to-face, she discovers the fate of Desiree and Mandy… and becomes his newest captive. Elsie’s desperate to free the girls—and save herself—before the unspeakable happens. And she’s in for the fight of her life.
Prologue
A dark haired man lounged behind a battered desk in a second floor room at an EconoMo motel that sat on the highway in flyover country, Missouri. He pulled up Skype on his laptop and studied his own image on the computer screen, rubbing the tattoo that covered his neck. Behind him, the unmade bed was visible on the screen. A thin cotton sheet covered the form of a young girl.He adjusted the angle to cut her from the shot. The bed disappeared, replaced by beige curtains at the window, hanging askew on the rod.
The place was a dump. He could afford better accommodations, without a doubt. It was business, and business was booming. His greatest challenge was procuring sufficient supply to meet the constant demand.
On the desktop, bottles were scattered near the computer. Alprazolam. Oxycodone. Rohypnol. Diazepam. Three value packs of Benadryl: cherry flavored. A plastic bottle of Aristocrat vodka sat beside a jumbo container of Hawaiian Punch.
As he pushed them aside, the bottle of roofies rolled off the desktop and onto the dirty carpet. He caught it just before it rolled under the dresser.
A ding notified him: his Skype appointment was ready. Right on time. He liked the girls to be punctual.
He hit the button on the mouse and fixed a smile on his face. “Lola! How you doing, baby!”
A giggling girl with a mane of curly blonde hair greeted him onscreen. “Tony, you’re so funny. I’m not Lola, I’ve told you a zillion times.”
“But you look like a Lola. If you want to make it in the modeling trade, you’ll have to project glamour. Drama.” He stretched his arms over his head, displaying muscled biceps covered in ink, and locked his hands behind his neck.
“Cool.” Her eyes shone.
“Leave that country girl persona behind in Podunk. Where are you from again?”
“Barton. Barton, Missouri. Where’s Podunk?”
He laughed, running his hand over his thick hair. “Podunk is where you’re sitting right now. What you’re itching to ditch. How’s life?”
Desiree shrugged, pulling a face.
“They still giving you shit at school, baby?”
She rolled her head back onto her neck. “All. The. Time.”
“And how’s living at home?”
“Lame.”
“Wish you could leave it all behind?”
“Totally.”
The girl turned her head; he heard a whisper from someone off-screen. Sharply, he asked: “Are you alone?”
A second head appeared over Lola’s shoulder. He saw a mixed race girl. She was taller than Lola, but he pegged her at the same age: an adolescent, around fourteen.
And she was a diamond in the rough—a black diamond. Unblemished skin, full lips, high cheekbones. Lola said, “You asked if I had any friends who wanted to meet you.”
He smiled, tapping his hand on the counter. “Who’s this?”
The tall girl looked at her friend, then into the computer. “I’m Taylor Johnson.”
“And you’re interested in modeling?”
She blinked. A nervous twitch. He shot a grin, to reassure her. “You’ve got the bone structure for it.”
The tall girl pinched her lips together. “Maybe. I think so.”
“We’ll need to conduct some auditions by video, maybe an interview, before you can qualify for a live shoot at the agency.”
She looked skittish. He wouldn’t get anything from her today.
“Let’s just get acquainted, okay?” He was about to launch into his patter: find out her story, gain her trust.
But a moan sounded from the bed behind him. The girl was coming around. He glanced over, fearful that she might raise a ruckus that could scare off his new prospects.
Tony picked up his phone. “Aw shit. Call’s coming in from one of our clients. I gotta take it.” He winked and shut off Skype just in time.
In a weak voice, she said, “Tony. Help me. Please, take off the cuffs.”
He sighed. Picking up a dirty plastic cup, he poured a measure of vodka and Benadryl, and topped it off with the red punch.
The girl spoke again, in a pleading tone. “Don’t make me do it, Tony. It hurts.”
He stirred the drink with his finger and walked toward the bed. “Mandy, Mandy. You look like you could use a magic drink, baby. This will fix you right up.”
The girl tried to sit up as he extended the red plastic cup. Tony stared down at her, shaking his head. “What’s that saying? ‘The customer is always right.’ You know what you got to do.”
The girl began to thrash against the mattress. But she was handcuffed to the metal bed frame.
***
Excerpt from A Wolf in the Woods by Nancy Allen. Copyright © 2018 by Nancy Allen. Reproduced with permission from Witness Impulse. All rights reserved.
My Book Review:
In A Wolf In The Woods, the fourth book in the Ozarks Mysteries Series, author Nancy Allen once again draws upon her professional legal experience to weave a riveting legal thriller that captivates the reader's attention from beginning to end. Set in the small town of Barton, Missouri, in the heart of the Ozarks, the reader follows Assistant Prosecutor Elsie Arnold as she aggressively pursues a predator who targets the town's teenage girls with a ruse of an online modeling agency that is really a front for human sex trafficking.
The author transports the reader into the small Ozark town of Barton with its close-knit townspeople and its many dark secrets. Assistant Prosecutor Elsie Arnold views an online modeling agency's website and the selfie of the agent, a dark-haired man with a tattoo on his neck, has alarm bells ringing in her head, that goes into overdrive when she stumbles upon the discovery that local teenage girls are disappearing. When Elsie's boyfriend Detective Bob Ashlock and the FBI dismiss her concerns, Elsie embarks on her own investigation even though danger lurks around the corner, especially when she finds her own life at risk!
A Wolf In The Woods is a fast-paced, multi-layered, gripping, and complex story that has a great mixture of intrigue, romance, violence, suspenseful twists and turns, and enough drama that will leave the reader breathless. The reader is taken on one hell of an emotional roller coaster ride as they follow Elsie on her latest investigation, as she is determined to seek justice in a convincing and brutally honest style where no one is left unscathed.
If you are a fan of legal thrillers, then I would highly recommend reading the Ozarks Mysteries Series!
RATING: 5 STARS
About The Author
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Virtual Book Tour Event
Tour Schedule:
03/01 Showcase @ The Book Divas Reads
03/01 Showcase @ The Reading Frenzy
03/02 Showcase @ 411 on Books, Authors, and Publishing News
03/03 Review @ Buried Under Books
03/04 Review @ Book Reviews From an Avid Reader
03/05 Showcase @ Books Chatter
03/07 Excerpt @ Suspense Magazine
03/08 showcase @ CMash Reads
03/08 Showcase @ The Bookworm Lodge
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03/12 Showcase @ rabid readers book blog
03/13 Showcase @ Aurora Bs Book Blog
03/14 Showcase @ The Pulp and Mystery Shelf
03/17 Showcase @ Loris Reading Corner
03/19 Showcase @ Quiet Fury Books
03/20 Showcase @ Mrs. Robinsons Library
03/22 Review @ fundinmental
03/23 showcase @ Stacking My Book Shelves!
03/27 Review @ Beth's Book-Nook Blog
03/28 Review @ JBronder Book Reviews
03/29 Review/Showcase @ A Bookaholic Swede
03/30 Review @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews
03/31 Review @ Bound 4 Escape
05/17 Blog Talk Radio w/Fran Lewis
05/17 Review @ Just Reviews
I have this on my list but after reading your review, I need to read it sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl! I love this series, always been a sucker for legal mystery thrillers. :)
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