Bloodstream - Marty Hopkins, Bk 2 Author:P. M. Carlson Marty has missing persons on the mind: her husband, who's always on the run and out of her reach; her ten-year-old daughter, who's thinking of following in her father's footsteps; and, finally, fourteen-year-old Johnny Donato. But that file closes; no longer a case of missing persons, it becomes a case of murder. Young Johnny's m... more »utilated body is found floating in the East Fork of the White River, bringing a small town's deepest fears swirling to the surface.
Several of the locals turn wary eyes on a group of newcomers, who have begun an archaeological dig bankrolled by wealthy Arizona developer Bob Rueger. Rueger's great-grandfather had founded a utopian religious community in Nichols County. Now Rueger has returned to Indiana to re-create this agricultural village, steeped in local history and culture. When Johnny's body is found so close to Rueger's land, the enterprising tycoon's motives are called into question - and a cloud of suspicion falls on the entire crew he has assembled to bring his dream to life.
In her heart, however, Marty can't reconcile such a savage murder with any of the obvious suspects -- or motives. The river, swollen with the summer rains, seems to hide a more sinister truth, a more twisted logic, and she's set on finding it -- a determination that turns to desperation when a second tragedy confounds every law enforcer on the case. Marty is a cop but she's also a mother, and this new twist is every parent's nightmare. Someone is out there, someone haunted by dreadful torments and driven by insatiable desires...a demon-lover roaming the countryside, stalking new prey....« less