Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus' 27th outing is also their last. Peter, who's already retired from LAPD Homicide, doesn't want to step down from the Greenbury, New York, police until he's closed one last case: the murder of Pauline Corbett, found in the woods not far from where disabled Loving Care client Bertram Lanz disappeared three weeks earlier along with his caretaker, Elsie Schulung, who was Pauline's lover. But this assignment is upstaged by a crisis closer to home even though it's taken place in California. Emergency room physician Teresa McLaughlin, the mother of Peter and Rina's foster son, Gabe Whitman, has been attacked and seriously wounded by villains who've kidnapped her 5-year-old boy, Sanjay. The obvious suspects are Terry's estranged husband, Devek, a cardiac surgeon whose gambling has left him owing $2.5 million to the mob, and Devek's impatient creditors. When Terry's transcontinental phone call to Gabe ends in a cliffhanger, Peter advises him to call his father, Christopher Donatti, who's not a nice guy but who's still in love with Terry even though she left him 10 years ago. Donatti swoops down in his private jet, carries Terry off to his Nevada superbrothel, showers her in gifts and amorous declarations, and rapes her repeatedly. Kellerman cuts conscientiously back and forth between the two stories, but Peter's murder case, which is never all that mysterious, can't hold a candle to Terry's even less mysterious but shockingly toxic tango with her abusive ex, and Rina is left standing on the sidelines with nothing to do but hug her children. Come for the promise of mystery, stay for the long goodbye. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Brothel owner Christopher Donatti, a self-described psychopath, takes center stage in bestseller Kellerman's disturbing 27th novel featuring Peter Decker, a police detective in Greenbury, N.Y., and his wife, Rina Lazarus, whose interests include cooking, gardening, and religion (after 2021's The Lost Boys). Donatti's ex-wife, Terry, who's the biological mother of Decker and Rina's foster son, has fled to L.A. from India with her two young children, Sanjay and Juleen, fearing reprisals from her current husband. Indeed, two goons arrive at the apartment where they're staying, kidnap Sanjay, and beat Terry to within an inch of her life. Juleen manages to escape. Who can save Terry and the kids? Only Donatti and his small platoon of henchmen. Meanwhile, Decker and Rina, after returning from a vacation in Israel, are immediately swept up in the case of Pauline Corbett, whose body has been found in the woods near Greenbury. Decker is certain that Corbett's death is related to an unsolved missing persons' case. Readers should be prepared for traumatic scenes of rape, sodomy, and misogyny. This one's for hardcore fans only. (Aug.)

Pete Decker and Rina Lazarus are mainly supporting players in this twenty-seventh installment of Kellerman's ever-popular series. This one focuses on Teresa "Terry" McLaughlin, Pete and Rina's old friend and the biological mother of their foster son, Gabe. Facing an ugly divorce, Terry has fled to L.A., where she is attacked, and her two kids are abducted. She calls Gabe for help, and he enlists Rina, Pete, and Terry's ex-husband (and his biological father), the hitman-turned-brothel-owner Christopher Donatti. Fans of the Decker and Lazarus novels are familiar with both Terry and Chris; they've been in and out of the series for years. But we've never seen them quite like this: Terry is fragile to the point of breaking, and Chris, who freely admits he's a despicable person, is vulnerable and appears to be making a good-faith effort to be gentle and welcoming. Of course, Chris has anything but a heart of gold, and we can't help waiting for him to explode into violence at any moment. And, even though they're mostly in the background, Pete and Rina remain among the genre's most appealing partnerships.

Even as Det. Peter Dexter discovers a body in the woods, Teresa McLaughlin, the biological mother of Peter and wife Rina's foster son, Gabe, needs him. She's fled to Los Angeles during a complicated divorce from a former hitman, whom Peter and Gabe reluctantly call on for help when Teresa is beaten up and her children snatched. With a 100,000-copy first printing.