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Description
Seattle police psychologist Daphne Mathews has her hands full with a pregnant, addicted, runaway teenager, a murder victim's brother whose strange behavior unnerves her, and a deputy sheriff she once treated who's now stalking her. She's frightened enough to move in with Detective John LaMoia, a development that doesn't exactly thrill Lou Boldt, their boss and Daphne'sex-lover. But Lou's too busy with his own cases to brood over John and Daphne: the recent disappearances of two local women, and the death of Billy Chen, the nephew of Mama Lu, an old friend and a powerful figure in Seattle's Chinese community, which appeared to be an accident but turns out to have been murder.The only thing the disappearances and murder have in common is location; all three victims were last seen in a part of downtown built over the Underground, a dark and dangerous warren of buildings abandoned after the fire that leveled Seattle more than a hundred years ago. While Seattle's Underground has been the setting for several mysteries by other authors (Earl Emerson, J.A. Jance), Pearson makes the most of its creepy-crawly atmosphere in a gripping thriller whose solid plotting pulls all of Daphne's, LaMoia's, and Boldt's cases together. It also wisely reconfigures the personal relationships among the three central characters, which bodes well for their future adventures in this long-running series (Middle ofNowhere, The Pied Piper). --Jane Adams… (more)
User reviews
Protagonists:
Lou Boldt: Seattle Police Lieutenant, strong yet gentle
Daphne Matthews: Seattle Police psychologist, strong yet fragile
John LaMoia: macho cowboy Seattle Police Sargeant ("he doesn't walk, he swaggers")
Ferrell Walker: psycho brother of murdered girl whose case Daphne
Mama Lu: mysterious Asian power broker and friend of Lou Boldt (she calls him "Mr. Both" and he calls her "Great Lady")
First Line: "She lay on her side, her head ringing, her hair damp and sticky."
Main Theme: Everything seemingly disparate is connected! Daphne tries to solve a crime of a murdered girl without help, and almost gets herself killed. Boldt is trying to find two missing women. There has been a murder in Seattle's Chinese community.
Subtheme: Daphne and LaMoia discover feelings for one another [viz: "She wanted to get naked. She wanted him inside her, right here on the kitchen counter."]
Main Action: All roads lead to the Underground, a dark and dangerous warren of buildings under downtown Seattle abandoned after the fire that leveled Seattle more than a hundred years ago.
(JAF)
I would like to see more with Daphne as the main character.