Virgin Lies: A Novel - Hardcover

Anscombe, Dr. Roderick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312365675 ISBN 13: 9780312365677

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2007

Synopsis

On a blistering Boston summer day, a nine-year-old girl disappears while crossing a public park.  The only witness is a homeless schizophrenic woman who believes she is under surveillance and whose memory may not be reliable.  Dr. Paul Lucas, an expert at interrogating violent criminals and the insane, is called in to help evaluate the woman's testimony.
      Lucas elicits small details that lead police to three people with no apparent connection: a retired engineer, his disabled wife, and a young man who works at a doughnut shop.  But interviews with each suspect go nowhere, frustrating detectives and calling into doubt Lucas's role in the case.  Believing the girl is alive but without water and soon to die, he is pushed to the brink of a professional abyss--under intense focus from local media, distrusted by police, and pressured by his wife, Abby, whose stake in the search is deeply personal. 
      With time running out, Lucas has to make a choice: to honor and uphold the sworn central oath of his profession, or to cross the line and do whatever it takes to find the girl, even if he must crack the mind of a vulnerable patient.
      Suspenseful, intriguing, and informed by years of real-life experience with violent criminals, Virgin Lies is a first-class thriller.

Paul soon is trapped in an ever-tightening web of circumstance and scrutiny that implicates him in the eyes of his wife, his colleagues, and eventually the police. As the battle of wits turns deadly, with his career on the line and his life over the edge, Paul must learn to play the game by Craig's rules-for he who tells the best lie wins.

Smart and wickedly suspenseful, Virgin Lies winds through twists and turns to a place where nothing is as it seems.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

From the author of The Interview Room comes another “Gripping psychological thriller” (Kirkus Reviews) that will leave readers breathless.

A desperate attempt

One summer day, Boston forensic psychiatrist Paul Lucas gets a call from his social worker wife, Abby: A nine-year-old girl has gone misisng. Paul, an expert interrogator, is called in to help evaluate the testimony of the only witness: a homeless woman who happens to be a paranoid schizophrenic.

A race toward justice

Further interviews with other possible witnesses go nowhere, frustrating detectives and calling into doubt Paul’s role in the case. Believing the girl is alive but soon to die, Paul is pushed to the brink of a professional abyss—harangued by local media, distrusted by police, and pressured to save the day by Abby, whose stake in the search becomes deeply personal.

A JOURNEY INTO FEAR AND DARKNESS...

With time running out, Paul has to make a choice: to uphold the central oath of his profession or to do whatever it takes to find the girl—even if he must crack the mind of a vulnerable patient, and risk everything he has in the process.

“Intense, bone-chilling”—Tucson Citizen

“Suspenseful and insightful.” —Booklist

About the Author:

Roderick Anscombe, M.D., is a forensic psychiatrist who has interviewed more than two hundred murderers. He is an expert in the detection of deception and teaches interview technique at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of The Interview Room, The Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula, and Shank, and lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Visit his Web site at www.roderickanscombe.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0312365675
• ISBN 13: 9780312365677
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304