Description
Book SynopsisBlow out a candle. Make a wish. Your last one. Eight years ago, Elliott Nash’s daughter was murdered. Since then, everything the brilliant former criminal psychologist had is a memory—his child, his career, his wife, and his home. Now he lives on the streets around Washington, DC, with only a bottomless well of guilt and nightmares to make him feel alive. Until Amy Scowcroft solicits his help. She refuses to believe that her daughter, Lacey, who was kidnapped a year before, is dead. To the police, it’s a case gone cold. To Elliott, it’s redemption. In fact, Amy has stumbled upon an unnerving new clue: Lacey is just one of seven children from broken homes who vanished near their birthdays. Right now, it’s all they have to run with. Right now, they have no idea where the chase will lead. As Elliott navigates the streets he knows so well, he and Amy will discover how dark they are—and how many secrets they conceal. Because in a search this harrowing, everybody has something to hide.
Trade Review“Every parent’s nightmare comes true in this taut psychological thriller. With her daughter missing and presumed dead, a mother must seek out the help of a homeless stranger to find the girl before it’s too late. Iden weaves a heart-wrenching tale of loss and redemption with pulse-pounding suspense as the story unfolds through the eyes of a bereaved mother, a homeless psychologist, abducted children, and a deranged kidnapper. With torn-from-the-headlines realism, Birthday Girl and the many casualties of childhood it lays bare will haunt you into the night.” —D.M. Pulley, author of The Unclaimed Victim “Iden has written an engrossing read with an unexpected hero. The unique characters kept me turning the pages, driven to learn their fates. Skilled description and talented plotting took me on a suspenseful ride. If you're a newcomer to Iden’s work, you won't be disappointed. I’ll never view birthdays in the same light.” —Kendra Elliott, Wall Street Journal bestselling author
