Not Who We Expected

Book excerpt: Dynamic forensic analysts Ellie Carr and Rachael Davies return in New York Times bestselling author Lisa Black’s latest riveting Locard Institute thriller, as they solve a deadly mystery unfolding in the shadow of a celebrated rock star. The two crime experts are enlisted by legendary rock star Billy Diamond to find his missing daughter. A level-headed student at Yale, Devon left six months earlier with her boyfriend, Carlos, for a career development retreat in Nevada. Her calls and notes became less frequent until they stopped. Billy wanted to give his daughter space—but after learning Carlos' body was found a few miles upstream from the ranch, he needs answers. Rachael and Ellie hatch a plan—as Ellie goes undercover, Rachael will work with Billy to find out about Devon. But Rachael has a second agenda, to find out why Billy seems so familiar with her late sister Isis, whose little boy Rachael is raising. The music idol is hiding something, but what? The southwest ranch is full of surprises. Devon is not only alive but thriving, and no one mentions Carlos. The attendees follow their leader, Galen, with slavish devotion, and their daily mind-body exercises stretch from brain-numbing to downright treacherous. If Galen is behind some nefarious scheme, how does it relate to the rock star and his daughter? To answer those questions, Rachael will also have to ask: Who was her sister Isis, really? The answers will draw Ellie and Rachael deeper into danger. In Billy’s world and in Galen's, the living, the missing, and the dead all have secrets.