In the shadows of an ally in Los Angeles, Detective Lena Gamble stands at a crossroads. For eight long months not a single murder case has come her way, her good name tarnished by city bosses and the dark politics of the LAPD. But then fate deals her a hand from the cards of death. A body, a girl, a young woman-dismembered and tossed in a dumpster with the trash. The only lead is delivered in secret. A mysterious courier, a lost witness, who drops off an envelope with the victim's driver's license and a video clip. A glimpse into the murderer's world. As Lena digs deeper, her path is fraught with mystery and deceit and whispers of a larger conspiracy. And with the body count rising, the LAPD and city bosses are watching, waiting for a misstep-hoping for it-spying on her through the walls of her own home. Yet Lena's resolve never wavers, her mind sharp as the blade that stole the girl's life. And when she unearths the killer's lair-the knives, the blood, the dead girl's clothing-she knows it's a race against time. A dark dance of intellect and intuition, where every clue is a step closer to the truth, and every truth is a step closer to redemption. Will Lena Gamble outsmart everyone who wants to see her fail? Or will the City of Angels claim another lost soul to its depths? Will she live or will she die? The answers lie in that chilling moment Lena reaches the end of the road. The moment she discovers the lost witness. "Scorching. Deliciously twisted. Nothing is what it appears to be. Ellis succeeds masterfully in both playing fair and pulling surprise after surprise in a story that feels like a runaway car plunging down a mountain road full of switchbacks." -Publishers Weekly, Starred Review ***