"Pearson proves once again that he can put together a big-scale big-time police manhunt better than anybody else in the business..." * Read the first chapter Read reviews...

(paperback)

From best-selling crime writer Ridley Pearson, "a thinking man's Robert Ludlum,"* "the best thriller writer alive,"** comes a heart-pounding story of deceit and betrayal featuring Seattle detective Lou Boldt and forensic pathologist Daphne Matthews.

The press is calling him the Pied Piper because infants have disappeared from San Diego to Seattle with only a penny flute left in the crib. With all signs pointing to a black market adoption agency, Boldt and Matthews must break the brilliantly conceived network of abductions that has shattered lives and terrorized communities.

With few leads and no witnesses, Boldt and Matthews must battle not only the overwhelming odds, but the involvement of federal law enforcement driven by a news-hungry press and nervous politicians. The more deeply they probe, the more elusive the truth seems – evidence is being stalled, paperwork misplaced, witnesses overlooked. Why, when so much is at stake?

From bedroom to boardroom, Seattle to New Orleans, The Pied Piper is Ridley Pearson's most ambitious, intriguing, tightly woven story yet, peopled with heartfelt characters and his trademark detailed research. Writing as a new father himself, his "remarkable understanding of the motivations of the criminal mind"*** is enriched by a deep level of emotional suspense and makes clear why Clive Cussler has described Pearson as "one hell of a writer."