Tracking Time

April Woo #6

by Leslie Glass

April risks her career to investigate the disappearance of a young doctor in Central Park.

When Maslow Atkins goes for a quick run and doesn't come back, April's usually flawless cop instincts tell her that he is alive. She orders a massive search using the city's best K-9 tracking unit, though it means going outside her jurisdiction and outside her authority. It takes the brutal murder of a witness for April's hunch to be believed ... yet she still finds herself no closer to unraveling the lethal tangle of family secrets that obscures the most disturbing crime she has ever faced.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Crime, Procedural

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

LESLIE GLASS's new book, the Mother Daughter Relationship Makeover is a memoir and exploration of the issues that drive mothers and daughters (and also sons) apart. Her experience as founder and editor of Reach Out Recovery, the online wellness and recovery magazine, inspired her to move beyond her beloved April Woo mystery series and focus on helping people by writing recovery books for people of all ages. Since 2011, she has produced two award winning documentaries, The Secret World of Recovery, and The Silent Majority and developed a website with followers from all over the globe wanting to know more about addiction, recovery, relationships, and health. Reach Out Recovery has more than 1500 original articles.

In her early career Leslie worked in publishing and has written for a variety of media. She was a journalist at New York magazine and a short-story and feature writer for Cosmopolitan and Woman’s Own in Great Britain. A playwright and the author of the critically acclaimed mystery series featuring NYPD Detective Sergeant April Woo, Glass is also the author of Over His Dead Body, Sleeper, The Teen Guide to Health, Find Your True Colors in 12 Steps, The 8 C's That Help Me Be All Right.
She lives in Sarasota, Florida.

Series
* April Woo Mystery

Reviews

[Dez Nemec · Rating 3 out of 5]

The mystery was pretty good. I could've totally done without April's unbelievably obnoxious mother (or maybe she is believable - I don't have a Chinese mother!). Also it's a pet peeve of mine when people periodically lapse into another language, like Mike Sanchez. Yes, you are Spanish, but do we need the language switch? That just drives me crazy. Maybe it's just me...

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Glass' Time series about Det. April Woo. The Chinese cultural influences are interesting and April is a flawed but compelling heroine. There were a couple clunky sections in this one--almost like they were written by someone else, but overall it was a good read.

[Estibaliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2

Ágil y amena. Temática perfecta para los que, como yo, disfrutan con esos capítulos de series tipo 'Mentes Criminales', 'Fiscal Chase' o 'Ley y Orden' en los que el mal se viste de adolescente disfuncional...

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved having an Asian heroine within a good old New York City detective novel. Typical storyline with good cops and bad kids. A good read.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a little too graphic for me, but still a good story.

[Dona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out in the middle of the series. Good read

[Andy Plonka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure why I haven't read Glass's back list in her April Woo series. They are quite well researched and informative especially with regard to Chinese American culture.

[Laronica Conway · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Leslie Glass book with the main character of April Woo. It’s the 6th in the series and even though it was generally interesting, it felt as if the character was still trying to determine who she was as a professional, a daughter and a girlfriend. I gave this book three stars because it felt unfinished. The ending was just blah and I realized I didn’t care for the main characters. She didn’t give me a reason to care. And, there were WAY too many characters with too many names to remember! Unnecessary. Nothing really tied together. It was also probably 100 pages too long. It wasn’t an awful book, I was just left unsatisfied. It took me so long to finish it because it wasn’t compelling enough to make me want to stay up all night to read it. Maybe the earlier April Woo books are better? Sometimes the later versions of a character in a series tend to become dull and boring. Next time I’ll start with the first April Woo book.

[Luca Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encantó, jamás había leído algún thriller y pese a que este forma parte de una saga de libros que siguen la vida de la sargento April Woo, no necesite contexto anterior de los demás libros, se podría decir que es autoconclusivo, pero sin dudas me leería los demás.

Todo el tiempo me mantenía con la duda de lo que sucedería a continuación, hubo una escena que me dejó algo asqueadx, así como hubo una escena que me conmovió tanto, pero la intriga y ganas de leer siempre se mantuvieron.
Fuese donde fuese que dejase la lectura, había algo que me atrapaba a leer más.

Si bien es algo enredoso al describir cada una de las calles de la famosa ciudad de New York, lo es necesario para entender el contexto. Al comienzo casi desisto, por tanta información que me saturo, pero no lo abandone y en episodios más adelante, todo fue hilandose, pero como dice el libro mismo, nada es lo que parece.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cadaver dogs do the tracking, but Woo and Sanchez are tracking the scent too. Central Park figures large, Jason Frank less so though his clocks are still chiming loud though he's forgetting to wind some of them - he's losing track of time except when it comes to crime. Only a couple more Leslie Glass Woo and Sanchez to go!

[Merry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful, psychological Mystery involving missing persons and 2 s0mewhat strange teenagers. There were a lot of plot twists, unhappy people both in their marriages, parenting skills gone wrong, infidelity, and psychological problems. Use of a tracking dog is interesting. A bit of pornography and sex that wasn't really necessary to the story.

[Tawny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had hoped that I had found a new author to read, but Ms Glass spreads out the story so much that it is hard to follow and keep track of the characters. Plus the constant comments about the "dragon mother' just don't do it for me.

[Jennifer Stevensen-Waldo · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay read, very quick, not a whole lot of character development, nice twist, overall read like an episode of law and order

[Jitesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much of a suspense novel...One could figure out the end of the novel much before the actual end.

[Clyde · Rating 3 out of 5]

GOOD! got at VPL used bk sale.....didn't realize it was 6th in a series!

[Jeanne Lawrence]

Disturbing, adult book about evil young people. Held my interest.

[den · Rating 1 out of 5]

the fbi was just playing akinator the whole time

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even better.

[Lynn Pribus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly serviceable time-passer. First I have read about April Woo and although some of the characters were clearly from past books, it wasn't a problem. Although I don't know that I'd hunt up previous (or later) books in the series, if another one turns up on the gym's swap table, I'd pick it up.

A young shrink has a patient who seems to know a lot about him and also seems to be stalking him. He leaves for a run in Central Park and disappears. There are some strange connections among the characters, but they are in the realm of possibility.

[Zade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Leslie Glass's April Woo novels, so it's no surprise I enjoyed this one. I find April engaging and her struggles as she negotiates her way through police culture, her relationship with her culturally alien lover, and her never-ending fencing with "Skinny Dragon Mother" provide a wealth of depth for her character beyond simply "female Asian cop." She manages to be both strong and unsure of herself, prickly and hungry for love, and entirely charming.

The plot of this novel is disturbing, even given the genre, but quite well written. Glass manages to combine her knowledge of police procedure with a respectful understanding of psychoanalytic process and ethics. This combination has played a role in previous April Woo novels, but really comes to the forefront in this story. Glass also does a very good job of balancing several different iterations of the theme of parents failing to recognize/respect the needs of their children and the many ways this dynamic can play out. The centrality of this theme also keeps the book relevant almost 15 years after its publication. Fans of Andrew Vachss will find familiar notes here, even though Glass is a very different writer.

You could certainly read this novel as a stand-alone and enjoy it very much. If you have the chance to read the series in order, do so. It only adds to the enjoyment.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite character in the AprilWoo series is her mother, Skinny Dragon. Skinny is constantly in fear that her daughter will never marry a rich Chinese doctor or businessman. She squawks at April whenever she comes home about her Hispanic lover and former partner at work. By plying April with unpalatable herbal concoctions, Skinny hopes to adjust April's yin and yang so that April will want to marry, have children, and stop embarrassing her mother by running around NYC solving crimes.

This mystery was not one of my favorites in the series because the criminals' identities were revealed at the beginning. Plus it's really annoying to me when spoiled rich kids commit crimes because they have no conscience. I think the book was supposed to generate compassion for the teens because their parents were lousy, but I just wanted to give them a good kick in the pants.

[Annabelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this Amy Woo suspense novel, a psychiatrist goes out for a jog and goes missing. Dr. Jason Frank, Woo’s psychiatrist sidekick is his clinical supervisor. I guess it is suspense since we know who committed the crime from the beginning. As my sister, Linda, would say it is a bit dreary in that she switches characters a lot and it is hard to get involved with the momentum of the story, and as a reader, I didn’t care about sociopath, rich teens with screwed up, narcissistic parents. But the subplot of the missing psychiatrist, Atkins, unknown sister is interesting. Mike Sanchez, Amy’s fellow detective, contributes to sexual tension in their on again and off again romance is good, but a small part. The detail of dog tracking and Vietnam veterans who use old body parts to teach the hounds adds to a tad bit of interest. Ho hum.

[Angie crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, though I do have a complaint or so about it. I like the main character, April Woo. I like how her mother disapproved of her guy, and she didn't care, as well as how she isn't really favored in the police departement. I enjoyed the story line and it flowed nicely. However I was dissapointed in the the kidnapper. Seemed that he did it mostly to please his girl, and that is beyond stupid. I enjoyed the writing and the character enough to read another of this series. April is asked by a friend to look into the disapearance of a friend/colleague. Before April realizes it she is invovled in a case that is out of her jurisdiction. Can April unravel the tangle of family secrets and find the missing guy?

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot was far-fecthed but entertaining, characters were interesting. My big annoyance was the rampant stereotyping all around. I like the idea of the April Woo character, and I liked some of the interplay between she and her mother and boyfriend, but was annoyed by the fact that everyone not portrayed as a downtrodden minority with a complex was portrayed as a snobby white marginal racist. My opinion might be skewed by the fact that I grew up in NorCal, but the idea of a Chinese-American female detective, hispanic Lt., and generally racially mixed police force is normal to me. Still, the plot managed to keep my attention most of the time and the dogs were cool.

[Pbwritr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another April Woo book. A psychiatrist goes missing and it turns out that two teenagers from rich, dysfunctional families decided to kill someone as a lark. They thought they had killed Maslow Atkins and hidden him in a cave in Central Park but he was still barely alive. Again, fast-paced. Well-written. No clue, though, as to why these two kids were such sociopaths and how they managed to cavalierly convince each other to commit such heinous acts.

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn, these are good books this is again a wonderful addition to the April Woo series. This time a psychiatrist who is in one of Jason’s programs disappears, a nutty patient is following him, two crazy spoiled teenagers and to top it off Mike is driving April around the bend. She is trying to come to terms with her affections toward him and both her commanding officer and dragon mother are nipping at her heels. The only problem is it was over too soon.

[MeLani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leslie Glass did a wonderful job of developing all of the characters in this suspenseful police drama. The shallow and callous immaturity of Brandy Fabman was quite real, as was the troubled and strangely sensitive David Owen. April Woo, the series police investigator, was also a likable, yet very authentic, character.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Leslie Glass book. I really enjoyed the characters of Chinese American April Woo and her Chinese mother - Skinny Dragon. This was one of those books I just didn't want to put down. Even though I picked this one up because it included the tracking theme, I would like to read more of this series.

[Hildy Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grade: C

This was the least enjoyable of all the April Woo mysteries. Also, I enjoy the interaction between American born April and her Chinese born mother and this novel had almost none. This book was also more vulgar then Glass's usual fare. A disappointment.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing book! as good as the last mystery i read! :)