2-3-4 Challenge Book Discussions #2 discussion

Over a span of twenty years, four boys have been kidnapped from their bedrooms, suffocated, and buried nearby in a shallow grave. Serial killer or coincidence?

That’s the question investigative reporter Maxine Revere sets out to answer when an old friend begs her to help exonerate his wife, who has been charged with their son’s recent murder. But Max can do little to help because the police and D.A. won’t talk to her—they think they have the right woman. Instead, Max turns her attention to three similar cold cases. If she can solve them, she might be able to help her friend.

Justin Stanton was killed twenty years ago, and his father wants closure—so he is willing to help Max with her investigation on one condition: that she work with his former sister-in-law— Justin’s aunt, FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid. Trouble is, Max works alone, and she’s livid that her only access to the case files, lead detective and witnesses depends on her partnering with a federal agent on vacation. She wants the career-making story almost as much as the truth—but if she gets this wrong, she could lose everything.

Haunted by Justin’s death for years, Lucy yearns to give her family—and herself—the closure they need. More important, she wants to catch a killer. Lucy finds Max’s theory on all three cases compelling—with Max's research added to Lucy’s training and experience, Lucy believes they can find the killer so justice can finally be served. But the very private Lucy doesn’t trust the reporter any more than Max trusts her.

Max and Lucy must find a way to work together to untangle lies, misinformation, and evidence to develop a profile of the killer. But the biggest question is: why were these boys targeted? As they team up to find out what really happened the night Justin was killed, they make a shocking discovery: Justin’s killer is still out there … stalking another victim … and they already may be too late.

Setting
New York, New York
Phoenix, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona
San Diego, California
Santa Barbara, California
Corcoran, California
Denver, Colorado
Los Angeles, California

Prologue
38 Chapters

Character List
(view spoiler)[
Recurring Characters
Maxine (Max) Revere: Investigative reporter and host of the cable show Maximum Exposure. She’s 5’10” with dark red hair.
David Kane: Max’s full-time assistant and as-needed bodyguard. He’s a former Army Ranger. He has a 12-year old. daughter, Emma, and is divorced from Brittney.
Emma Kane: David’s 12-year old daughter.
Ben Lawson: Max’s friend since college and producer of her show. He was Karen’s boyfriend.
Nick Santini: Detective Max met in California during her last investigation. They’re seeing each other long distance. He’s divorced from Nancy with a son, Logan.
Marco Lopez: Max’s recently ex-boyfriend, a supervisor all FBI special agent.
Lucia (Lucy) Kincaid: Youngest of the Kincaid siblings. She’s completed her training at the FBI academy and is now an agent in the Violent Crimes Squad in San Antonio. She’s a rape survivor and married to Sean Rogan. She’s 25-years old and has long black hair and brown eyes.
Sean Rogan: The youngest of the Rogan siblings, he was formerly a partner at Rogan-Caruso-Kincaid (RCK) and is married to Lucy. He was a consultant and followed Lucy to San Antonio but is now returning to RCK. He and Patrick Kincaid opened the Washington, DC office.
Jesse Spade: Sean’s 12-year old son.
Patrick Kincaid: Lucy’s 34-year old brother, a former e-crimes detective with the San Diego Police Department. He now a partner at Rogan-Caruso-Kincaid (RCK) and opened their new office in Washington DC with Sean Rogan. He was in a coma for two years after suffering a brain injury during Lucy’s rescue.
Gabrielle (Elle) Santana: San Francisco attorney working for the law firm Feliz, Hochman and Fellows. She’s 32-years old with dark eyes and long, dark hair.
Dillon Kincaid: Lucy’s brother who she lives with. He’s a forensic psychiatrist and civilian consultant for the FBI. He’s married to Kate and is Jack’s fraternal twin brother.
Kate Donovan: FBI agent specializing in e-crimes. She’s married to Dillon. She was critical in locating Lucy following her abduction. She has short, white blond hair and blue eyes.
Connor Kincaid: Carina’s older brother, a private investigator and former San Diego Police Department detective. He’s married to Julia. He’s 6’3” with collar length black hair and black eyes.
Julia Chandler Kincaid: Deputy district attorney and Emily’s aunt. She’s married to Connor Kincaid. She’s 34-years old, 5’9” with blond hair and blue eyes.
Carina Kincaid Thomas: Homicide detective with the San Diego Police Department. She’s Will’s partner and married to Nick. They are the parents of 7-month old son, John Patrick.
Nick Thomas: Former sheriff of Gallatin County, Montana. He’s married to Carina and father of their son, John Patrick. He is a private investigator and is Connor’s partner. He’s 6’3” and has blue eyes.
Jack Kincaid: Lucy’s oldest brother. Partner at Rogan-Caruso-Kincaid (RCK). Former Army Ranger Delta Force who later headed a small mercenary group in Texas focused on rescue missions and foreign hostage situations before joining RCK. He’s married to Megan, Dillon’s twin and was estranged from his family for years. He’s 6’1” with dark hair and brown eyes.
Megan Elliott Kincaid: FBI special agent and head of the Sacramento Regional Violent Crimes/Major Offender Squad. She’s married to Jack Kincaid, Mitch Bianchi’s ex-wife and Matt’s sister. They have a younger half sister, Margo. She’s 5’8” and has blond hair and green eyes.
Nelia Kincaid Stanton: Formerly married to Andrew Stanton and one of the Kincaid siblings. Her son, Justin, was murdered and she left town. She helped Tom O’Brien and rescued him after he was shot by Aaron Doherty and left for dead in Idaho.
Thomas (Tom) O’Brien: Nelia’s companion. He’s a former San Quentin prisoner who escaped during the earthquake. He was wrongly convicted of the murders of his wife and her lover 15 years ago and was later exonerated. He helped law enforcement recapture or kill all the other escaped prisoners.
Andrew Stanton: Nelia’s ex-husband, Justin’s father. He was a prosecutor and is now the district attorney.
Justin Stanton: Nelia and Andrew’s son who was abducted and murdered when he was 6-years old, the same age as Lucy. Carina was in high school and was babysitting for him at the time.
Rosa Kincaid: Matriarch of the Kincaid family, married to Pat.
Pat Kincaid: Patriarch of the Kincaid family, married to Rosa. He’s a retired Army colonel.
Karen Richards: Max’s college roommate who was killed.
Martha Revere: Max’s mother, presumed dead.
Eleanor Revere: Max’s grandmother.
James Revere: Max’s grandfather, Eleanor’s husband. He’s deceased.
Genevieve (Genie) Sterling: Max’s great-grandmother, Eleanor and Archer’s mother.
Archer Sterling: Max’s great uncle, Eleanor’s brother.
Brooks Revere: Max’s uncle, William’s father.
Joanne Revere: William’s mother, Brooks’s ex-wife.
William Revere: Max’s cousin. He’s married to Caitlin.
Caitlin Talbot Revere: William’s wife and a former friend of Max’s group from high school. She’s in an institution for the criminally insane.
Tyler Revere: William and Caitlin’s oldest son.
Talbot Revere: William and Caitlin’s youngest son.
Riley Butler: Max’s former assistant.
Ace Burley: Lead reporter for NET.
C. J.: Research staffer at NET.
Debbie Starr: Research staffer at NET.
Charlie Morelli: Cameraman, editor and assistant producer at NET.
Catherine Crossman: Co-owner of NET along with her husband, Rob.
Rob Crossman: Co-owner of NET along with his wife, Catherine.
Arthur Ullman: Retired forensic psychiatrist.
Sally O’Hara: Missing Persons detective with the NYPD in Queens.
Julia Mendoza: Co-owner with her husband George of Nor-Cal Forensic Institute at UC Davis. She was the former assistant director of the California State Lab. She and Max are good friends.
George Graham: Co-owner with his wife Julia of Nor-Cal Forensic Institute at UC Davis. He’s a former deputy sheriff.
Ruby Jones: Crime scene analyst for Nor-Cal Forensic Institute. She’s George’s sister-in-law.
Donovan Hunt: Public information manager for Nor-Cal Forensic Institute.
Jorge: Max’s doorman.

Non Recurring Characters
Rachel Vaughn: FBI Special Supervisory Agent - San Antonio and Lucy’s new boss.
Ken Swann: FBI Special Supervisory Agent - San Diego.
Harrison (Harry) Trotter: Maricopa County DA overseeing the Blair Caldwell trial.
Don Katella: Retired San Diego Police Department detective who led the investigation into Justin Stanton’s murder. He’s married to Natalie.
Carney: Former Santa Barbara Police Department detective who led the investigation into Tommy Porter’s murder. He’s currently the assistant police chief.
John Caldwell: Max’s ex-boyfriend from college. He’s married to Blair who’s been accused of killing their son, Peter. They live in Phoenix.
Blair Caldwell: John’s wife who’s been accused of killing their son. She’s a corporate attorney.
Peter Caldwell: John and Blair’s son who was murdered.
Jane Nunez: Caldwell housekeeper.
Jordan Fellows: Peter’s babysitter.
Charles North: Blair’s defense attorney.
Tommy Porter: Murdered child similar to Justin’s abduction and death. He was 9-years old.
Jamie Porter: Tommy’s mother, married to Doug. Grant is her brother. They live in Santa Barbara. She was a court reporter.
Doug Porter: Tommy’s father, married to Jamie. He’s an attorney.
Grant McKnight: Tommy’s uncle. He’s a police officer with the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Chris Donovan: Murdered child similar to Justin’s abduction and death.
Adam Donovan: Chris’s father who was convicted of his murder. He’s in Corcoran State Prison.
Cindy Donovan: Adam’s ex-wife and Chris’s mother. She was a paralegal and is now an attorney.
Amy Lovell: Adam’s former mistress.
Danielle Sharpe: Paralegal at the law firm Taggert, Fieldstone, Finch and Devereaux.
Matthew Sharpe: Danielle’s son, deceased.
Richard Collins: Danielle’s ex-husband. He’s an insurance broker who now lives in Denver.
Patricia Collins: Richard’s wife.
Nina Fieldstone: Danielle’s supervisor.
Tony Fieldstone: Nina’s husband, an attorney and partner at the law firm where Danielle and Nina work.
Kevin Fieldstone: Nina and Tony’s 8-year old son.
Lana Devereaux: Tony’s law partner.
Sandra Gillogley: Cindy Donovan’s law partner.
Paul Borell: Man who murdered Matthew Collins.
(hide spoiler)]

Spoiler Info
(view spoiler)[
Danielle Sharpe was the killer. Her son was abducted from their home by a child predator while she was working and her husband was with his mistress. She killed Justin, Tommy & Chris because at least one of their parents was cheating and both parents worked. She also is suspected of having killed at least one more. Lucy solved the mystery with Max’s help.

Blair Caldwell killed her son Peter. She’s a narcissist and saw him as competition for John’s attention.

Nelia reconciled with Lucy and Carina.

Max ended her relationship with Nick. (hide spoiler)]

I've been waiting for the two series to merge. Yay!

Me, too!

Oh, I/m looking forward to this one!

Mine is on hold at my library!

I just received a notice from the library that the book is ready. It will be my weekend story. I've been waiting for the two series to join also. Can't wait for more Lucy, and Lucy and Max should be a dynamic duo.

I’m listening to it now (15 hours) and cannot put it down. Six hours remaining. It’s good!

I just finished Survivor In Death, fantastic book. I need to charge my dead Kindle and will start Shattered.

I knew you’d enjoy Survivor!

I finished Shattered today. Good book!

I’ve got 2 more hours.

I'm so behind. I hope to finish Poisonous this weekend and start Shattered. I've had 1 day off from work in the last 7 days and haven't had the energy to read.

Hang in there, Melissa!

Oh my goodness! This was so good. I loved everything about this story.

This was brilliant.