A review by mirable
The Shadow Tracer by Meg Gardiner

4.0

LJ review:

Sarah Keller is a skip tracer with a shadowy past, hiding the lie that she and her five-year-old daughter are living. Fiercely determined to keep Zoe safe from the far-reaching clutches of a messianic cult with ties to terrorism, drugs, and polygamy, Sarah is always prepared to run. When a traffic accident exposes her deception, there's no time for her to second-guess or doubt her choices; hell is coming in the form of the Shattering Angel and his Angel Wings-devout members of the cult who will do anything their leader asks of them to assure their rightful place in heaven. Sarah's possible connection to the cult is like blood in the water for government agents, and she and Zoe are pressed into serving as bait in a cat-and-mouse game she has no desire to play. Near cinematic quick-cut action drives a lean, plot-driven story populated by larger-than-life characters. Alternating points of view interspersed with flashbacks keep everything rocketing along until the incendiary finale.
VERDICT: In her second stand-alone thriller (after Ransom River), the Edgar Award-winning Gardiner has set up a high-velocity ride into the heart of the New Mexico desert that is sure to keep adrenaline junkies and armchair thrill-seekers on the edge of their seats. [See Prepub Alert, 1/14/13.]-Charli Osborne, Oxford P.L., MI