212 by Alafair Burke (ARC)

212: A Novel by Alafair Burke

In New York City, nights are dangerous. Days are numbered.....

When NYU student Megan Gunther finds personal threats posted to a website specializing in campus gossip, she's taken aback by their menacing tone. someone knows her daily routine down to the minute and is watching her 00 but thanks to the anonymity provided by the Internet, the police tell her they can do nothing to help. Her friends are sure it's some one's idea of a joke, but when Megan is murdered in a vicious attack, NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher is convinced that the online threats are more than just empty words.

As Ellie, with smooth, straight-talking partner J.J. Rogan at her side, tries to identify Megan's enemies, she begins to wonder if her murder was more than just the culmination of a cyber obsession. Through phone records, they find a link between Megan and a murdered real estate agent who was living a dangerous double-life. They also learn that the murdered real estate agent shared a secret connection to a celebrity mogul whose bodyguard was mysteriously killed a few months earlier. And when Megan's roommate suddenly disappears, they know they have to find her before another young woman dies.

What could a college student, a real estate agent, the bodyguard of a real estate mogul, and a missing roommate possibly have in common? It just might be a little thing called murder.

A late night anonymous 911 call directs Homicide Detective Ellie Hatcher and her partner J.J. Rogan to the penthouse apartment at the 212. There they find a bloody mess, a man shot to death, naked in bed. Turns out the man does not own the apartment, but is the body guard of Sam Sparks, real estate mogul (think Donald Trump) who occasionally lets his employees use it. For some reason, Sparks is determined to keep his thumb on the pulse of the investigation, possibly even having the sitting judge on the case in his back pocket.

Megan Gunther is your typical NYU college student. Living in an apartment with a roommate who's a virtual hermit and missing her best friend, who is only six miles away at her own school. But Megan's world comes crashing down around her when she sees a post on CampusJuice.com, a website where people can post anonymously whatever they want about any college stupid. The posts are all about her schedule ~ she's being stalked. But by whom and more importantly WHY? She goes to the police, but they tell her there is nothing they can do. Then one night, one roommate ends up dead and the other ends up missing.

Katie Battle is a real estate agent working in NY to pay her bills, including the assisted the living facility where her mother is currently residing. With the real estate market in the toilet, Katie is having a hard time struggling to pay all the bills with just her day job. One afternoon she gets a phone call for a "appointment" later that night. She really doesn't want to go, but knows that there are bills to pay. So Katie goes home and Miranda goes out!

Ellie and J.J. have no reason to believe that the two cases, the murdered bodyguard and the murdered college student are related until the missing students fingerprints are matched to the ones left on a champagne flute at the penthouse apartment. That sends them on a course of intersecting phone records, fake names, double lives and a whole lot of secrets. 212 is one heck of a thrill ride, with enough twists and turns to rival any roller coaster ride you would find at your local amusement park. Although you may want to turn the pages quickly to find out what happens next, make sure to take your time. Savor each page, pay attention to each clue. You aren't going to want to miss a thing with this book. An intense story that will keep you reading way past your bedtime. And when it's over, it will leave you begging for more.


Release date: March 23, 2010