City of Fear (31 page)

Authors: Alafair Burke

Tags: #Fiction, #Thrillers, #Suspense, #General

BOOK: City of Fear

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I’ve often heard it said that writers conjure up plots by starting with an initial observation and then asking themselves over and over again:
What if
?

On February 25, 2006, New York City graduate student Imette St. Guillen was barhopping in SoHo with a girlfriend. The friend called it quits, but St. Guillen stayed behind for one last drink. Her nearly unrecognizable body was found the next day. Five months later, eighteen-year-old Jennifer Moore was drinking in a Chelsea nightclub with a girlfriend when city authorities towed her car. Denied access to her vehicle at the impound lot, she wandered off alone along the West Side Highway. Her body was discovered in a New Jersey trashbin. In the fall of 2007, reports were filed by two separate women who claimed that they had been kidnapped and then raped after leaving the Box, one of Manhattan’s hottest nightclubs, on their own.

I began to ask myself,
What if Ellie Hatcher caught
cases like these and saw a connection where no one else
did?

The inspiration for
City of Fear
lies in none of the above-mentioned cases, and yet in all of them. For many of us – especially women – that alcohol-fueled argument at two in the morning is familiar. Someone wants to go home. Someone wants to stay behind for one last drink. I have been both of those women, and I have been lucky. But I know from the cases I saw as a prosecutor, and from the string of tragic cases reported in New York City, that sometimes the luck runs out.
City of Fear
is fiction, but the danger that made me ask
What if
? is real and universal.

My hope is that the policing depicted in
City of Fear
is also portrayed authentically. Having learned most of what I know about cops as a prosecutor in Oregon and as a law professor in New York, I have been assisted in my depiction of Ellie Hatcher’s professional life by the generosity and knowledge of others. For helping me transition from the prosecutorial viewpoint to the police perspective, and from the localized norms of Portland to the culture of the NYPD, I am grateful to Assistant District Attorney Matthew Connolly, Nassau County; Retired Desk Sergeant Edward Devlin, NYPD; George Q. Fong, Unit Chief, National Gang Targeting Enforcement and Coordination Center, Deputy Program Director, National Gang Intelligence Center, FBI Headquarters (phew); Chief Carla Piluso, Gresham Police Department (who confirms that female detectives do in fact carry purses); and the anonymous desk sergeant at the Thirteenth Precinct who served as my impromptu tour guide. I especially appreciate the input of Retired Lieutenant Al Kaplan, NYPD, who didn’t know me from a hole in the ground but helped me out anyway.

I was also helped by my agent, Philip Spitzer, Lukas Ortiz, Fauzia Burke at FSB Associates, my family, and the incredible team at Harper. Special thanks to my friend and editor Jennifer Barth.

Read on for a look at Ellie Hatcher’s profile…

PROFILE

CONFIDENTIAL

Name
: Ellie Hatcher, short for Elsa May.

Age
: 31.

Location
: Manhattan.

Place of Birth
: Wichita, Kansas.

Marital Status
: Serial monogamist.

Children
: Does the older brother who crashes on my sofa count?

Smoke
: Quit (usually).

Drink
: Johnnie Walker Black, cold beer.

Exercise Habits
: Kick boxing, but I promise not to hurt you.

Father
: Jerry Hatcher, Wichita homicide detective. Lead detective on famous College Hill Strangler case. Deceased. I’d prefer not talking about the circumstances.

Mother
: Roberta Hatcher. Retired bookkeeper in Wichita. Talk to her every night, whether I want to or not.

Education
: Started with some pre-law classes at Wichita State University, then followed my brother Jess to New York so someone could keep an eye on him. Decided I wanted to be a cop, and then earned my degree at John Jay College while waiting tables.

Appearance
: Blond hair, blue eyes. The next person who tells me I look like a Midwestern beauty queen is risking a roundhouse kick to the chest.

Do for fun
: Hang out with the aforementioned sofa-crashing brother, usually in the West Village, sometimes watching his band (Dog Park) play, and almost always keeping him out of trouble. Takeout and TV’s OK too.

Politics
: To be avoided.

Religious views
: Don’t be a jerk.

Music
: The Clash, The Pretenders, Dog Park.

Best feature
: Dogged curiosity.

Biggest Fear
: Failure.

LIFE SENTENCES

Laura Lippman

What if you found out that the central story of your
life was a lie?

Writer Cassandra Fellows has achieved remarkable success baring her soul in her bestselling memoirs. But returning to her hometown of Baltimore on the trail of new material she stumbles into the middle of a mystery which takes her back to her schooldays.

Growing up, Cassandra’s best friends were elegant, privileged Donna, sharp, shrewd Tisha and the wild and worldly Fatima. But a fifth girl orbited their world – a shy, quiet child named Calliope Jenkins – who hit the headlines years later, accused of killing her infant son.

Yet the boy’s body was never found and Calliope refused to give up the whereabouts of her missing child. Jailed for seven years, the court was finally forced to let her go. But why did she remain silent? And whatever happened to the little boy?

Cassandra believes this real-life mystery could be her next bestseller.

But her homecoming is not welcomed by everyone. And by delving too deeply into Calliope’s dark secrets, Cassandra inadvertently unearths a few of her own – forcing her to re-examine the memories she holds most precious, as the stark light of truth illuminates the past …

ISBN: 978-1-84756-093-3

Out in March 2009

SHADOWS STILL REMAIN

Peter de Jonge

When a gifted student mysteriously disappears from a
New York bar, Detective Darlene O’Hara unravels a
chilling story of murder and deception
.

Running from a troubled past, Francesca Pena’s come to New York to reinvent herself, earning a scholarship and the admiration of her more privileged friends. But none of them knows the real Francesca.

Following a night of partying with three friends, she’s reported missing. Detective Darlene O’Hara from New York’s 7th Precinct and her partner Serge Karamanoukian – ‘K’ – investigate.

A week later, Francesca’s body is discovered severely mangled in a toilet by the East River. The case quickly becomes a high-profile hunt that the Homicide Unit are quick to snatch away.

Covertly, O’Hara and K continue their own investigation in the city’s seedy underbelly. And they could never have predicted what they would uncover.

From Peter de Jonge, who previously joined forces with the
New York Times
bestselling author James Patterson to write two No.1 bestsellers, comes a tense and electric thriller set in the rotten core of the Big Apple.

ISBN: 978-1-84756-056-8

Out in April 2009

About The Author

A former deputy district attorney, Alafair Burke now teaches criminal law at Hofstra Law School and lives in New York City.

For further information about Alafair please go to www.alafairburke.com.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.
The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are
the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is
entirely coincidental.

AVON

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First published in the U.S.A. by HarperCollins
Publishers
,
New York, NY, 2008

Alafair Burke asserts the moral right to
be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library

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EPub Edition © MARCH 2009 ISBN: 9780007320035

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