Teaser (Hallie Ahern Mysteries)

by: Jan Brogan

Published by: St. Martins Minotaur

Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

Journalist and recovering addict, Hallie Ahern has a knack for stumbling upon big stories and the talent to know it’s going to be a big one before anyone else does. And that “knowing” can be a problem because when you’re trying to get a newspaper investigation approved, you often have to fight for it if you don’t have hard evidence.

Hallie is monitoring Internet chat rooms when she is sent a short video, a teaser, which makes the hair on her neck stand up. It’s a video of two young girls in sexual poses. The video appears to be local and Hallie begins to stake out various high schools searching for the girls. She learns that a “foreign” man is purchasing video cams and gifts for girls if they use the cameras for sexual purposes. But that is only a beginning of what Hallie learns is happening in the Internet underworld of the sexual predator.

The newspaper publisher initially gives the investigation the green light and Hallie pushes to find the girls. But before she can learn the extent of the problem, one of the girls dies. Hallie’s boyfriend, a prosecutor with the Attorney General’s office, has a case that intersects with Hallie’s investigation and that puts Hallie in a precarious position–and puts the relationship on hold.

When the predators pull up stakes and begin moving around to evade discovery, and the newspaper quashes the story, Hallie becomes more determined to find out what is happening before anyone else loses their life. And one of those lives lost could be Hallie’s.

Jan Brogan’s Teaser is a crisp, fast-paced, human interest novel that is frightening because of its basis in reality. The characters are rich, deeply flawed and so real they could be people you know. Brogan is a favorite mystery writer of mine and her novels continue to get better and more exciting with each new one.

Teaser is a stand-alone book, however I recommend that readers search out all of Brogan’s previous novels, because they are that good.

Armchair Interviews says: Teaser is not only a wonderful and edgy mystery, it is one all parents should be required to read as a safety manual for their children.

Author’s Web site: http://www.JanBrogan.com