For Chicago cop Suze Figueroa, home is a sanctuary, a quiet refuge from the crime, corruption, and tragedy she encounters everyday on the job. The creaky old Victorian house she shares with her little boy, her invalid sister, and her sister's family seems far removed from the threats and dangers of the mean city streets.. . . or so she believes. The truth is far more terrifying, for, unknown to Suze, a stranger has moved into the house: an intruder who waits in the attic by day and prowls her home at night, spying on both the unsuspecting adults and the defenseless children. While Suze spends her work day tracking down an elusive serial killer, she has no idea that a much more personal danger lives under her own roof, eating her food, handling her gun, and watching her loved ones.... Strips of yellow tape may keep curious bystanders away from crimes scenes, but nothing so simple can protect Suze and her family from the menace that has invaded the privacy--and the safety--of their own home. An outbreak of E. coli has thinned the detective ranks of the Chicago police department, so officer Suze Figueroa has been detached to temporary duty investigating a couple of bodies that turned up under the elevated train tracks. The location is a stone's throw from the precinct headquarters, and the killings are similar enough in modus operandi to make Suze wonder if there's a serial killer preying on the homeless. She's still working her regular caseload, which includes a pickpocket who's been targeting women shoppers at the luxury department stores on the Miracle Mile and a thief who robbed a currency exchange. And this is not to mention managing a few complications on the home front, including her sister Sheryl's agonizingly slow recovery from a serious accident and a dangerous pederast who's hiding in her attic. The plucky policewoman's personal and professional lives collide with violent and startling results in the penultimate pages of this somewhat unfocused crime thriller. Barbara D'Amato's pacing isn't as strong here as it's been in her previous outings ( Good Cop, Bad Cop , Killer.app ), and the murderer's identity is telegraphed well in advance of the denouement. What's more important, the reader never gets under Suze's skin enough to know what motivates her. But it's a good enough effort to keep D'Amato's hometown fans in Chicago happy until the next one comes along. --Jane Adams A sure-footed thriller from D'Amato, whose mysteries display a deep but not overbearing knowledge of police prodedure and a lively way with atmosphere. Here, D'Amato introduces a cop team, patrol officer Suze Figueroa and her black partner, Norm Bennis. The pairing of Irish-Hispanic Figueroa and an African American partner seems a bit too calculated, making for some stilted dialogue and situations, but D'Amato's plotting wins the day. The street cops are assigned to detective detail, looking for a serial killer of homeless people, after E. coli fells detectives at a retirement banquet. A much greater menace awaits Figueroa at the home she shares with her son, her disabled sister, and her sister's family: a pychopath has entered the large Victorian house, observing the family undetected, awaiting his chance to kill. D'Amato manages to make this bizarre situation chillingly believable, playing off Figueroa's on-the-job competence against her ignorance of how vulnerable she truly is. A marvelously paced double mystery. Connie Fletcher Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Barbara D’Amato is the author of Authorized Personnel Only , which recently won the first Mary Higgins Clark Award, and Good Cop, Bad Cop , which won the Carl Sandburg Award for Excellence in Fiction. She has received high praise for her many novels and a non-fiction book. She lives in Chicago with her husband.