Lendle

The third book of the Stone Quest Series finds Luke Stone and Beth Rutledge's marriage teetering on the edge of dissolution as their daughter Bridget Grace at thirteen, the spitting image of her father, struggles to break free of parental restraint, especially her father's attempts to guide and constrain her "second sight," the same psychic abilities he has, but which in her are ,if anything, even more pronounced. Now, adding to the tumult, is the case of three missing girls, all vanished from the Lower East Side of New York City -- the area where Luke in his teens lived as the disciple of the black magician and now his nemesis Armand Jacobi. As Luke is drawn more deeply into the girls' case, his investigation takes him back to Alphabet City and the raging Vampire Club scene. Ominous signs develop pointing irrefutably to Jacobi's involvement. But as Luke immerses himself in the case, staying longer and longer away from home, the relationship between Beth and Bridget Grace simmers more and more toxic. Unknown to either of her parents, BG has developed a secret, powerful relationship with a mysterious young man whom she first met in an online chat room. One day, as Luke is on his way to NYC , and after yet another blow up with her mother -- BG, like the three other missing girls-- vanishes, leaving behind a cryptic note. As Luke's investigation into BG's disappearance gets underway with the help of retired NY detective Stan Banor, Luke's world is further shattered by the sudden appearance of a beautiful older woman, a woman's whose face he knows but whom he cannot quite place. The woman is Danuta Dabrowitz, his mother, and she brings with her many memories and painful secrets. Though her cause, so she tells him, is but one: to join her powers with his in order to find Bridget Grace and bring her home, Luke cannot fully trust the woman who had so betrayed him as a child by leaving him alone in the hands of his abusive alcoholic father. With each passing day, the investigation grows more gruesome, and more deadly--even turning up the skeletal remains of a victim murdered twenty-five years ago, Matthew, whose murder has haunted Luke all his life. Working closely with Stan and his men, and with retired Sheriff Esther Rinaldi, Luke grows certain the girls' case is no longer a missing persons but a homicide. Then Danuta tells him of their heritage to an ancient people, the Neuri, who possess enormous powers, including the power of shape-shifting-- a power that Armand Jacobi himself may share. Once again, Luke Stone finds himself pitted against Armand Jacobi.. Surrounded with warriors he is not sure he can trust-- the most pre-eminent of whom is Luke himself.-- Luke must race against the greatest enemy of all -- time-- in this battle against his adversary to save his daughter's life.