Little Girl Lost

A John Blake Mystery

By: Richard Aleas

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

John Blake and Miranda Sugarman dated in high school, but after graduation they went their separate ways: he stayed in New York City and became a private investigator, while she moved to the midwest and settled down to a safe, respectable life as an eye doctor. Or so he thought - until the day, 10 years later, when he opened the Daily News and saw Miranda's photo staring out at him under the headline "STRIPPER MURDERED."

John wants to find out how Miranda ended up stripping for a living. What happened to Miranda's college roommate, Jocelyn, who also dropped out when Miranda did? And just how was Miranda involved with small-time drug dealer Murco Khachadurian?

The closer John gets to the answers, the more dangerous and violent the case becomes, until a bloody assault on someone close to him leads John to a shocking discovery and a shattering face-off with the person responsible.

©2004 Richard Aleas (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Aleas's debut barrels forth at the speed of one of the Manhattan taxis its protagonist frequently catches and contains some whiplash-inducing plot twists....Tightly written from start to finish, this crime novel is as satisfyingly edgy as the pulp classics that inspired it." (Publishers Weekly)

Enjoyable read though the ending was too obvious.

Any additional comments?

Great book, well written, loses only one star because it was a bit predictable for me.

A Hard Case Indeed

This debut novel from Hard Case Crime publisher Charles Ardai (writing under the amusing pen name Richard Aleas) hits hard. Aleas introduces us to John Blake, a young man whose life hasn't gone as planned and who's working as a P.I. Blake ends up investigating the death of an old girlfriend whose life also went in an unexpected direction and the result is a dark, fast-paced, entertaining tale, well worth a credit.

Narrator L. J. Ganser does a great job. I highly recommend both this novel and the sequel, Songs of Innocence.