A strange series of fires is raging in Seattle - white-hot fires that burn so cleanly even the ash is consumed, along with all traces of the fires' victims. Brilliant forensic investigator Police Sergeant Lou Boldt is back, battling the mysterious arsonist. He is also keeping his eye on the Fire Warden, who seems to be a little too close to the heat.

But police psychologist Daphne Matthews is more concerned about the victims of the blazes, especially the smart and wily ten-year-old boy who had a terrifying encounter with a disfigured, badly burned man.

Beyond Recognition is the story of a deadly, taunting game of cat and mouse, where the stakes are raised to a burning point that might spell disaster for Boldt - and the city of Seattle.

Sergeant Lou Boldt, Seattle homicide detective, and Daphne Matthews, police psychologist, rejoin forces in Pearson's newest thriller. With the reluctant assistance of a psychic and a wily, abused, terrific 10-year-old boy, Boldt and Matthews attempt to stop an arsonist/murderer, whose white-hot fires reduce victim and house to ashes within minutes. Reader Dale Hull's matter-of-fact, steady baritone clearly distinguishes characters as he relates the intricately woven story. Hull uses a softened quality for Daphne, hoarse rasping for the arsonist and a tough innocence in his portrayal of the boy, Ben. The jaded yet compassionate gruffness of Lou Boldt drives the action. Rich characters and plot make Pearson's story masterful; Hull's reading perfectly builds the suspense. J.H.B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

 

Ridley Pearson is the award-winning coauthor, along with Dave Barry, of Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, and Peter and the Secret of Rundoon. He has also written more than twenty best-selling novels, including Killer Weekend, and the young-adult fantasy The Kingdom Keepers. He was the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Oxford University.