Alafair Burke understands the criminal mind. Long Gone is both an education and an entertainment of the first order. This is a very clever and very smart novel by a very clever and smart writer. The dialogue crackles, the plot is intriguing, and the pacing is perfect.

Ultimately, I'm in control of what's going on in the books, so I can back off, if it's scaring me too much.

I'm not somebody who believes in evil.

sexual predators were like cockroaches. For every one you saw, there were twenty more hiding behind the walls.

A lot of men just don't read. They don't read fiction at all.

I don't understand people who say they're bored. Look out your window.

Usually, guys, when something bad happens, they punish someone else.