Right Behind You by Lisa Gardner

The title of this novel is apt because throughout most of the story I was trying to figure out if the one of the main characters, Telly Ray Nash, is a zero or a hero. Telly's history is dark: he killed his own parents with a baseball bat when he was nine years old presumedly in self-defense as the parents were drug addled abusers. In killing them he also freed his five-year-old sister from their grasp.

Now, Telly is seventeen and a fugitive. He's wanted for four murders: his own foster parents, Frank and Sandra Duvall, and two people at a nearby convenience store have all been shot and killed.

Pierce Quincy and Rainee Conner are profilers working for Oregon Law enforcement who take on the case. They have a huge stake in the outcome; their foster daughter is Telly's younger sister Sharlah, now thirteen years old. Telly has left a trail and clues which seem threatening towards his younger sister.

As Quincy and Rainee, along with the Bakersville, Oregon law enforcement team chase after Telly, Sharlah becomes involved. She has mixed feelings about her older brother and has picked up details of the case from her parents. Flashbacks from their childhood and Telly's time with Frank and Sandra shed light on the present as it unravels. Information is discovered which lead the team to reconsider who is really responsible for the murders. It's a race against time to find Telly and keep Sharlah and other residents of this small town safe. Unfolding in twenty-four hours, this pulse racing thriller will keep you guessing and questioning general assumptions that we all probably make about the underdog in life. Lisa Gardner does a fine job in making characters come to life and this excellent page-turner is no different.