The Janes

Zusatztext "I am really into thrillers/mysteries because they are propulsive and go down easy, but I am especially into the ones where you get sucked into the personal lives of the crime solver. . . I would read Louisa Luna's grocery lists if she published them." Sam Irby, Vulture "Lead character Alice Vega is sensationalI want to see lots more of her." Lee Child PI Alice Vega is nothing less than an utterly compelling protagonist in her second case (after Two Girls Down , 2018), which resumes her remarkable partnership with fellow PI Max Caplan. . . A somewhat Shakespearean ending satisfies with triumphant women standing strong on a stage littered with battered villains. Booklist , starred review Luna skillfully balances tragedy and humor throughout, via blood-pressure-raising fight scenes and stressful suspense, plus hints of romantic tension between Vega and Cap. She also offers a fascinating and disturbing look at how a criminal enterprise might work, pulling in various complex threads while crafting a story that's wholly believable and sad. The Janes is a superbly entertaining read, especially for readers who are already fans of the amazing Vega, whose Jack Reacher-esque sense of justice offers reassurance that, no matter how long it takes, no bad deed will go unpunished. BookPage The Janes has everythinga plot ripped from the headlines and darkly twisted, explosive action, original characters, a dash of humor, and memorable settings. The story grabs the reader like a steel band of cold tension tightening with each new development. Investigators Alice Vega and Max Caplan deserve a long career with many more cases ahead. Anne Hillerman, author of the New York Times best-selling Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito mysteries The Janes is a timely, gripping thriller with an ending that will leave you utterly satisfied but wanting more of Alice Vega. Get to know her now, because she and her partner, Max Caplan, will be around for the long haul. Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of The Better Sister "Thrilling. . .[Luna's] novels have established her as a powerful up-and-coming voice in the genre, and we can't wait to see what she does next." Crime Reads An intricately plotted, adrenaline-fueled conspiracy thriller. . .Luna's latest entertains while subverting gender stereotypes and confronting the politics of immigration. Kirkus Reviews Packed with thrills and heartache, The Janes kept me up way past my bedtime to see what rule-bending, jaw-breaking, no-fools-suffering P.I. Alice Vega would do next in her relentless pursuit of justice for the victims of a border sex trafficking ring. An absolutely rip-roaring read from a fantastic talent. Amy Gentry, bestselling author of Good as Gone What starts as a straightforward, if extremely challenging, assignmentfiguring out who killed two barely teenage Latina Jane Does and dumped them in the San Diego, Calif., areaquickly turns treacherous for PIs Alice Vega and Max Caplan in Luna's gripping sequel to 2018's Two Girls Down . . . Plunging the now-rogue team into a perilous sprint to stay one step ahead. . .as they race to unravel a plot as dark and twisted as one of the tunnels [used] for smuggling between Mexico and the U.S. . .This dynamic duo has a long run. Publishers Weekly Informationen zum Autor Louisa Luna Klappentext The electric follow-up to Louisa Luna's acclaimed thriller Two Girls Down , featuring private investigators Alice Vega and Max Caplan. On the outskirts of San Diego, the bodies of two young women are discovered. They have no names, no IDs, and no family looking f...

Autorentext

Louisa Luna

Klappentext

The electric follow-up to Louisa Luna's acclaimed thriller Two Girls Down, featuring private investigators Alice Vega and Max Caplan.

On the outskirts of San Diego, the bodies of two young women are discovered. They have no names, no IDs, and no family looking for them. Fearing the possibility of a human trafficking ring, the police and FBI reach out to Alice Vega, a private investigator known for finding the missing.
Alice Vega is a powerful woman whose determination is matched only by her intellect, and, along with her partner Cap, she will stop at nothing to find the Janes before it is too late.
Louisa Luna is writing new classics of crime fiction, and her partnership of Vega and Cap is rightfully joining the pantheon of the most memorable in crime fiction.

Zusammenfassung
The page-turning follow-up to acclaimed thriller Two Girls Down features the tenacious PI Alice Vega and her electric partnership with Max Caplan, as they follow a shocking murder investigation to it’s even more shocking conclusion.
 
On the outskirts of San Diego, the bodies of two young women are discovered. They have no names, no IDs, but one of the Jane Does holds a note bearing the name, “Alice Vega.” The police and FBI reach out to Vega, a private investigator known for finding the missing. Fearing the possibility of a human trafficking ring, Vega enlists the help of her one-time partner, former cop Max “Cap” Caplan.
 
Despite a case with so few leads, Alice Vega is a powerful woman whose determination is matched only by her intellect, and, along with her partner Cap, she will stop at nothing to find the Janes’ killers before it is too late.
 
Louisa Luna is writing new classics of crime fiction, and her partnership of Vega and Cap is rightfully joining the pantheon of the most memorable thrillers.

Leseprobe
LAST COUPLE STANDING

1

meet our girl: seventeen, arrived here a year ago from a rough and dusty town in Chiapas, considered pretty by most standards because she is young, her face unmarked by scars or wrinkles, her body boasting the tender snap of fresh muscle. Our girl’s brain, on the other hand, is at war with itself and others: with memories of her mother’s worry and her father’s pain, subtle with her own simmering meditations on sex and violence, with fear of all the men that come through the door with their eyes so stark and full of want it’s like they’ve eaten her up before they’ve even selected her from underneath the butcher’s glass.

Our girl walks in bare feet, unsure if she is dreaming. Her dreams these days are collisions, collages, bursts of fire and color that all start normally enough—­she is playing paper dolls with her sister on the porch under the umbrella with one panel missing, or fluffing up yellow rice in a pot right after it’s done steaming. But then they turn; the dolls become scuttling cockroaches in her hands; the rice bowl fills with blood; her own teeth grow into blades and shred her tongue to streamers.

The house is divided, two floors: the ground floor, where she and the other girls sleep on towels side by side in the bedroom they share, and watch TV and wait in the living room; and there’s downstairs full of boxes that pass for rooms—­no windows, no air. The working rooms.

Then there is the garage, which is separate from the house, but there are no cars inside. There is just a table and some machines and tools. Our girl hasn’t been there yet but this is what she’s heard. Only girls who cry and act stupid are taken there and our girl keeps her head down and does what she’s supposed to do. She doesn’t ask questions and doesn’t make trouble, but she watches everything.

She avoids the bosses. Coyote Ben is easy to avoid because he comes and goes, although when he’s around and there’s no work he grabs the hair at the back of her neck and whispers in her ear. He speaks English so she doesn’t really understand everything he says, but she knows he doesn’t expect her to respond. He lets her make the drinks.

Fat Mitch is always there, and he’s got the gun on…