Stranded
Stranded
Number XI of
Maggie O'Dell
Alex Kava
Doubleday (2013)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Tags: Mystery
Mysteryttt
New York Times
bestselling author Alex Kava returns with another action-packed thriller featuring special agent Maggie O'Dell, who is on the hunt for a "truck stop" serial killer.
Tired travelers and weary truckers have stopped at rest areas on the nation's highways for decades to refuel, grab a bite, and maybe get some shut-eye, but one man's rest stop is another's hunting ground. For decades the defenseless, the weary, and the stranded have disappeared along the highways and byways, vanishing without a trace, but these seemingly unconnected incidents are no coincidence, and a madman stalks the freeways.
When FBI special agent Maggie O'Dell and her partner, Tully, discover the remains of a young woman in a highway ditch, the one clue left behind is a map that will send Maggie and Tully on a frantic hunt crisscrossing the country to stop a madman before he kills again.
As the body count rises and Maggie races against the clock to unmask the monster who's terrorizing the nation's highways, she turns to a former foe for help since he seems to know just what the killer's next move will be. As she gets closer to finding the killer, it becomes eerily clear that Maggie is the ultimate target.
Review
"In her eleventh Maggie O’Dell entry, Kava shows mastery in constructing a plot with nonstop action, covering a time span of just over a week, with suspense rising to a nearly unbearable level in a climax in the Florida backwaters. Maggie is indomitable – slogging through mud or water in search of clues and perps, inured to the sight of decapitated or eviscerated bodies, cool in facing a canny killer – with a loyal supporting cast and hints of a new romantic interest. Prime escapism for thriller fans with strong stomachs.”
-Booklist, Starred Review
About the Author
Alex Kava is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Maggie O’Dell series. Her thirteen books, including two stand-alone novels, have been published in more than twenty countries, appearing on bestseller lists in Britain, Australia, Poland, Germany, and Italy. She is the recipient of the Mari Sandoz Award and a member of International Thriller Writers. She divides her time between Omaha, Nebraska, and Pensacola, Florida.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by S. M. Kava
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Jacket design by Michael Windsor
Jacket photograph © Bruce Rolff/Shutterstock
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kava, Alex.
Stranded / Alex Kava. —First Edition.
pages cm
1. O’Dell, Maggie (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Criminal profilers—Fiction. 3. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3561.A8682F57 2012
813′.54—dc23 2013003001
eISBN: 978-0-385-53555-7
v3.1
FOR MY MOM, PATRICIA KAVA
Contents
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
He seemed to be a genuinely kind man—when he wasn’t killing.
—Helen Morrison, M.D.,
referring to Ed Gein in her book
My Life Among the Serial Killers
CHAPTER 1
OUTSIDE MANHATTAN, KANSAS
OFF INTERSTATE 70
MONDAY, MARCH 18
He was still alive.
That was all he needed to think about. That, and to keep on running.
Noah could smell his own sweat, pungent and sour … and urine. He still couldn’t believe he’d pissed himself.
Stop thinking. Just run. Run!
And vomit. He’d thrown up, splattering the front of his shirt. He had the taste in his mouth. His stomach threatened more but he couldn’t afford to slow down. How could he slow down with Ethan’s screams echoing inside his head?
Stop screaming. Please stop
.
“I won’t tell. I promise I won’t tell.”
Noah’s lips were moving even as he ran. Without realizing it, he was chanting the words in rhythm with the pounding of his feet.
“Won’t tell, won’t tell. I promise.”
Pathetic. So very pathetic
.
How could he just run away and leave his friend? He was such
a coward. But that admission didn’t slow him down. Nor did it make him glimpse over his shoulder. Right this minute he was too scared to care how pathetic he was.
Suddenly his forehead slammed into a branch. A
whop
and
thump
.
Noah staggered but stayed on his feet. His vision blurred. His head pulsed with pain.
Don’t fall down, damn it! Keep moving. Run, just run
.
His feet obeyed despite the dizzy spiral swimming inside his head threatening to throw him off balance. It was so dark, too dark to see anything other than shades of gray and black. Moonlight flickered patches of light. It only contributed to the feeling of vertigo. This time he ran with his hands and arms thrashing in front of him, trying to clear the path. He used them as battering rams, making sure he didn’t slam into another low-hanging branch.
Twigs continued to whip and slash at him. Noah felt new trickles down his face and elbows and knew it was blood. It mixed with sweat and stung his eyes. His tongue could taste it on his lips. And his stomach lurched again because he knew some of the blood was
not
his own.
