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A Map of the Dark

The Searchers (Book 1)

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What to expect

A girl missing
A woman, searching
A killer, planning...

A thrilling new FBI series for fans of Tess Gerritsen and Karin Slaughter.

FBI Agent Elsa Myers finds missing people.
She knows how it feels to be lost...

Though her father lies dying in a hospital north of New York City, Elsa cannot refuse a call for help. A teenage girl has gone missing from Forest Hills, Queens, and during the critical first hours of the case, a series of false leads hides the fact that she did not go willingly.

With each passing hour, as the hunt for Ruby deepens into a search for a man who may have been killing for years, the case starts to get underneath Elsa's skin. Everything she has buried - her fraught relationship with her sister and niece, her self-destructive past, her mother's death - threatens to resurface, with devastating consequences.

In order to save the missing girl, she may have to lose herself...and return to the darkness she's been hiding from for years.

(P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critics Review

Compellingly told, with a striking sting in the tail
Daily Mail
Tight prose, strong characters, and deft storytelling... A riveting tale that begs to be read in one sitting. Readers who enjoy police procedurals and Karin Slaughter's thrillers will delight in discovering a new voice.
Library Journal
A riveting, breathless novel, equal parts police procedural and emotional personal journey. Karen Ellis's twisty plot, dark storytelling, and nail-biting action kept me reading far too late into the night. A triumph!
Karen Dionne, author of Home
Elegant, haunting... a far-from-ordinary FBI novel.
Literary Hub
Vivid, compelling and emotionally engaging, as the best crime novels are. Elsa is an unforgettable central character, damaged but determined. You know you are in good hands as the plot skilfully brings her past and her family into the investigation.... A perfect, deeply satisfying thriller that grips right to the end.
Jane Casey, author of Let the Dead Speak
A Map of the Dark is a compelling and moving story of buried secrets and hidden demons
Sarah Ward, author of In Bitter Chill
A terrific novel, wonderfully written, richly populated, and utterly gripping from start to finish
Chris Pavone, New York Times bestselling author of The Travellers
A beautifully rendered portrait of familial grief, loss, and decades-old demons wrapped inside a terrific race-against-time thriller starring a believably flawed heroine. I hope we haven't seen the last of FBI agent Elsa Myers
Sarah Weinman, editor of Women Crime Writers
One of the most compelling psychological thrillers I've read in a long time...grabs you from the very first page and does not loosen its grip. I read this book in a day - I simply could not put it down - but I will be thinking about it for much longer.
Alison Gaylin, USA Today bestselling author of What Remains of Me
A taut, tense, exciting read with a sharp and very human protagonist.
Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times bestselling author of What You Break
Deftly plotted and packed with blind curves, A Map of the Dark careens into dangerous territory, where Karen Ellis entwines complex storylines with breakneck precision. A must-read for fans of taut, unpredictable psychological suspense.
New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub
Readers will savor getting to know this singular heroine, a cop who feels the call of a lost child as sharply as the knife's edge that she uses to score her own skin.
Kirkus
Compelling...a solid choice for readers who enjoy Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series.
Booklist
[A] thrilling launch of a new series... Works well as a solid police procedural and also an in-depth character study... Elsa maps out the darkness of a predator that preys on teenagers while navigating her own dark place.
Associated Press
[A] riveting series launch... The tight plotting will keep readers turning the pages.
Publishers Weekly
Author Karen Ellis
Narrator Lisa Flanagan
Series The Searchers
Duration 7 hours and 7 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781473675599
Format Audiobook
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
Genre Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery: women sleuths, Police and security services, Thriller / suspense fiction
Availability AU, GB, IE

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