Andrew Vachss: Aftershock (USA 2014)

From the Publisher:
Dell, an ex-Legionnaire was working as a mercenary when he first saw Dolly, a nurse with Médecins Sans Frontières. When they later married, Dell abandoned his work, and Dolly shed her identity. But not her calling -- she became a teacher, confidant, and defender of dozens of teenagers in their Coastal Oregon village. When the star softball pitcher guns down a popular boy on the last day of school, Dolly knows this is no "school shooting". She goes all-in to protect "Mighty Mary" McCoy, even to the extent of unleashing her lethal husband.

As Dolly uses her contacts to gain access to medical secrets, Dell returns to his no-boundaries past. Using guile, extortion, shadow networks--and, finally, an act of terrorism -- he uncovers the secret MaryLou was willing to sacrifice her own life to protect... a soul-killing rite of passage demanded of the town's most vulnerable girls, with her baby sister next on that list.

Andrew Vachss: Aftershock. Vintage Books / Black Lizard, ISBN: 9780307950888 (March, 2014), 353 p., $15.95.

Andrew Vachss: Aftershock (USA 2013)

From the Publisher:
THE IDYLLIC FACADE of a small coastal tourist magnet hides its secrets well. But when the shining star pitcher of the girls' softball team guns down the most popular boy in school, the shockwaves reverberate far beyond the school's walls. In the wake of the killing, two of the town's newer residents turn over deeply embedded rocks, exposing a subculture of almost unimaginable horror lurking beneath.

Formerly a nurse with Médecins Sans Frontières, Dolly has become a defender and confidante to dozens of local teenage girls, and she refuses to accept that MaryLou ["Mighty Mary") McCoy's gunning down Cameron Taft in a high school hallway is a typical school shooting. Although MaryLou's guilt is not in doubt-it's even captured on the school's security camera-the girl insists on a trial... but inexplicably refuses to cooperate with her own defense. Enlisting her troupe of teenagers and the local contacts she has cemented, Dolly calls on all of her resources to get to the truth... and to whatever secret MaryLou is guarding.

When Dolly's husband, Dell, sees his beloved wife begin her quest, he immediately signs on. A former mercenary and ex-Legionnaire, Dell treats this "job" as he would any other -- with no boundaries. His entire arsenal is put into play: guile, extortion, tracking devices, shadow networks, and, finally, an act of terrorism that blows the cover off the soul-killing rite of passage demanded of the town's most vulnerable girls. Dell's discovery of MaryLou's true motive and the community's shocking failure to protect its children culminates in a decision to put the town itself on trial. The explosive verdict blows away the facade... and forces the village to stand in judgment of itself. The aftershocks keep coming until the foundation itself fractures, leaving cracks too deep to patch ever again.

Andrew Vachss: Aftershock. A Thriller. Pantheon Books, ISBN: 9780307907745 (June, 2013), 353 p., $26.95.