Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight (USA 2013)

From the Publisher:
A resourceful runaway alone in the wilds of Los Angeles, twelve-year-old Billy Straight suddenly witnesses a brutal stabbing in Griffith Park. Fleeing into the night, Billy cannot shake the horrific memory of the savage violence, nor the pursuit of a cold-blooded killer. For wherever Billy turns -- from Hollywood Boulevard to the boardwalks of Venice -- he is haunted by the chuck, chuck sound of a knife sinking into flesh.

As LAPD homicide detective Petra Connor desperately searches for the murderer, as the media swarms mercilessly around the story, the vicious madman stalks closer to his prey. Only Petra can save Billy. But it will take all her cunning to uncover a child lost in a fierce urban labyrinth -- where a killer seems right at home.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight. A Novel. Ballantine Books, ISBN: 9780345540133 (January, 2013), 520 p., $9.99.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight (UK 2009)

From the Publisher:
From Jonathan Kellerman, the master of psychological suspense, comes an explosive thriller featuring detective Petra Connor.
When beautiful Lisa Boehlinger Ramsey is found brutally stabbed to death in LA's Griffin Park, Detective Petra Connor and her partner Stu Bishop investigate. Lisa had publicly revealed that her ex-husband, millionaire TV star Cart Ramsey had beaten her, making him the prime suspect. Still, Petra and Stu must tread carefully; the top brass don't want a repeat of the OJ Simpson scenario on their hands.

But there's a witness. Twelve-year-old Billy Straight, too frightened to come forward.

And when Lisa's parents put a reward out on Billy, only Petra realises the true extent of the danger he is in. She must act quickly if this little boy is not to be wiped out...

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight. Headline, ISBN: 9780755342945 (March, 2009), 598 p., £7.99.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight (USA 2006)

From the Publisher:
A resourceful runaway alone in the wilds of Los Angeles, twelve-year-old Billy Straight suddenly witnesses a brutal stabbing in Griffith Park. Fleeing into the night, Billy cannot shake the horrific memory of the savage violence, nor the pursuit of a cold-blooded killer. For wherever Billy turns -- from Hollywood Boulevard to the boardwalks of Venice -- he is haunted by the chuck, chuck sound of a knife sinking into flesh.

As LAPD homicide detective Petra Connor desperately searches for the murderer, as the media swarms mercilessly around the story, the vicious madman stalks closer to his prey. Only Petra can save Billy. But it will take all her cunning to uncover a child lost in a fierce urban labyrinth -- where a killer seems right at home.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight. Ballantine Books, ISBN: 034549167X (February, 2006), 428 p., $4.99.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight (UK 2000)

From the Publisher:
Lisa, the estranged wife of TV superstar cop Cart Ramsey, is found murdered in a Los Angeles park. She'd divorced him for cruelty and the detectives on the case, Petra Connor and Stu Bishop, immediately elevate him to No 1 suspect. But a thorough investigation of the scene reveals that there was probably a witness to the killing. Reading the evidence on the ground Petra and Stu believe it is a homeless man, but in fact it is a homeless boy - Billy Straight. He knows he has vital evidence, but he is too scared of being returned to his former existence to come forward. As Billy battles with his conscience, Petra and Stu have plenty of other leads to follow and a dual narrative of stunning complexity and suspense develops until they eventually combine into a single crescendo of tension. Jonathan Kellerman has produced a thriller which is genuinely unputdownable.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight. Warner Books, ISBN: 0751523216 (February, 2000), 585 p., £5.99.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight (USA 1999)

From the Publisher:
A resourceful runaway alone in the wilds of Los Angeles, twelve-year-old Billy Straight suddenly witnesses a brutal stabbing in Griffith Park. Fleeing into the night, Billy cannot shake the horrific memory of the savage violence, nor the pursuit of a cold-blooded killer. For wherever Billy turns -- from Hollywood Boulevard to the boardwalks of Venice -- he is haunted by the chuck, chuck sound of a knife sinking into flesh.

As LAPD homicide detective Petra Connor desperately searches for the murderer, as the media swarms mercilessly around the story, the vicious madman stalks closer to his prey. Only Petra can save Billy. But it will take all her cunning to uncover a child lost in a fierce urban labyrinth -- where a killer seems right at home.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight. A Novel. Ballantine Books, ISBN: 0345413865 (October, 1999), 428 p., $7.99.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight (UK 1999)

From the Publisher:
Jonathan Kellerman branches out in a new direction for only the second time in his writing career. Alex Delaware is not the hero of his latest crime novel; in fact there are two protagonists, Billy Straight, a 12-year old boy who has run away from an unhappy home, and Petra Shepherd, a smart Los Angeles detective whose tenacious yet intuitive investigations put her way ahead of her colleagues.

Billy Straight was in Griffith Park when he saw the man and women drive into the car park. Too young to be a park alone at night, Billy then had the misfortune to witness a cruel and bloody murder.

The boy is a runaway. There is no one he can tell; no one he will ever confide in, if he wants to stay away from the trailer park called home.

The dead woman is Lisa Ramsey, the gorgeous ex-wife of Cart Ramsey, famous for playing a television sleuth. Detective Petra Conner and her partner, Stu Bishop are called in to investigate - with kid gloves. The top brass at LAPD are anxious not to court the insane media frenzy that followed the O J Simpson case.

Petra is not getting her usual support from Stu, nor have any further clues appeared to help her track down the murderer. Then Lisa's father, angry at the lack of progress, publicises a reward for finding Billy Straight. Only Petra realises the consequences of this rash promise. Billy is in mortal danger from any maniac wanting the reward - and, most of all, from Lisa's killer.

Billy is found by the caretaker of a Jewish synagogue. The man seems friendly and he offers him protection, but he is not convinced that he should give himself up to the police. The boy has only his instinct to trust, but without his vital evidence Petra cannot proceed much further. She must find young Billy Straight before he becomes the latest victim of a sadistic killer.

Jonathan Kellerman has created two powerful characters in Billy Straight and Petra Conner, whose thoughts and actions will engage the sympathy and interest of all his readers. This makes Billy Straight an unusually compelling psychological thriller of the first rank.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight. Little, Brown, ISBN: 0316644412 (March, 1999), 452 p., £16.99.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight (USA 1998)

From the Publisher:
In this riveting, astute, high-tension thriller, the creator of psychologist sleuth Alex Delaware weaves a Dickensian tale of innocence, urban depravity, and the resilience of the human spirit, and brings to the page one of the most endearing and finely drawn characters in contemporary fiction.

Twelve-year-old Billy Straight -- precocious, heartbreakingly perceptive, relentlessly moral -- has fled the chaos and abuse of his life at home and is fighting to survive on L.A.'s meanest streets. All alone, Billy has fashioned a precarious existence for himself, using principled tricks to nourish his body and his mind. Late one night he watches from his hiding place as a man viciously butchers a woman. The victim turns out to be the ex-wife of a television celebrity with a history of domestic violence, and Billy becomes the center of terrifying attention -- from the media, from violent bounty hunters, and from the murderer himself. As he runs for his life, relying on his native wit and instincts for survival, Billy is also tracked by a potential savior: Petra Connor, a tough, gifted, beautiful LAPD homicide detective with a past of her own.

Breathtakingly paced, Billy Straight brings to life one street kid's efforts to survive in the face of unspeakable evil. Richly layered, emotionally compelling, and peopled by a vivid cast of supporting characters -- including Alex Delaware himself in a strong cameo role -- this gripping novel represents one of the century's great story-tellers at the top of his form.

Jonathan Kellerman: Billy Straight. A Novel. Randomhouse, ISBN: 0679459596 (December, 1998), 467 p., $25.95.