Gun Games: A Decker/Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus Series Book 20)

The Hesse suicide strikes a troubling chord in the household of Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, now that they've taken in Gabe Whitman--the gifted and brilliant fifteen-year-old son of a killer--whose own unexplained comings and goings only remind Decker that he knows almost nothing about the secretive boy living under his roof. But it's a second teen suicide--a young girl who attended the same exclusive prep school as Gregory Hesse--that points Decker and his detectives down a dark alley of twisted allegiances and unholy alliances . . . and toward a cold-blooded group of high schoolers with a shocking predilection for guns and violence. LAPD lieutenant detective Decker and his wife, Rina, have willingly welcomed fifteen-year-old Gabriel Whitman, the son of a troubled former friend, into their home. While the enigmatic teen seems to be adapting easily, Decker knows only too well the secrets adolescents keep--witnessed by the tragic suicide of another teen, Gregory Hesse, a student at Bell and Wakefield, one of the city's most exclusive prep schools. Gregory's mother, Wendy, refuses to believe her son shot himself and convinces Decker to look deeper. What he finds disturbs him. The gun used in the tragedy was stolen--evidence that propels him to launch a full investigation with his trusted team, Sergeant Marge Dunn and Detective Scott Oliver. But the case becomes darkly complicated by the suicide of another Bell and Wakefield student--a death that leads them to uncover an especially nasty group of rich and privileged students with a predilection for guns and violence. Decker thought he understood kids, yet the closer he and his team get to the truth, the clearer it becomes that he knows very little about them, including his own charge, Gabe, the son of a gangster and an absent parent, the boy has had a life filled with too much free time, too many unexplained absences, and too little adult supervision The word gifted has never been applied to a kid like Donovan Curtis. It's usually more like Don't try this at home. So when the troublemaker pulls a major prank at his middle school, he thinks he's finally gone too far. But thanks to a mix-up by one of the administrators, instead of getting in trouble, Donovan is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction (ASD), a special program for gifted and talented students. It wasn't exactly what Donovan had intended, but there couldn't be a more perfect hideout for someone like him. That is, if he can manage to fool people whose IQs are above genius level. And that becomes harder and harder as the students and teachers of ASD grow to realize that Donovan may not be good at math or science (or just about anything). But after an ongoing experiment with a live human (sister), an unforgettably dramatic middle-school dance, and the most astonishing come-from-behind robot victory ever, Donovan shows that his gifts might be exactly what the ASD students never knew they needed. (Book Cover) The twentieth book in the hugely popular Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus series from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman When fifteen-year-old Gregory Hesse is found dead, a single gunshot to his head, it appears to be a tragic suicide. But his mother refuses to accept the verdict and pleads for a police inquiry. Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD, working the case, knows only too well what secret lives teenagers live. He and his wife Rina have recently become responsible for Gabe Whitman, an enigmatic and gifted teen, whose parents abandoned him. Just weeks later, a sixteen-year-old girl enrolled at the same exclusive high school as Gregory commits suicide. Deckers probe into the lives of these privileged teenagers, uncovers a dark trail of twisted allegiances and unholy alliances. With the return of Gabes father, former hit-man Chris Donnatti, the case takes an even more sinister turn “[Kellerman] does for the American cop what P. D. James has done for the British mystery, lifting it beyond its genre.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch “No one working in the crime genre is better.” —Baltimore Sun In Gun Games, the sensational Faye Kellerman once again showcases Peter Decker of the LAPD and Rina Lazarus, arguably the most popular husband and wife team in contemporary crime fiction. A rash of shocking adolescent suicides at an elite Los Angeles private school is at the heart of this gripping thriller that also focuses on the troubled teen Decker and Lazarus have brought into their home: Gabriel Whitman, the son of a psychopath. Herself one-half of one of noir fiction’s true “power couples”—along with her husband, acclaimed mystery writer Jonathan Kellerman—Faye Kellerman once again demonstrates how American police procedural writing is done to perfection with Gun Games. "Lieutenant Detective Decker and his wife, Rina, investigate an apparent teen suicide witnessed by the son of a troubled former friend whom they have welcomed into their home."--Provided by publisher Lieutenant Detective Decker And His Wife, Rina, Investigate An Apparent Teen Suicide Witnessed By The Son Of A Troubled Former Friend Whom They Have Welcomed Into Their Home. Faye Kellerman.