On the Line: A Bill Smith/Lydia Chin Novel (Bill Smith/Lydia Chin Novels)

P.I. Bill Smith is sent on a high stakes chase when an electronically modified voice on his cell phone informs him that Lydia Chin, his occasional partner, has been kidnapped. Now if Bill wants to keep Lydia alive, he'll have to play an elaborate game of the kidnapper's devising. The first move sends him to an abandoned building where Bill finds the corpse of a small Chinese woman dressed like Lydia and the building being rapidly surrounded by police. Now Bill is on the run from the cops and in the worst trouble of his very troubled life. With the help of Lydia's hacker cousin Linus, and Linus's cohort Trella, Bill has to not only stay one step ahead of the cops, he has to uncover the secret behind the kidnapper's identity and the reason he's come after Bill, if he's to reach Lydia before it's too late. ϡ쯦랠

P.I. Bill Smith is sent on a high stakes chase when an electronically modified voice on his cell phone informs him that Lydia Chin, his occasional partner, has been kidnapped. Now if Bill wants to keep Lydia alive, he’ll have to play an elaborate game of the kidnapper’s devising. The first move sends him to an abandoned building where Bill finds the corpse of a small Chinese woman dressed like Lydia and the building being rapidly surrounded by police. Now Bill is on the run from the cops and in the worst trouble of his very troubled life. With the help of Lydia’s hacker cousin Linus, and Linus’s cohort Trella, Bill has to not only stay one step ahead of the cops, he has to uncover the secret behind the kidnapper’s identity and the reason he’s come after Bill, if he’s to reach Lydia before it’s too late.

Publishers Weekly

At the start of Edgar-winner Rozan's exciting 10th novel featuring New York City PIs Bill Smith and Lydia Chin (after 2009's The Shanghai Moon), Bill receives a phone call from someone using Lydia's cell who claims to have kidnapped Lydia. Lydia gets on the line long enough for Bill to realize this is no joke. The fiend gives Bill a 12-hour deadline, doles out clues that lead to other victims, and changes the rules just to keep things interesting. Forced to improvise wildly, Bill finds himself at odds with the cops, who consider him a suspect in at least one murder, but he's fortunate to have such supporters as Lydia's cyber expert cousin, Linus Wong, and Lydia's best friend, NYPD detective Mary Kee. The tension rises as Bill tries to figure out who the villain is and how he can get ahead of someone who holds all the high cards. Some neat twists keep the reader guessing to the surprise kick ending. (Oct.)

Receiving a sinister phone call informing him that his sometime partner, Lydia Chin, has been abducted, private investigator Bill Smith is forced to participate in a psychologically brutal cat-and-mouse game during which he is framed for a murder.