C.J. Box is best known for his Joe Pickett series, set in the great outdoors, but he's equally adept at stand-alone thrillers, and this one is one terrifying little tale.

Jack and Melissa McGuane are typical middle-class Americans, living the good life in a comfortable Denver suburb. All they need to make life ideal is a baby; the adoption service calls and they have their perfect daughter, Angelina.

After nearly a year during which each day brings them closer to their child, the bad news comes. It seems there's a glitch in the adoption. The birth father, a teen-aged boy, never gave up his parental rights. His own father, a powerful local judge, wants his son to "face up" to his responsibility and take Angelina.

Jack and Melissa are ready to fight, but the laws are against them. More frightening, this is not simply a custody battle. There something behind the judge's determination to possess her.

Box doesn't miss a trick in this suspense-filled thriller. As we move on the emotional roller coaster with the McGuanes, it's impossible to stop reading. Save this for a weekend when you don't plan to leave the house.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090116.wbkmayhem17/...

Margaret Cannon