Jilliane Hoffman, who made a name for herself with such legal thrillers as RETRIBUTION and LAST WITNESS, chose an important and relevant topic for her first police procedural, PRETTY LITTLE THINGS. Unfortunately, it lacks an original “take” on the subject and reads more like any number of nonfiction stories found in newspapers and TV across the country.
Bored with her life in South Florida and frustrated by her annoying mother and apathetic stepfather, 13-year-old Lainey finds refuge in her chat room conversations with a online boy she knows only as Zach (or by his online tag, “El Capitan”). They share the same tastes in music, have problems with the same classes in school, and lately have exchanged pictures of each other. Soon, Lainey thinks of Zach as her boyfriend.
So when he suggests they meet one Friday night for a movie and a bite to eat, she jumps at the chance for her first real date with this fantasy boyfriend. Of course, Zach turns out to be an online predator who kidnaps Lainey shortly after they meet.
The missing child case comes to the attention Special Agent Bobby Dees, head of the Crimes Against Children Squad of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Dees has to work his way through the frustration and anger of Lainey’s mother, and then the frightened reluctance of Lainey’s best friend before he is lead to the girl’s computer and the stream of chat-room communications with the fictitious beau.
As Dees and the other investigators try to trace the otherwise traceless criminal, evidence of similar abductions are sent to a local Miami television station. The online predator suddenly wants his presence known — and he particularly wants to connect with Dees.
While the threat and danger of online predators is very real, Hoffman’s novel sadly is too familiar and predictable. After a convincing portrayal of Lainey and her world, the characterizations of Dees and his associates are flat and reminiscent of countless other law enforcement characters. Even the element of his own unsolved missing daughter has been done numerous times before.
Hoffman has obviously done her homework about how dialogues are conducted over the Internet, as well as various law enforcement agencies whose labyrinthine procedures often seem to work against solving crimes. But even these elements fail to lift her story from the recognizable.
Still, if you somehow managed not to see or read the numerous stories of how such predators utilize the web to lure their lonely and rebellious prey, PRETTY LITTLE THINGS is as good an entry to this prevalent crime as any. But crime fiction readers and those who follow the pervasive media coverage of online communications, for both the good and the bad, will find little to hold their interest. —Alan Cranis
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