THE DEEP END

Family therapist Wilson Corder, treating Peggy Parker and her young son Jerry after Jerry's sister Sabrina has been kidnapped, feels sure that Peggy and Jerry are hiding something--but before he can get Jerry to open up to him, he's warned off the case by letters and calls threatening him and his shattered family. Torn between his ex-wife Sarah's demands that he give up the case and his feisty daughter Emily's urging him on, even after she's attacked herself, Wilson hears that Sabrina's body has been found--just as another of his cases, his play therapy with three-year-old Craig Clark, is raising the ugly possibility that Craig's been abused by his stepfather, hotshot domestic-violence expert Dr. Jeffrey Banner. Though the plotting (crucified cat--colleagues' freeze-out--threatened kids--motorcycle chase--apocalyptic face-off with villain from hell) is standard fare, YA-author Crutcher's needle-sharp focus on hurting kids makes this memorably harrowing from the starting gun.