INSIDE V

The bonds of love and trust are put to the test when a woman’s husband goes missing on the eve of his incarceration, leading her to question everything she thought she knew about him.

Grant Jacobsen has been convicted of statutory rape and has a week before he must report for his yearlong jail sentence. He and his wife, former defense attorney Ava, whom he calls V, have decided to go to Palm Springs for a few days of relaxation, hoping to reconnect after the stress of the trial. Grant has always maintained his innocence, and the victim, 17-year-old Graciela Lopez, made some telling mistakes during her testimony, but sloppy work from Grant’s public defender ensured that he got the maximum sentence. When Grant goes missing one night during their getaway, Ava doesn’t know what to think, and she’s got some odd injuries that she doesn’t remember getting. Puzzlingly, given his meticulous nature, Grant’s keys and wallet are still in their hotel room. Ava, no wilting violet, vows to find him on her own. She frequently drops breadcrumbs about her past, from childhood violence that has marked her to her work as a public defender. Looming in the background is the creepy attention of a judge, Martin Durham, who took their breakup years ago hard, to say the least, and who holds an explosive secret over Ava. Priamos’ (The Shyster's Daughter, 2012) first-person narrative is a heat-seeking bullet, expertly capturing Ava’s essence and determination, set against the heat and sleaze that simmers under LA’s surface. Ava knows exactly what she wants and makes no apologies for the deep, overtly sexual nature of her relationship with Grant. The irony that Grant left his previous wife to be with her is not lost on Ava, adding a frisson of uncertainty to her belief in Grant’s innocence, though she loves her husband with a fevered intensity.

A lean, searing, and psychologically astute thriller with a surprising twist and an unforgettable heroine.