PLASTIC SOLDIERS

In this novel, authorities hunt a shadowy figure operating a child sex–trafficking business in the United States.

Ten-year-old Danny Mindel is one of six young boys whom a man has recently abducted. Michael “Eddie” Pitts runs Pasta Lovers Palace on the dark web, a site for pedophiles who want more than pictures and videos. He’s amassed so much money that he’s planning to retire in another year or so. Eddie also has an M.O.: He kidnaps six children at a time in separate but geographically close regions. FBI Special Agent Trevor Doyle has been following this unknown child sex–trafficker, whom he’s dubbed “the Ghost.” After surmising that the Ghost is responsible for the missing boys, Doyle gets a break in the case. But acquiring information on his target means making a deal with an unsavory culprit looking to avoid punishment. Meanwhile, Danny and fellow abductees Mark Redmond, Tommy Wagner, Chris Hines, Greg Carver, and Billy Saxton, some of whom are even younger than Danny, suffer at the hands of despicable adults. They cope as best they can and search for a way to escape. And they’re getting increasingly desperate, as encounters with pedophiles have a tendency to become violent—and sometimes lethal. County’s thriller is relentlessly grim. While the narrative thankfully doesn’t linger on abuse against the boys, there are myriad perspectives from interchangeable pedophiles discussing their explicit desires. The investigation is likewise despairing: Doyle may have to skirt the law to make headway, and media coverage isn’t necessarily helpful. Nevertheless, the story’s fully developed characters are riveting, from the boys’ varying coping mechanisms to their parents’ reactions (drowning in denial; craving vengeance). The extensive cast coupled with relatively short scenes makes for a brisk momentum and a quick path to the resolution.

A serious subject receives understandably bleak but insightful treatment in this thriller.