Faces of the Gone

A rogue reporter investigates a grisly multiple murder in Newark NJ in this Shamus and Nero Award–winning mystery series debut.Four bodies each with a single bullet wound in the back of the head stacked like cordwood in a weed-choked vacant lot: That''s the front-page news facing Carter Ross investigative reporter with the Newark Eagle-Examiner. Immediately dispatched to the scene Carter learns that the four victims—an exotic dancer a drug dealer a hustler and a mama''s boy—came from different parts of the city and didn''t seem to know one another.The police eager to calm jittery residents leak a theory that the murders are revenge for a bar stickup and Carter''s paper hungry for a scoop hastily prints it. Carter doesn''t come from the streets but he understands a thing or two about Newark''s neighborhoods. And he knows there are no quick answers when dealing with a crime like this.Determined to uncover the true story he enlists the aide of Tina Thompson the paper''s city editor to run interference at the office; Tommy Hernandez the paper''s intern to help him with legwork on the streets; and Tynesha Dales a local stripper to take him to Newark''s underside. It turns out that the four victims have one connection after all and this knowledge will put Carter on the path of one very ambitious killer.