Хелен Смит0.0 Nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award for best short story
Nana waits, knife in hand, beside the body of her friend. She is trying to come to terms with being the survivor of a global catastrophe when a stranger arrives, offering to help. With her physical and mental capacities failing, Nana has to decide whether to admit that she is falling victim to whatever has claimed the life of her friend—and risk being taken away or disposed of, for the common good—or whether to use her knife against the intruder and enjoy her last few days or hours in peace.
In this page-turning short story from international bestselling author Jeffery Deaver, senior detective Jon Avery inherits a deeply troubling case. At an off-campus party, university professor Rose Taylor is drugged, undressed, and photographed on a burner phone. In seconds her humiliation is uploaded, and millions of JPEGs are zipping like immortal wasps through the internet. But why would someone target her? She has no vengeful exes or rival academics, no stalkers or unhinged students. Jon Avery, the sharpest, most experienced investigator in the sheriff’s office, is determined to find out who’s behind this horrific invasion of privacy. But soon he runs into a wall of silence at Preston College—an academic mecca whose reputation one doesn’t dare tarnish. The message is clear: if he pursues the case, he’ll pay for it.
