Intrinsic — Elaine Waldron

Disheartened from a failed marriage, recent divorce, and having a young son to raise, Vanessa Gale leaves California and returns to Texas City, Texas, her home-town, to reside with her parents until she can get their lives back together. She is thrilled when she lands a job at Jack's Bait and Tackle, one of the first of two new businesses to arise on the dike since Hurricane Ike wiped out the old ones. Just as Vanessa begins to enjoy her new life, bodies of young women begin showing up near and around the dike. Vanessa's father, Detective Joseph Blair, is convinced that Jack Logan-whose mother was murdered by someone with the same MO when he was a small boy-is the serial killer, and makes life hell for Jack and his friend Lonnie. Intrinsic is a story of murder, love, and the ability to trust, even when the odds are stacked against it.