First Line: Few things mobilize people more quickly than a missing child.
D.C. crime analyst, Dr. Ellie Carr, has a shock when she's called to investigate the case of a missing baby and learns that the child's mother is her own cousin. Although close during their childhoods, Ellie and Rebecca drifted apart, and now Rebecca is half of a Washington, DC power couple with her wealthy lobbyist husband.
Rebecca and her husband want to leave no stone unturned in the search for their infant son, so they call in Dr. Rachael Davies from the prestigious Locard Institute. At first, Ellie is uncomfortable working with Rachael, but as their investigation leads them through a web of greed and ambition, the partnership becomes more natural.
Everything boils down to a Senate hearing on the billion-dollar gaming empire. Ellie and Rachael have to put all the pieces together before that hearing, or it won't just be the life of an infant that is at stake.
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Red Flags is a solid series launch with all the forensic details CSI fans have come to love. A big part of the plot hinges on child safety on the internet, which everyone would agree is extremely important. But no matter how many restrictions are placed on computer games aimed at children, no matter how many things parents try to drill into their children's heads, kids will be kids-- seemingly compelled to do stupid stuff all the while insisting that they'd never be dumb enough to do it. Yes, there is more than one child at risk in this book, and one of the best things about Red Flags is watching those children working out how to save themselves. (Speaking of red flags, if one is waving madly above your head at the thought of child endangerment, I'd like to put your mind at rest without saying any more that might possibly give away the plot.)
