Henry Pierce is about to become very rich--as soon as his firm, Amedeo Technologies, gets an infusion of capital from a big backer. But the brilliant chemist's workaholic habits are disrupted when his lover, the former intelligence officer of his company, breaks up with him. Lonely and dispirited, he moves into a new apartment and gets a new phone number that attracts a lot of callers, but not for him. His new telephone number seems to have previously belonged to one Lilly Quinlan, an escort whose Internet photo arouses Henry's curiosity, especially when L.A. Darlings, whose Web page features the beautiful young woman, can't tell Henry how to find her. With the same single-mindedness that made him a high-tech superstar, Pierce pursues his search for the missing girl, motivated by his guilt over the disappearance years earlier of his own sister, who, like Lilly, was also a prostitute (and ultimately the victim of the Dollmaker, a serial killer from Connelly's 1994 novel The Concrete Blonde.) But that motive is too thin to support Pierce's sudden abandonment of his career at such a critical juncture, even if forces unknown to him are setting him up for a fall. Despite those holes in the plot and a less than compelling protagonist, the novel succeeds due to Connelly's literary and expository gifts and his more interesting secondary characters. --Jane Adams


From Publishers Weekly
Former journalist and Edgar Award winner Connelly (City of Bones) skillfully unfolds a story of obsessive curiosity and taut psychological suspense ideally suited to audio translation. A burgeoning technologies company, broken engagement and new apartment leave little time for 34-year-old workaholic chemist Henry Pierce to even check his messages. But when he does, he realizes his new telephone number was formerly that of a beautiful prostitute named Lilly, who's still receiving dozens of messages, but hasn't been heard from in over a month. Veteran audiobook narrator and actor Davis provides crisp, stage-honed vocals, with his versatile characterizations easily shifting from the Valley talk of an aging surfer/computer hacker to the hesitant pleas of Lilly's johns. Haunted by his own sister's murder, Henry eschews his normal all-business demeanor and plunges head first into the seedy sex underworld, where he befriends a hardened escort, makes a grisly discovery that may prove Lilly's demise, as well as his own, and is fingered as the prime suspect by the cops. Davis's masterful dramatizations deliver the perfect complement to Connelly's sophisticated mystery, sure to attract fans of his Harry Bosch series, as well as new listeners. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Once again, Connelly (Blood Work) keeps the reader's heart racing and the pages turning. After a messy breakup, Henry Pierce is just settling into his new apartment and new life. However, any peace he might find ends as soon as he checks his phone messages for the first time. There are several, all left for a woman named Lilly. She apparently had the number before Henry, and the messages seem to indicate that she's in some sort of trouble. Because of an incident deep in his past, Henry decides to locate Lilly and attempt to help her. Needless to say, he quickly finds himself in over his head, dealing with web pornographers, gangsters, and thugs, trusting nobody while trying to save both Lilly and himself. Connelly takes what could have been a typical suspense thriller and turns it into something exceptional through nonstop action and surprising twists. This one will move quickly off the shelves in public libraries.Craig Shufelt, Lane P.L., Fairfield, OH Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Henry Pierce is getting too many wrong numbers. When the young entrepreneur moves into a new apartment, strange phone calls from nervous men for someone named Lilly compel him on a quest that leads to murder, deception, and illicit passion. Alfred Molina gives the story a convincingly forceful reading; his voice can be both gentle and menacing and is always penetrating. The contents provide a fascinating brew of corporate intrigue, Internet sex, and hard-science nanotechnology. Connelly's story is tight, fast, and full of jarring surprises that allow readers to ignore minor plot weaknesses as they plunge toward an ultimately satisfying ending. S.E.S. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Connelly is as hot as it gets right now. His last Harry Bosch novel, City of Bones [BKL Mr 1 02], made the jump from genre favorite to mainstream best-seller, and his 1998 stand-alone thriller, Blood Work, has been transformed into a Clint Eastwood film. His new stand-alone is a bit of a departure--more concept thriller than noir mood piece--but it's a grabber from the beginning, and the subject matter is utterly compelling. Henry Pierce is a high-tech entrepreneur on the verge of a breakthrough in an experimental field called molecular computing. More powerful and much smaller than the silicon version, molecular computer chips will make possible such marvels as diagnostic computers that can be dropped into the bloodstream. But what will power the molecular computers on their journey through the body? That's where Pierce's soon-to-be-patented invention comes in, but only if he can get the necessary funding--and if he can keep his mind off the phone calls he's been getting at his new apartment, calls intended for a hooker named Lilly, who may be in serious trouble. Recognizing the parallel between Lilly and his late sister, Pierce is drawn into the hooker's world, hoping to save Lilly as recompense for failing to save his sister. Savvy readers will be able to spot the real villain and connect many of the dots before Pierce does, but that won't diminish their fascination with the marvelously detailed particulars of both experimental computing and online sex for hire. Connelly brings the two worlds together in a slam-bang finale that will leave fans gasping. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

A new apartment, a new telephone, a new telephone number. But Henry Price's fresh new life falls to pieces when he listens to his message machine. Voicemails left for someone named Lilly begin to fill his message box and his head. Instead of just changing his number, stubborn Henry attempts to contact Lilly to force this apparently well-endowed "escort" to change hers. But Lilly is nowhere to be found, and before long, Henry Price has been lured out of his universe and into a killer's domain.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"The messages waiting for Henry Pierce when he plugs in his new telephone clearly aren't intended for him: "Where is Lilly? This is her number. It's on the site."" "Pierce has just been thrown out by his girlfriend and moved into a new apartment, and the company he founded is headed into the most critical phase of fund-raising. He's been "chasing the dime" - doing all it takes to come out first in a technological battle whose victor will make millions. But he can't get the messages for a woman named Lilly out of his head:" ""Uh, yes, hello, my name is Frank. I'm at the Peninsula. Room six twelve. So give me a call when you can."" "Something is wrong. Pierce probes, investigates, and then tumbles through a hole, leaving behind a life driven by work to track down and help a woman he has never met." The world he enters is one of escorts, websites, sex, and secret passions. The beautiful Lilly is an object of desire to thousands. To Pierce, she becomes the key that might fix a broken life. But in pursuing Lilly, Pierce has entered a landscape where his success and expertise mean nothing. He is a mark, an outsider, and soon he is also the victim of astonishing violence, the chief suspect in a murder case, and fighting for his life against forces he can barely discern.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Former journalist and Edgar Award winner Connelly (City of Bones) skillfully unfolds a story of obsessive curiosity and taut psychological suspense ideally suited to audio translation. A burgeoning technologies company, broken engagement and new apartment leave little time for 34-year-old workaholic chemist Henry Pierce to even check his messages. But when he does, he realizes his new telephone number was formerly that of a beautiful prostitute named Lilly, who's still receiving dozens of messages, but hasn't been heard from in over a month. Veteran audiobook narrator and actor Davis provides crisp, stage-honed vocals, with his versatile characterizations easily shifting from the Valley talk of an aging surfer/computer hacker to the hesitant pleas of Lilly's johns. Haunted by his own sister's murder, Henry eschews his normal all-business demeanor and plunges head first into the seedy sex underworld, where he befriends a hardened escort, makes a grisly discovery that may prove Lilly's demise, as well as his own, and is fingered as the prime suspect by the cops. Davis's masterful dramatizations deliver the perfect complement to Connelly's sophisticated mystery, sure to attract fans of his Harry Bosch series, as well as new listeners. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Forecasts, Sept. 16). (Oct.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Once again, Connelly (Blood Work) keeps the reader's heart racing and the pages turning. After a messy breakup, Henry Pierce is just settling into his new apartment and new life. However, any peace he might find ends as soon as he checks his phone messages for the first time. There are several, all left for a woman named Lilly. She apparently had the number before Henry, and the messages seem to indicate that she's in some sort of trouble. Because of an incident deep in his past, Henry decides to locate Lilly and attempt to help her. Needless to say, he quickly finds himself in over his head, dealing with web pornographers, gangsters, and thugs, trusting nobody while trying to save both Lilly and himself. Connelly takes what could have been a typical suspense thriller and turns it into something exceptional through nonstop action and surprising twists. This one will move quickly off the shelves in public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/02.]-Craig Shufelt, Lane P.L., Fairfield, OH Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

And now for something completely Hitchcockian from the chronicler of Harry Bosch (City of Bones): a wrong number that spins into a full-court press against the beleaguered hero￯﾿ﾽs liberty and life. Henry Pierce, the workaholic chemist who￯﾿ﾽs about to take his company, Amedeo Technologies, into the stratosphere with a molecular-based computing technology he￯﾿ﾽs demonstrating to a big backer, hates the apartment he had to find when he was dumped by his fianc￯﾿ﾽe, Amedeo￯﾿ﾽs ex￯﾿ﾽintelligence officer Nicole James. What he hates most is the phone number, formerly the property of Lilly Quinlan, an escort whose Internet photo is so dazzling that Henry￯﾿ﾽs phone is ringing off the hook with calls for her. Most guys would just get the number changed and move on, but Henry, who improbably can￯﾿ﾽt bother to e-mail all those contacts he already gave the number to, wants Lilly to take it off the L.A. Darling Web page instead￯﾿ﾽand then, when his best efforts don￯﾿ﾽt succeed in turning her up, wants to find out why she￯﾿ﾽs dropped out of sight. Spurred on by his childhood failure to rescue the prostitute sister who fell victim to a serial killer, he puts so many questions to so many unwilling associates of Lilly￯﾿ﾽs that it￯﾿ﾽs obvious he￯﾿ﾽs stepping on some serious toes. As it happens, the police and the bad guys converge on him at exactly the same time, squeezing him into the classic can￯﾿ﾽt-trust-anyone pose perfectly suited to his combination of brains and paranoia, until even the light switches at his office stop responding to his voice. Has he stepped into somebody else￯﾿ﾽs nightmare, or has he been the real target all along?