Playing Dead A Novel

"Dear Tommie: Have you ever wondered about who you are?" The perfume-scented letter that turns Tommie McCloud's world upside down arrives from a stranger only days after her father's death. The woman who wrote it claims that Tommie is her daughter-and that she was kidnapped as a baby thirty-one years ago. Tommie wants to believe it's all a hoax, but suddenly a girl who grew up on a Texas ranch finds herself inextricably linked to a horrific past: the slaughter of a family in Chicago, the murder of an Oklahoma beauty queen, and the kidnapping of a little girl named Adriana. Tommie races along a twisting, nightmarish path while an unseen stalker is determined to keep old secrets locked inside the dementia-battered brain of the woman who Tommie always thought was her real mother. With everything she has ever believed in question, and no one she can trust, Tommie must discover the truth about the girl who vanished-and the very real threats that still remain. A riveting debut novel from a thrilling new voice, Playing Deadis a mesmerizing story of family, identity, and secrets that can kill.

Julia Heaberlin is the author of Black-Eyed Susans, Lie Still, and Playing Dead. She is an award-winning journalist who has worked at the Fort-Worth Star Telegram, The Detroit News, and The Dallas Morning News. She grew up in Texas and lives with her family near Dallas/Fort Worth, where she is at work on her next novel of psychological suspense.