"Detective Constable Ash Henderson has a dark secret. Five years ago his daughter, Rebecca, disappeared on the eve of her thirteenth birthday. A year later the first card arrived: homemade, with a Polaroid stuck to the front. Rebecca, strapped to chair, gagged and terrified. Every year another card-- each one worse than the last. The tabloids call him 'The Birthday Boy.' He's been snatching girls for years, always just before their thirteenth birthday, killing them slowly, then torturing their families with his homemade cards. But Ash hasn't told anyone what really happened to Rebecca-- they all think she ran away-- because if anyone finds out, he'll be taken off the investigation. And he's sacrificed too much to give up before his daughter's murderer gets what he deserves..."--P. [4] of cover.