"Early in the dark Indianapolis morning, Frank Behr's friend and mentor is murdered - with no motive and no trace of evidence left behind. Behr, a quiet, mountainous former cop, thirsts for answers and retaliation. But before he can make headway in the dead-end case, an exclusive private investigation firm approaches him with a delicate proposition: two of its detectives have gone missing, and they want Behr to find out what happened to them. Prodded to take the case by his old boss - an Indianapolis police captain who holds the strings to Frank's possible return to the force - Behr accepts." "The search for the missing detectives takes Behr into the recesses of Indianapolis's underworld, a place rife with brutality and vice - and a stark contrast to the city's gentle public image. As Behr calls on old street contacts and his hard-boiled investigative skills, he is led deeper into a twisted society of crime and violence and an unknown landscape of "pea-shake" houses - low-rent, transient gambling rings staged in condemned buildings around the city. Behr uncovers an unexpected connection to the missing detectives, and, in the process, he is forced to confront an ominous, deadly new breed of crime family." Introduced in City of the Sun, Frank Behr instantly attracted critical attention and a devoted fan base, and Where the Dead Lay places Behr on a broader, edgier stage.

From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Screenwriter Levien's debut crackles with raw intensity as it hurtles from a placid Indianapolis suburb to a dingy Mexican outpost. Paul and Carol Gabriel are devastated when their 12-year-old son, Jamie, disappears on his paper delivery route one morning. Fourteen months later and with the police no closer to finding Jamie, they hire PI Frank Behr, an imposing ex-cop with a checkered past. Behr soon discovers that Jamie's disappearance was no random grab but part of a larger operation run by Riggi, a real estate tycoon who deals in everything from drugs to stolen children. Reluctantly allowing Paul to accompany him, Behr tracks Riggi's men to Mexico, where he and Paul discover the true extent of Riggi's depravity as they race against the clock to find Jamie. Levien expertly weaves a subplot involving the tragic death of Behr's own young son into the complex kidnapping story, and the moments shared between the two grieving fathers are heartbreaking. Fans of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch will be particularly delighted. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review“Levien is the new must–read thriller writer.” -Lee Child“Relentless suspense.” —Harlan Coben“It doesn't get any more intense than this.” —_The Free Lance-Star_“One of the toughest, most gut-wrenching, and most believable suspense novels I've ever encountered. If David Levien pulled any punches, I was too dazed to notice.” —Lincoln Child“Top-shelf suspense writing…. [Imagined] with icy…precision.” —_Entertainment Weekly_“A nerve-jangling novel that places ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.” —_USA Today_

The acclaimed author of City of the Sun returns with a relentlessly taut new novel featuring enigmatic private investigator Frank Behr and the American heartland setting that has won David Levien critical raves. In an Indianapolis underground parking structure, Frank Behr is on an executive protection detail for Bernard “Bernie Cool” Kolodnik, a hard-driving business mogul on the verge of making a move into big-time Indiana politics. Behr is working for an exclusive investigation company, and it’s an uncomfortable fit, both literally and philosophi­cally. The uneasy stability is quickly rocked by a burst of automatic weapons fire as an attempt is made on the promi­nent client, and Behr manages to protect him and repel the attackers. Though Behr is celebrated for his heroism, he can’t help but investigate what happened in that garage—and why the Indianapolis cops seem to be burying the incident. As David Levien has masterfully done in his previous nov­els, he weaves a crime story that is teeming with real charac­ters and electric energy—centered on the brooding psyche of Frank Behr. Thirteen Million Dollar Pop is unyieldingly compelling and will give readers yet another reason to enlist with this superbly talented writer.From the Hardcover edition.

A stunning serial-killer novel from David Levien, featuring his acclaimed and indomitable investigator, Frank Behr . . . this is the bigger thriller we've been wanting for from Levien. A young woman's body is found on a side street in Indianapolis, horrifyingly arranged. Meanwhile, Frank Behr, who is down on his luck and virtually broke, takes on a no-win case to locate a single mother's wayward daughter who's been missing for months. Suddenly Behr feels the two cases may be connected, but he is years removed from his life as a legitimate police officer and has few friends left on the force. His relentless focus has always been his greatest strength . . . and his deepest flaw. As the death toll rises, it becomes clear Indianapolis has a serial killer in its midst . . . an invisible average Joe who passes beneath the radar but commits unspeakable acts. Frank Behr's pursuit will lead him to a dark place--and ultimately to a devastating decision from which...