The Murder Artist (2004)

A workaholic TV journalist with his marriage in ruins, Alex Callahan takes his 6-year-old twin boys for the summer, only to see them disappear during an outing at a Renaissance fair. After a riveting and highly emotional first hundred pages, John Case's latest settles into the familiar rhythms of obsessed-victim-tries-to-crack-a-case-that-the-cops-can't. As in any good thriller, though, the joy is in the hunt as the remorse-stricken father travels from D.C. to Vegas to the voodoo swamps of Louisiana on the kidnapper's trail. Too bad the villain is oft discussed but rarely seen. Still, The Murder Artist crafts a wonderfully disturbing tale.