Rapid Cadence

A missing Pedro State University student, Karen Comber, plunges self-made detective Drake Simo into a kidnapping investigation in the college town of Skyview. Seized in broad daylight, apparently, from a street bordering campus, Karen Comber’s disappearance instantly immerses Drake in the histrionics surrounding a missing young woman. From the prying exploitive media to a hysterical mother to unreliable witnesses, confusion and hyperbole abound. Suspects range from Karen’s zoned-out and drug-dealing neighbors in a skanky fraternity to an unpredictable stepfather living in a scruffy motor home on southern California’s Rincon Parkway. Drake and his partner, Janelle Wane, again team up to unravel the contradictory accounts swirling through this raunchy educational environment and connect widely scattered dots in a demented landscape.

But why do they keep finding large caches of money in odorous locations? And, oh yes, if she is still alive, where is Karen Comber? Substitute teacher and ex-bicycle racer Drake Simo, distractible and non-violent, is not your average shamus. He lives in the quirky academic community of Skyview and solves crimes in an attempt to gain some degree of insight—and earn money.