Sometimes a man can ask his friends and family to believe in him just because of who he is. Sometimes he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes he's earned it. Evan Birch is such a man. He's charming and affable-if more than a little exacting. Evan is handsome, and he's gentle. He's a good husband, a word-playful father of bright twin sons, seemingly honest, and just self-satirizing enough to warrant our trust and good faith. So when the police bring him in for questioning in the disappearance of a high school cheerleader, we're sure of Evan's innocence. It must be a case of mistaken identity. But then the circumstantial evidence builds, and Evan begins to strain our will to believe in him. He worries about the reach of coincidence. His answers never seem to be complete. And Harrar masterfully ratchets up our suspicions, page by page, in this brilliantly told and suspenseful novel. Author Biography: George Harrar is the author of the novel First Tiger, as well as two books for young adults. He has won Story magazine's Carson McCullers Prize for Short Fiction, and his work appeared in The Best American Short Stories 1999.