4th of July / James Patterson/ 471 pages / USA Today Bestseller November Challenge

Detective Lindsay Boxer is living a nightmare.  She is being sued for wrongful death when she is forced to shoot a teenager in self defense after the teenage had shot Lindsay.  The girl died and her brother was seriously injured.  Her partner was also critically injured during the shootout.  Taking time off from the hectic badgering of reporters, Lindsay retires to the picturesque town of Half Moon Bay where she is immediately swept into the investigation of a series of recent brutal slayings...and the slayings match the MO of Lindsay's first case which is as yet unsolved.  This is a gripping read.  The reader totally empathizes with the heroine.