Not long ago, Miami prosecutor Abe Beckham lost his wife, Samantha, to cancer. But he bounced back, finding love again with Angelina, an old flame from long ago. Or did he bounce back? Maybe the decision to remarry was a little hasty. No, no, Abe is happy, and Angelina is trying to find ways to strengthen their marriage, too, although Abe’s memories of Samantha seem to keep getting in the way.

Personal life aside, Abe has a lot going on at the State Attorney’s Office. Times there are busy. When a body shows up in the Everglades, Abe and FBI agent Victoria Santos join with local law enforcement in an effort to determine if this is another victim of a serial killer they’ve dubbed “Cutter.” This brutal killer hacks young women to death with a machete, a fitting weapon considering his dumping ground in the Florida sugar cane fields. But the “signature” on the latest body doesn’t quite fit with Cutter’s other victims. Officials worry that they may have a copycat on the loose. Then, when Agent Santos discovers that Abe had ties to the latest dead woman, ties that might have complicated things at home, she begins to work more against him than with him. In fact, she moves him straight to the top of her suspect list.

"Fans of GONE GIRL surely will love CANE AND ABE, which begins with a bang and never lets up.... This book has breakneck pacing and will twist you more ways than you ever thought you could be twisted."

Naturally, Abe has friends among the police, but when evidence involving him looks like it’s mounting, circumstantial though it may be, even his closest buddy has serious doubts. And Abe has made some pretty big mistakes in the course of this investigation. Was that out of panic, or are his lies simply catching up with him? While it appears that he is anxious to solve the case, one can’t help but wonder if he’s purposely throwing up roadblocks.

Then the unthinkable happens. Abe’s new wife, Angelina, vanishes one morning. And Abe admits he’s carrying a huge load of guilt over it. See, they had a nasty fight the night before, and Angelina tossed Abe out. While he can account for his whereabouts --- mostly --- it doesn’t look good. Not good at all. Where once he was striving to convince everyone of his innocence, Abe is now focusing on the hunt for Angelina. After all, it doesn’t get much scarier than knowing a serial killer is on the loose and your wife might just be his next victim. Of course, Agent Santos already knows who she’s looking to blame Angelina’s disappearance on --- or, more likely, at least in her view, Angelina’s murder.

Fans of GONE GIRL surely will love CANE AND ABE, which begins with a bang and never lets up. Abe and Angelina seem happy at first, but then you look below the surface. Are husband and wife really enjoying marital bliss, or are they messing with each other? This book has breakneck pacing and will twist you more ways than you ever thought you could be twisted. And, for me, it defines the term “page turner.” Don’t even think of opening the cover unless you have time to read the entire book, because you won’t want to put it down.