At Spero School, a punishing facility to which 17-year-old Scott Theriault was shipped out by his mother and stepfather, flimsy behavioral modification methods and open bullying make life miserable for residents. Scott’s death is ruled accidental—he had been drinking before falling into a local river—but his imprisoned father is sure that foul play, not alcohol, was responsible. From behind bars, he hires private eye Parker to investigate; long haunted by the murder of his daughter, Jennifer (who has remained an active afterlife presence for him), Parker is especially sensitive to crimes against children. Meanwhile, an evil club of wealthy men with ties to Spero has reconvened to play “the Game,” which has them abduct carefully targeted women whom they rape, kill, and discard. Then there’s the unexplained targeting of Parker’s best friend, Louis, by hidden forces, a mystery that Parker asks a medium, Sabine Drew, to solve by making contact with the dead. Her report: “I’ve never before come into contact with a congregation of the dead, bound together with hostile purpose, not like this one.” Though Parker is offstage as much as on, there is no drop of interest when the focus is on other characters. The suspense is rather contained—there are no real edge-of-your-seat moments. But Connolly’s subtle handling of the supernatural element is one of the book’s distinguishing qualities. So is its occasional humor. Told that Sabine is training to be a psychotherapist, one character asks, “For the living or the dead?”