Publisher's Synopsis
It's tailor-made story for the nightly news: Dylan Meserve and Michaela Brand, young lovers and fellow acting students, vanish on the way home from a rehearsal. Three days later, the two of them are found in the remote mountains of Malibu - battered and terrified after a harrowing ordeal. The details of the nightmarish event are shocking: the couple was held at gunpoint by a sadistic abductor who subjected them to a horrific regime of confinement, starvation and assault. But before long, doubts arise about the couple's story and, as forensic details unfold, the abduction is exposed as a hoax. Charged as criminals themselves, the aspiring actors claim emotional problems and the court orders psychological evaluation for both. Psychologist Alex Delaware finds that Michaela's claims of depression and stress ring true enough. But they don't explain her lies. Nevertheless, the case is closed - only to be reopened when Michaela is savagely murdered...
