“For Alexis Frost, Nick Walker, and Ruby McClure, it all started with a phone call and two texts. It ended with fear and courage, love and loathing, screaming and blood. Lots of blood.”

This opening sentence differentiates the three main characters with a telling detail: Alexis does not have a cell phone. It also builds suspense by telling the reader right away that there is going to be “screaming and blood.” It’s clear that these three characters are about to go through a lot together.

“‘Oh, good, you found my notebook.’ They turned. A white-haired man with silver-framed glasses and a full white beard hurried toward them. Take away his cargo pants, binoculars, and camera, and add a red hat and suit and another fifty pounds, and he’d make a pretty good Santa Claus. Alexis put the notebook into his outstretched hand.”

The first time the characters and readers meet serial killer Caleb Becker, they immediately dismiss him as a harmless old man. His white hair and beard recall Santa Claus, molding him into a cheery, innocent archetype and giving the sense that Alexis and Ruby are safe around him. Completing the deception is his birding gear, which successfully fools the teens into thinking he is a nerdy bird aficionado.

“Nick had joined SAR to prove himself. People at school saw a skinny kid who couldn’t sit still, a kid who couldn’t stop talking, a kid who didn’t fit in anyplace, but Nick knew that, just like his dad, he was capable of unimaginable feats of bravery.”

Nick is acutely aware of how other characters see him. He knows he is distracted, often doodling or jumping around to entertain himself. Because of this behavior, which stems from his ADHD, Nick wants to grow more serious. He aspires to be like his father, and to be able to find strength and bravery if given the opportunity. His closest chance at that is by succeeding in SAR.