Book ~ "Hold Still" (2014) Lisa Regan

From Goodreads ~ After saving her three-year-old daughter from a car-jacking, off-duty police detective Jocelyn Rush ends up in the ER. The last person she expects to run into is Anita Grant, former prostitute and an old acquaintance from Jocelyn’s days on patrol. In spite of her obvious injuries - mutilated hands and feet - Anita refuses to talk about what happened. Reluctantly, Jocelyn backs off and Anita's case goes to Philadelphia’s Special Victims Unit.

Before long, Jocelyn is pulled into the SVU’s investigation. Anita is finally ready to talk but only to Jocelyn. Her story is harrowing, even to a seasoned veteran like Jocelyn. Working with SVU, Jocelyn’s investigation unearths a series of similar crimes going back four years. Three men are preying on local prostitutes, viciously assaulting and mutilating them.

The police apprehend two of the suspects but the third eludes capture. As the hunt for the most sadistic of the three intensifies and his crimes escalate, Jocelyn and her colleagues have precious few leads. Then a monster from Jocelyn’s past resurfaces. She doesn't want to be reminded of the terrible secret that destroyed her family nearly twenty years earlier but the man offers her a lead that could crack Anita’s case.

To solve it, Jocelyn must connect her past with her present - before a sadistic attacker sets his sights on her.

Three men kidnapped Anita, a hooker, nailed her to the to floor crucifixion-style and raped her.  She'll only talk to Jocelyn, a cop, about it.  Two men are picked up but won't give up who the third man (aka "Face") is.

As Jocelyn and her partner, Kevin, investigate, they discover this isn't the first time it happens ... and it won't be the last.

On top of this, Jocelyn has a sister named Camille who is a drug addicted hooker who won't get clean.  Jocelyn has adopted Camille's young daughter and is raising her ... Olivia has become her focus.  They are both trying to come to terms in their own way with something that happened to Camille when she was a teenager that her parents did nothing about.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  I liked the writing style and thought it flowed well.  It is written in from a third person perspective with most of the focus on Jocelyn.  As a head's up, there is swearing, violence and adult activity so I would recommend this book for a mature reader.

I liked Jocelyn.  Despite the fact that she is rough and there's no BS with her, she cares deeply about her daughter, her sister and her friends and will do anything she has to to protect them.  Her partner, Kevin, describes her as "bad ass".  I liked Kevin ... he is used to working with her and knows when to back off and let her take charge.  There are a couple slimy characters like the ADA (and Jocelyn's ex-boyfriend) Phil and a slack cop named Finch who we are supposed to dislike (and I did).

Given how the book ended, I can see how it could be the start of a series (I hope so).  I look forward to reading others by this author.