Caught by Harlan Coben

 

Wendy Tynes is a TV reporter who has a teenager about to start college, which means she needs to be sure she stays employed.  That's not easy in a profession that idolizes youth and has ten applicants for every job.  When a local high school girl goes missing, Wendy is all over the story as is the rest of the media.  But she also has other irons in the fire.

One of her most popular features is one where she goes undercover online, pretending to be a teenage girl and then trapping on camera the middle-aged men who want to meet a young girl.  She is sure she has a good candidate in Dan Mercer.  Wendy gets a tip about him and sets up a meet.  Dan is the director of a troubled youth center and he thinks he is going to help one of his charges who texts him and asks for help.  But when he goes to the address, he is confronted with bright lights and shouting questions about his lust for young girls.  Dan insists he has been set up but when the police search his house and find porn, he is done for.  He loses his job and is the target of attacks by vigilantes.  

Wendy is hesitant about whether she was right about Dan but when he is tied by forensic evidence to the missing teenager, she is sure again that she is right.  Is she or is she part of the setup of an innocent man?

Harlan Coben is one of the masters of the mystery world.  In this novel the reader will be tossed back and forth in their belief about Dan as the story twists and turns.  Their feelings about Wendy will also change as the story progresses.  This book is recommended for mystery readers.