Concrete Pearl — Vincent Zandri

How does a headstrong girl like me learn to survive in a man's construction racket? By taking your old man's advice, even if it comes from six feet under.

Thirty-eight-year-old Ava “Spike” Harrison can hold her own in the boys club that is the construction business. Her late father saw to it that she was as comfortable on a job site as she was behind a textbook. But the past few years have had her over a barrel -- job site injuries and a string of bad luck, including the death of her husband, have hampered the venerable Harrison Construction Company. Taking a cheap job here and there has been her only option.

Grasping at straws, though, comes at a price: an asbestos removal contractor she's hired, Jimmy Farrell -- a lifelong acquaintance who gladly accepted $10,000 from Spike as a “good faith” incentive -- has gone AWOL. The three hundred students at Albany's PS 20, the job site, are about to be exposed to deadly asbestos fibers.

What starts out as a goose chase -- from a cleared-out office to Jimmy's impounded car -- turns into an all-out search for the real story behind the man's sudden disappearance. Trading in her work boots for gumshoes, Spike must tread a path paved with deception, greed, and even murder if she's going to nail down the truth.

Vincent Zandri, author of the popular Moonlight saga, spins intrigue and danger with a thrilling new series and a sharp, feisty heroine who has little left to lose.