LAST SEEN ALIVE

Boston police detective Ellery Hathaway finally steels herself to confront the sociopath who abducted, tortured, and nearly murdered her as a teenager. The reunion doesn’t go as planned.

Kate Hunter, host of TV’s true-crime show On the Hunt, thinks a great way to mark the 20th anniversary of self-styled artist Francis Michael Coben’s conviction and imprisonment would be to interview him on camera, and she insists on inviting Ellery, who was snatched from his clutches years ago by FBI Agent Reed Markham, to the party as well. Ellery reacts to this coldhearted proposal first with denial, then with dread, but ultimately agrees for several reasons. In return for his hour on prime time, Coben’s agreed to give information about the fate of Tracy Trajan, one of his 16 victims who didn’t get rescued, who’s been missing since 1998—a revelation Ellery thinks could help Tracy’s parents achieve closure. In addition, she can’t help being interested in the chance to put Coben in his place by showing that now he’s the helpless one, not her. Mainly, though, she wants to help Reed get evidence that could connect the recent murder of Maxine Frazier, a sex worker killed by a copycat who shares Coben’s unhealthy fixation with severed hands, to Coben’s own crimes. Nothing all that terrible happens during the interview, but shortly after, an E. coli outbreak in the Indiana prison where Coben is serving time sends him to the hospital, and you can just guess what happens next.

When you invoke Hannibal Lecter this pointedly, you deserve to know: Francis Coben is no Hannibal Lecter.