Chicago private detective Nick Acropolis goes to rural McKinley, Illinois--a town along the old and legendary Route 66--to investigate the case of Jesse Lopez, a truck driver charged with smuggling drugs. Nick meets truck stop waitress Maddy Miller. Her teenage son Billy has been missing for over a year.

Nick heads out to Southern California, the end of that same lost highway. This is where Billy Miller was last seen. It's also where Jesse Lopez began his trip. Could the two cases be connected?

"Westerfield's Chain," the first Nick Acropolis novel, was a Shamus Award finalist.

"A great read," --Publishers Weekly

"A pure delight for many reasons, not the least of which is the way Jack Clark celebrates and rings a few changes of the familiar private eye script...There's a memorable moment [on] virtually every page." --Chicago Tribune

"A likeable protagonist and spirited, uncluttered prose." --Kirkus Reviews

"Jack Clark's descriptions are beautifully haunting and his plotting is exceptional." Romantic Times.