You'll pay for admission with your life... An amusement park hides a killer in this unforgettable thriller from "a great new talent in crime fiction" (Lee Irby, author ofBottom Feeders).

As Orlando's third-largest theme park, Empire Realm, prepares to celebrate its twentieth anniversary, a public relations disaster strikes. In a span of three weeks, two tourists are found dead, victims of strangulation.

Enter Kevin Lonnegan, cop-turned-private investigator. Going undercover as a park employee in the brutal Florida summer still has to be better than the seedy workers' comp cases and messy divorces usually thrown his way. After all, theme parks are supposed to be the happiest places on earth. But a cold-hearted killer has made this one their hunting ground...

Praise for Thomas B.Cavanagh's Mike Garrity novels,Head GamesandProdigal Son

"An Orlando, Florida, thriller that reads like a high-speed theme park ride... with dark humor so sharp it'll make you bleed." -Brian Freeman,New York Timesbestselling author

"Carl Hiaasen fans will be thrilled to know there's a new kid on the block. If you likedBasket Case,you'll flip over Thomas B.Cavanagh's sardonically and outrageously funny lead character." -Charlotte Hughes,New York Timesbestselling author

"With the clarity of Robert B.Parker and the complexity of Michael Connolly,Prodigal Sondisturbs and charms at the same time." -Booklist