Left for Dead    by J. A. Jance Order:  USA  Can Touchstone, 2012 (2012) Hardcover, e-Book Read an Excerpt      Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth With over 21 million books in print, J. A. Jance can legitimately be called a bestselling author! And here's another winner to swell that number. When Ali Reynolds learns that her classmate from the Arizona Police Academy has been found gunned down during a traffic stop, she feels compelled to help discover who fired the gun - and why they did it. Given that quantities of marijuana and stacks of dollars are discovered in her friend's police cruiser, Ali believes he has been set up. This is not the man she knows. Rushing to the hospital, she finds her good friend Sister Anselm serving as a patient advocate for a seriously beaten young girl – Jane Doe – apparently an illegal border crosser. But she speaks English! Ali performs what she has been trained to do - find clues and follow them to the one or ones responsible. As her investigation moves on, she realizes that the two patients' lives might have been intertwined in some way. And whatever the girl might – or might not – have done, no one deserves to be beaten senseless, tortured and left for dead in the Arizona desert. Jance's writing draws the reader quickly into the plot. In this case, it's another very good one. Action, that leaps from almost every page, kept me on the edge of my chair. I like Ali who jumps into any situation primed to do the right, but maybe not the safest, thing. She's determined to get her man and does so albeit the many twists and turns she finds in her way. Left for Dead is a hard book to put down. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews