Cruel April returns to Neil Albert's favorite crime scene - greater Philadelphia, stretching from the city line to the darkest regions of Amish country. And here he finds fertile ground in the gripping case of a woman who vanishes into thin air. When Dave Garrett was a lawyer, he'd complain about his work. Now, a disbarment and a divorce later, he is working harder and getting paid a hell of a lot less as a private detective. But the work has its fringe benefits - like meeting red-haired, green-eyed Kate McMahan on a recent assignment. They spent four passionate days together before she returned to her teaching job - and her failing marriage - in Miami. There has been nothing but steamy phone calls since, until Garrett gets the call he is waiting for: Kate is coming back to him - for good. That is why case-hardened, gun-packing Dave Garrett has a dumb grin and a pink Mylar "Welcome Home" balloon at the arrival gate when Kate's plane lands. The problem is she isn't on it. She has been kidnapped. Tracking Kate sends Garrett from picturesque Pennsylvania towns to a seamy underworld of drugs and prostitution. But as the people he questions along the way start getting killed, Garrett realizes that his hopes, his heart, and his life are on the line. If he doesn't find Kate before the kidnappers decide what to do with her, April showers will turn into a hard rain of hurt, violence, and death....