In the Crosshairs: A Novel

A school principal is caught in the crosshairs.

For Carlisle High School principal Abbie Chambers, the first day of school feels like a long-awaited fresh start. After two years of pandemic disruptions, students are finally back in the halls, and Abbie is hopeful that life might be returning to normal.

Then sophomore Claudia Barrington disappears.

Last seen at home two days earlier, Claudia seems to have vanished without a trace. As detective Robert Henderson searches for evidence and follows increasingly elusive leads, Abbie watches the uncertainty ripple through her school community. Days turn into weeks, then months, with no answers—and no sign of Claudia.

Abbie knows all too well that a high school reflects the world beyond its doors, carrying its share of grief, addiction, accidents, illness, and loss. But nothing prepares her for what comes next.

Gunshots ring out on the Carlisle High School campus.

Suddenly, Abbie is no longer simply trying to hold her school together in the wake of a student’s disappearance. She is caught in the middle of a crisis that threatens her students, her community—and perhaps Abbie herself.

About the Author

Helen Gladden is a retired high school and middle school principal, as well as a former English teacher. She grew up in Oakland, California and earned a B.A. in Rhetoric from U.C. Berkeley and an M.S. in Educational Leadership from California State University, East Bay. Helen lives with her husband in Northern California.

Praise for In the Crosshairs

“...both page-turning and thoughtful: a procedural that never loses sight of the human costs behind headlines and rumors. Highly recommended.”
—Valerie Saul, author of The Badass Widows: a Mystery

“...will keep you up reading way past your bedtime.”
—Julia Underwood, author of six published novels including Protection in Paradise and Talon and the Songbird

“I was hooked by the jolting first scene of In the Crosshairs and read non-stop to the end. It’s that good! ”
—Linda Milanese, author of WTF??! I’m Old!