Killing Time

When every minute counts.
When every secret matters.
And someone inside knows the truth.

When English teacher Charlotte Papadopoulos walks into her classroom at the San Francisco County Jail, she expects another morning of lesson plans and poetry.

Instead, a suicide bomber walks into the lobby.

Within minutes, the jail is on lockdown—hundreds of inmates, staff, and one brave teacher are trapped inside.

As panic spreads through the concrete halls, Charlotte must keep her students calm…even as one of them whispers a secret that could reveal the bomber's identity.

Outside the jail, crime reporter Ellie Forzano fights through San Francisco's gridlocked streets for a story—and for her best friend's life. And Detective Mark Ryan, haunted by what could have been with Charlotte, races against the clock, to piece together fragments of the bomber's past before the entire jail explodes in flames.

With time running out and danger closing in, Charlotte must choose: save herself or risk everything for her students?

The stakes have never been higher as Charlotte discovers sometimes the most dangerous explosive of all is the human heart seeing vengeance.

Gripping, emotional, and impossible to put down, Killing Time is a real-time hostage thriller that explores courage, friendship, and survival when every second counts.

This explosive third novel in Christina Boufis's acclaimed San Francisco jail mystery series is perfect for fans of Tess Gerritsen, Lisa Gardner, and Karin Slaughter—and for anyone who loves a thriller that won't let them go.