Jeffery Deaver: A Maiden's Grave (USA 2001)

From the Publisher:
Eight vulnerable girls and their helpless teachers are forced off a school bus and held hostage. The madman who has them at gunpoint has a simple plan: one hostage an hour will die unless the demands are met. Called to the scene is Arthur Potter, the FBI's best hostage negotiator. He has a plan. But so does one of the hostages-a beautiful teacher who's willing to do anything to save the lives of her students. Now, the clock is ticking as a chilling game of cat and mouse begins.

Jeffery Deaver: A Maiden's Grave. Signet, ISBN: 0451204298 (September, 2001), 419 p., $7.99.

Jeffery Deaver: A Maiden's Grave (UK 1996)

From the Publisher:
A trio of desperate convicts has hijacked a bus carrying a group of deaf and mute schoolgirls who are now being held hostage in a disused slaughterhouse. FBI agent Arthur Potter is flown in to negotiate with the men, as are local police, state troopers, politicians and the media. Not everyone has the same agenda. And the killers will kill one innocent child an hour, on the hour, until their demands are met.

Jeffery Deaver: A Maiden's Grave. Coronet, ISBN: 0340653752 (September, 1996), 480 p., £5.99.