1. Name of the Devil by Andrew Mayne

#2 Jessica Blackwood
listened via Audible, purchased and owned
narrated  by Jennifer O'Donnell
Unabridged audio (12:53)
2015 Bourbon Street Books
432 pgs.
Adult Mystery/Police Procedural
Finished 1/2//2020
Goodreads rating:  4.18 - 2170 ratings
My rating: 4

First line/s:  " 'You know what you have to do,' said the distant voice at the other end of the phone."

My comments: First finished book of 2020!  The way that Jessica Blackwood connects the dots is sometimes quite mysterious.  I guess that just goes to prove that she's a brilliant FBI agent, on of the best the agency has.  It's like she's the center of a star with many, many branches, and she's the main connection for all of them.  This story includes Latin American cartels, the Catholic Church, backwoods West Virginian hicks, bombs and explosions, psychosomatic pathogens from weird fish, dangling from helicopters, forays into Mexico, and even eorcism.  It's all over the place!  But my favorite parts only come once in awhile, and the's Jessica's relationship withthe mysterious Damien.  uell une interesting book!  Never a dull moment, although most of it is totally un-believable.

Goodreads synopsis: In this electrifying sequel to the crowd-pleasing thriller Angel Killer, magician-turned-FBI agent Jessica Blackwood must once again draw on her past to go up against a brutal murderer desperate for revenge at any price
          After playing a pivotal role in the capture of the Warlock, a seemingly supernatural serial killer—and saving the FBI’s reputation in the process—agent Jessica Blackwood can no longer ignore the world she left behind. Formerly a prodigy in a family dynasty of illusionists, her talent and experience endow her with a unique understanding of the power and potential of deception, as well as a knack for knowing when things are not always as they appear to be.
          When a church congregation vanishes under mysterious circumstances in rural Appalachia, the bizarre trail of carnage indicates the Devil’s hand at work. But Satan can’t be the suspect, so FBI consultant Dr. Ailes and Jessica’s boss on the Warlock case, Agent Knoll, turn to the ace up their sleeve: Jessica. She’s convinced that an old cassette tape holds the key to the mystery, and unraveling the recorded events reveals a troubling act with far-reaching implications. The evil at work is human, and Jessica must follow the trail from West Virginia to Mexico, Miami, and even the hallowed halls of the Vatican.
          Can she stop a cold-blooded killer obsessed by a mortal sin—or will she become the next target in a twisted, diabolical game of hunter and prey…? 

12. After Obsession - Carrie Jones & Steven E. Wedel

Bloomsbury, 2011
HC $17.99
308 pgs.
for young adults
Liked it a lot (4)

Setting:  a small community on the Union River, near Ellsworth, Maine
OSS:  Two voices alternate as this story unfolds - Aimee and Alan - who know that an evil force (the River Man) is trying to possess a friend, the same evil force that took the life of Aimee's mother and countless others through the past centuries.
1st sentence/s:  You are mine.  You are all mine.  These are the words I hear every single freaking morning since my friend Courtney's dad died. They slither around inside my brain all day until I think I'm going crazy, and today is no exception.

I enjoy reading Carrie Jones' novels....the setting is where I lived for so many year.  This time, in her acknowledgements, she mentions Amilie Bacon, one of my past students at MDES.  That was pretty exciting.