107. Find Me by Ann Frasier

#1 Inland Empire

listened on Audible
narrated by Erin Bennett

Unabridged audio (9:16)
2020
282 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 7/21/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.14 - 21,189 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Palm Springs/Joshua Tree/29 Palms/High  Desert of southern California

First line/s:  "It was dark by the time Cathy Baker took off along the Southern California trail just outside the town of Redlands."

My comments: Anne Frasier is becoming one of my favorite authors in the mystery/murder mystery genre.  Always plenty to anticipate, never a dull moment; believable characters, and lots of twists and turns.  Psychopaths and sociopaths -- imagine being born into a family with these characteristices...and imagine living your whole life knowing that, as a kid, your much-adored father uses you as bait to reel in innocent young women to their deaths.  How do you live with that?  Anne Frasier takes you into the minds of her characters to allow you to hear their thoughts and feel their pain.  Couldn't put it down  Looks like there might be more in the series, too, yippee!

Goodreads synopsis:   A bone-chilling family history is unearthed in a heart-stopping thriller by New York Times bestselling author Anne Frasier.

          Convicted serial killer Benjamin Fisher has finally offered to lead San Bernardino detective Daniel Ellis to the isolated graves of his victims. One catch: he’ll only do it if FBI profiler Reni Fisher, his estranged daughter, accompanies them. As hard as it is to exhume her traumatic childhood, Reni can’t say no. She still feels complicit in her father’s crimes.

          Perfect to play a lost little girl, Reni was the bait to lure unsuspecting women to their deaths. It’s time for closure. For her. For the families. And for Daniel. He shares Reni’s obsession with the past. Ever since he was a boy, he’s been convinced that his mother was one of Fisher’s victims.

A five-hundred-mile road trip lies ahead. Thirty years of bad memories are flooding back. A master manipulator has gained their trust. For Reni and Daniel, this isn’t the end of a nightmare. It’s only the beginning

66. Once Shadows Fall by Robert Daniels

Sturgis & Kale #1
read on my Kindle AND listened on Audible
2015, Crooked Lane Books
352 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished  11/23/16
Goodreads rating:  4.03 - 186 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  Contemporary Atlanta, GA

First line/s:   "Luck:  hard to plan for it, hard to predict when it might show up."

My comments:  A new, female homicide detective gets handed a case that looks like a copycat -  a copycat because the deranged killer of what look like the same type of serial murders is locked away in a psychiatric hospital.   As more similar murders appear, she teams up with a brilliant - though reluctant - ex-FBI agent who is now a college professor.  Of course rapport between them grows as we slowly learn his story, which is deeply imbedded in the original serial killer's story.  Oh, these dark, twisted minds! This was a satisfying mystery, though quite easy to figure out early on if you've read a lot of murder mysteries.  I look forward to reading more in the series.

Goodreads synopsis:  After years of paying her dues on the force, Beth Sturgis has earned her place as a detective for the Robbery-Homicide division of the Atlanta PD. Now, she's heading up a major manhunt for a potential serial killer who’s working his way inward from the outskirts of the city. The copycat elements in the first crime scene lead Sturgis to retired FBI agent Jack Kale, who was responsible for apprehending and nearly killing the murderer known as the Scarecrow, the same Scarecrow who appears to be this new killer's terrible inspiration.
          A reclusive single father and university professor, Kale is trying to keep the demons at bay through therapy and avoidance. That is, until Sturgis shows up asking for his help. Against his better judgment, Kale is drawn into the most dangerous cat and mouse game of his life. Robert Daniels's Once Shadows Fall, is a gripping thriller in the bestselling tradition of Silence of the Lambs and is sure to become a crime fiction classic.

27. The Naturals - Jennifer Lynn Barnes

2013, Hyperion

308 pgs.

YA Mystery

Finished 5/16/14

Goodreads Rating: 3.97

My Rating: 3/Liked it

TPPL

Setting: Contemporary Washington DC

1^st sentence/s: "The hours were bad.  The tips were worse, and the majority of my coworkers definitely left something to be desired, but c'est la vie, que sera sera, insert foreign language cliche of your choice here.  It was a summer job, and that kept Nonna off my back.  It also prevented my various aunts, uncles, and kitchen-sink cousins from feeling like they had to offer me temporary employment in their restaurant/butcher shop/legal practice/boutique."

My comments:  Yes, I liked it. Since this was a YA, I was a teeny, tiny bit surprised at the level of "grizzliness" of the murders that were the centerpieces of the story.  I love that investigations and forensics are available for teens, as well as the mystery/problem solving. However, there wasn't enough character development for me, the times that the main characters were introduced and got to know each other were skimmed over quickly to get directly to the major plot.  Therefore, I had to guess about and fill in my own thoughts about the relationships between Cassie and her peers a bit more than I liked.

Goodreads Review:  Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

          What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides—especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.
          Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.