Under a thick canopy of pine trees, Cassidy Wilder frantically searches for a hiding place. Her breath catches in her mouth as she hears heavy footsteps. She says a silent prayer, but she knows he’s closing in on her. She knows it’s too late…

When a robbery at a local store ends with multiple deaths and the abduction of sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Cassidy Wilder, FBI agent Beth Katz and her partner Dax Styles are called in. Visiting Cassidy’s family home just a couple of blocks away from the quiet little store where she went missing, Beth’s heart breaks as she talks to her grieving parents and promises to find their daughter.

Looking at CCTV footage, Beth is horrified to see how calm the killer is as he shoots everyone in the store before forcing the terrified Cassidy to follow him into his truck. Then Beth uncovers multiple robberies just like this one, where all witnesses are killed and a young girl is taken. All of the victims are taken at night and found dead the following morning, so Beth knows time is running out to save Cassidy.

When Cassidy’s lifeless body is discovered dumped on a busy highway near a patch of forest, Beth is devastated. And as more girls go missing, she fears the murderer is escalating. A breakthrough finally comes when she finds a name written in blood next to one of the bodies. Beth knows she’s close to catching the killer and is determined to stop any more lives from being taken—even if it means serving her own form of justice. Will she be able to resist the urge to take a life herself? Or will she become the killer’s next victim?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She often compared herself to science-fiction characters who by no fault of their own had been the issue of two opposite species. In her case, both sides of her had different ideas of how to deal with monsters and each had a convincing argument for being themselves. Yes, she often referred to herself as two people because in reality that’s what she’d become.

Covering up crimes of the rich and powerful wasn’t new, but it made those responsible as guilty as the perpetrator. Beth might well be a serial killer, but she’d never been corrupt. She followed a set of rules and stuck to them.

 

My Review:

 

Silly me for jumping into this series with the third installment yet I didn’t struggle to keep up. However, I am eaten up with a fatal case of curiosity about the prior books and itching to read them as well. The crimes were disturbing and twisted, as were the individuals who were committing them. The storylines were complicated, well-nuanced, and multi-layered while each character was complex and cunningly crafted, even the secondary ones. D.K. Hood has mad skills although I worry for her neighbors if they give her grief.