Starred review from April 23, 2018
This unnerving second installment to Gardiner’s Unsub series, read with steely determination by Huber, focuses on Caitlin Hendrix, a fledgling agent assigned to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit hunting for a predator who has been killing young women in Texas. The person who fits her profile, Kyle Detrick, is charming and cunning, but when Caitlin attempts to get inside his head, he gets into hers. As the suspenseful plot proceeds from corpse to corpse and from Solace, Tex., to Portland, Ore., Huber delivers the third-person omniscient narrative with an increasingly hard-edged intensity, heightening the novel’s already considerable tension. Caitlin sounds young, impatient, and, at times, uncertain. Among her new associates, Special Agent in Charge C.J. Emmerich speaks with an air of crisp professionalism. Agent Brianne Rainey is, as the author describes, “chill,” with a pleasantly nonchalant style of speech. As for the honey-voiced, Ted Bundy–like serial killer, he maintains his confident, insinuating and intimidating attitude to nearly the end. Gardiner’s lean prose and Huber’s unsettling narration make this a worthy thrill ride. A Dutton hardcover.
Starred review from December 11, 2017
Inspired by the Ted Bundy case, Edgar-winner Gardiner’s excellent sequel to 2017’s Unsub finds newly minted FBI agent Caitlin Hendrix still feeling her way on the FBI’s elite Behavioral Analysis Unit and working on a long-distance relationship. Her skills as a profiler are soon put to the test by another unsub—unknown subject. Women, who appear to have nothing in common, are disappearing on Saturday nights near Austin, Tex. Two of the victims were found dead in a wooded area, both surrounded by Polaroid photos that show other dead women dressed in white negligees. Caitlin and the other team members deduce they’re looking for a confident perp who can charm his victims into coming with him. Caitlin’s intelligent perceptions lead her to a killer whose arrogance may be his undoing. Gardiner expertly integrates the FBI science of profiling with a suspenseful plot and believable characters. It’s no wonder a TV drama based on this series is in the works at CBS. Agent: Shane Salerno, Story Factory.