THE CIPHER

 5 stars out of 5

This book, the first in a series, was an Amazon First Reads choice that looked intriguing. And you know what? It is. Not only did I enjoy it thoroughly, but I'm now looking forward to the next one.

To be sure, it's on the grisly side; FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera was the victim of almost unspeakable acts done by a serial killer/rapist back when she was 16. She turned out to be the one who got away - but not without a ton of physical and emotional scars. As this book begins, she's jogging on a Virginia trail during off hours and is attacked. She overpowers her attacker, but as tends to happen in these days of instant "news," the whole thing was captured on video and uploaded to the Internet.

And therein lies a problem: Her attacker of many years ago was watching - and now he knows where she is. Worse, he's decided to play some games before he finally recaptures Nina; he'll kidnap others who resemble her, torture and kill them and leave mysterious clues for her to follow in hopes of preventing an attack on yet another victim. Because the clues often contain numbers and symbols, he's dubbed the "Cipher."

But now, Nina has the full power of the FBI behind her - including Dr. Jeffrey Wade, the Behavioral Analysis Unit guy who nearly got her booted out because he thought her judgment couldn't be trusted. He, too, has emotional scars from the nasty ending of another case for which he blames himself, but they've got no choice but to work together. A couple of other capable members join their team - one a cybersecurity expert - so the race is on to identify the guy before he strikes again (or worse, manages to recapture Nina herself). 

I can't reveal more without spoiling things for other readers, but I can say The rest is packed with action as well as psychological analyses for which the BAU is well known. What happens isn't always pleasant, but it sure is exciting. Well done!

The Ciphor by Isabella Maldonado (Thomas & Mercer, November 2020); 332 pp.

LOST HILLS

4 stars out of 5

Familiar author, new character; no-brainer, then, to snap it up as my Amazon First Reads selection for December 2019. As it turns out, it's a solid police procedural that introduces L.A. County Sheriff's Department Homicide Detective Eve Ronin, who earned a transfer after pulling off a win at her previous job that resulted in considerable media facetime. Needless to say, her fellow (literally) officers are less than thrilled that she's in their midst. For the most part, that includes her about-to-retire partner, Duncan Parone, although he's a bit more willing to accept her than the rest of the department.

At the outset, Eve and Duncan get a call to investigate a possible homicide that ends up out of their hands. That's followed by a call to investigate the possible murder of a woman, her two children and their dog - this one actually in their department's jurisdiction. The home in which the possible victims lived, which belongs to the woman's boyfriend, is a bloody mess - strongly suggesting that everyone in the house has been brutally murdered even though no bodies are found.

The rush to find out what actually happened, where the bodies (assumed to have been dismembered) are stashed and, of course, who did it is complicated by characters in animal costumes, wildfires that threaten to destroy huge portions of the California landscape and department muckety-mucks who want the case solved in record time so they'll get the glory. Leads take Eve all over the place, including to Walmart and one of my favorite lines from the book as Eve reveals that she's always "hated the lighting in Walmarts. It makes everything and everyone look like they'd walked through a downpour of urine."


In the background, she must deal with a movie star wannabe of a mother (who desperately wants Eve to attain star status of her own) and a father she hasn't seen for a decade. Those attributes, plus dealing with resentment from work colleagues, make Eve not unlike several other police heroines from other series I enjoy. I will say, though, that unlike some of them, Eve isn't paranoid and doesn't constantly second-guess all her decisions - definitely a plus in my book.

The last few chapters turn into a frenzy of activity (which I won't discuss because it could spoil things for those who haven't read the book yet). Honestly, it's almost too frantic for my tastes, but on the other hand, I must admit that from that point on I couldn't put the book down (yet another of those "Just give me 5 more minutes, honey, and I'll come to bed" scenarios). Overall, it's a great start to a new series and I look forward to more of both Eve and Duncan.

Lost Hills by Lee Goldberg (Thomas & Mercer, January 2019); 237 pp.