Three Thrillers

Rise the Dark by Michael Koryta is the second in a series, and I have not read the first.  It combines murder, conspiracy, the supernatural, and homegrown terrorism.   In Montana, a woman is kidnapped. In Florida, Markus Novak begins trying to untangle the events that led to his wife's murder two years earlier.  

Markus goes to Cassadega, Florida, the place his wife visited shortly before her death.  A small town whose inhabitants are largely psychics, mediums, and spiritualists, Cassadega has been mentioned in other novels and films about the paranormal and has the weird fascination that such a concentration of individuals who make a living from their "psychic" abilities can produce.  

The plot, however, moves back to the mountains of Wyoming and Montana, where the leader of a bizarre assortment of groups plan to bring down the electric grid.

Strangely, this novel with all of its murders and threats to the electric grid was not nearly as frightening as Ted Koppel's nonfiction Lights Out, which makes clear the catastrophic effects that an attack on the electric grid would produce.   

NetGalley/Little, Brown

Paranormal/Thriller.  Aug. 16, 2016.  Print length:  400 pages.

Wake the Devil by Robert Daniels has Jack Kale and Beth Sturgis trying to protect two doctors from the perfect assassin who leaves no clues and who changes his appearance.

The Sandman is on the "most wanted" list of several countries, but continues to outwit those who want to capture him, and once he accepts a mission, he will carry it through.  He has already killed one of the three doctors who are scheduled to testify in the court case.  Despite all efforts, the second doctor is murdered.

Wake the Devil is a fast-paced thriller with an elaborate plot.  Jack Kale continues to deal with severe panic attacks as he and Beth Sturgis try to protect the remaining doctor.

I  suspected the villain and was correct, but there are a lot of twists.

NetGalley/Crooked Lane Books

Thriller/Suspense.  Sept. 13, 2016.  Print length:  352 pages.

Infamy by Robert K. Tanenbaum featuring Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi is the 28th book in this long series!  I haven't read the previous books, but this one functions as a stand-alone.  

Brief description:  The “rock-solid” (Kirkus Reviews) prosecutor Butch Karp and his wife, Marlene Ciampi, return to solve the suspicious murder of a US Army colonel and battle corruption at the highest levels of the United States government in this novel by New York Timesbestselling author Robert K. Tanenbaum.

Relying on plot more than characters, the book reads quickly.   Plenty of courtroom scenes balance the action as Karp lays traps for the defense who tries to keep the accused from revealing the conspiracy.

NetGalley/Gallery Books

Legal Thriller.  Sept. 20, 2016.  Print length:  368 pages.