Magnus "Steps" Craig is part of an elite FBI team. His partner in the field is Special Agent Jimmy Donovan, and Diane is the IT member of the team. Steps has a special ability, one that gives him an edge--however, only Jimmy is aware of it, and the two never mention it.
Following a high speed chase ending in a wrecked vehicle, the driver escapes and a young woman is found in the trunk. The FBI Special Tracking Unit has been called in, and Steps and Jimmy are glad to be working with a team they've worked with successfully in the past.
The team manages to track and capture the suspect who seems psychotic, babbling about broken people, his need to fix them, and repeating that "Eight" needed fixing--in a disjointed conversation with himself. He mentions the Onion King, but it is unclear whether this is a real person or a delusion.
When the young woman regains consciousness, she reveals two things: the man who abducted her and the man in whose car she was found are not the same man...and she has been referred to as Eight.
The suspect is eventually identified as Murphy Cotton, and it appears that perhaps there is an Onion King and that the two have worked in tandem. Steps and Jimmy, working with the local team, suspect there will have been seven previous victims...and perhaps a ninth has already been taken.
Steps and Jimmy have been partners for five years and work well together. They exhibit both determination to unravel the threads involved in the investigation and a deep sense of humanity and compassion. While the plot isn't particularly believable, Steps and Jimmy (and Step's unusual ability) kept me engaged.
I might look into the previous two books. Read in April; blog review scheduled for Aug. 10.
(I did read and review the first book in the series, Collecting the Dead)
NetGalley/St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books
FBI/Crime/Procedural. Aug. 25, 2020. Print length: 336 pages.
Good to know your thoughts on this one, Jenclair. I think I've said that my husband and I have listened to the first two as we've gone on trips. I'll keep this one in mind for another trip (whenever that might be - ha!).
ReplyDeleteI'm certainly hoping you and your husband will be able to listen to this one on your next trip! More hoping that you will be able to take that trip soon!
DeleteI love the characters in this book. And I thought the first one was really good. I'm looking forward to when my library finally gets a copy of this one so I can check it out. :)
ReplyDeleteOnce again, it is the characters and their relationships that sell a book. :)
DeleteWell now I want to know abou the special ability! Sounds like a fun fast-paced read!
ReplyDeleteThe plot is pretty dark, but it is compelling. I really like the characters better than the plot. :)
DeleteI can deal with an unbelievable plot if the novel is engaging enough. This sounds like a fun series.
ReplyDeleteSteps ability to see "the shine" is an intriguing hook for this series.
DeleteThanks to the reviews of the subsequent books in this series, I made a beeline for book 1, and it's a pretty solid read, but isn't as good as how this one sounds. There's a complexity to the later books that I've seen the reviews I've read that isn't the first one I think. I shoudl have totally started with the later books!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't read the second book. The concept of "shine" makes the investigations interesting.
DeleteThis sounds like a great series. The characters alone are enough to entice me. :)
ReplyDeleteIt isn't in my top ten, but it is a series I'll continue!
DeleteThis series sounds like something I'd really enjoy. I'm intrigued about the special ability. :)
ReplyDeleteYep, Steps' ability does make things interesting. :)
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