#BookReview Murder Theory by Andrew Mayne @AndrewMayne @amazonpub

Murder Theory by Andrew Mayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The desire to kill is becoming contagious in this riveting novel of conceivable mad science by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Naturalist.

Computational biologist and serial-killer hunter Dr. Theo Cray receives an off-the-record request from the FBI to investigate an inexplicable double homicide. It happened at the excavation site where a murderer had buried his victims’ remains. In custody is a forensic technician in shock, with no history of aggression. He doesn’t remember a thing. His colleagues don’t even recognize the man they thought they knew. But an MRI reveals something peculiar. And abnormal.

What on earth made him commit murder?

After discovering that a mysterious man has been stalking crime scenes and stealing forensic data, Cray has a radical and terrifying theory. Now he must race against time to find a darker version of himself: a scientist with an obsession in pathological behavior who uses his genius not to catch serial killers—but to create them.

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I've read all the books published in the Jessica Blackwood series by Andrew Mayne. But, Murder Theory is the first I've read in The Naturalist series. And, I have to admit that at first didn't Dr. Theo Cray, a computational biologist and serial-killer hunter, rock my boat the same way that Jessica Blackwood does. Not a bad story at all, just not on the same interested level and it got a bit "scientific" now and then. Then, BAM one of the best scenes ever happened that pretty much changed how I felt for the book. And, I can't write about it since you know spoilers. However, I will just say this, this is by far the most interesting way to capture a serial killer. Seriously, totally mental and I loved it. After that, I just felt that yup this is a series for me. Any guy that can do something like this is my kind of guy to read about!

So, kudos to Andrew Mayne for the worlds greatest how-to-catch-a-serial-killer-scene!

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!

#BookReview Black Fall by Andrew Mayne @AndrewMayne @HarperCollins

Black Fall by Andrew Mayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Black Fall, the third book in the ITW Award-nominated series that began with self-published eBook phenomenon Angel Killer, magician-turned-FBI agent Jessica Blackwood investigates a series of seemingly unrelated, but equally bizarre and sinister, crimes that lead her to the Colorado desert and a town that has, simply, disappeared.

With two big cases under her belt, FBI Agent Jessica Blackwood is learning to embrace her unconventional past as the rising star in a family dynasty of illusionists. Her talent and experience endow her with a unique understanding of the power and potential of deception, and a gift for knowing when things are not always as they appear to be. Once resenting her eccentric grandfather, a brilliant magician in his own right, Jessica now sees him as a mentor and regularly seeks his advice about her work.

But Jessica’s routine surveillance operation becomes a fight for survival when a disturbed young woman, clutching a baby, shows up at the stake-out location and threatens to kill her child. On the same day, an hour after a severe earthquake rocks the eastern seaboard, a strange video goes viral. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Peter Devon has been dead for eight years, yet here he is on camera, predicting the location and date of the earthquake. Jessica is put on the case by her boss, Dr. Ailes, but when Detective Aileen Lewis reports that they’ve found a Jane Doe who matches her description of her attacker, she’s torn between professional duty and a personal desire to find out who the woman was, and why she was killed.

The investigations pull her in very different directions—until they start to converge, leading Jessica to confront something darker, and more powerful, than anyone expected. Something so twisted, only one person could be behind it…the Warlock.

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I actually just finished reading book 1 (Angel Killer) in this series (Why read in order?) and now I'm kind of bummed that I have no more Jessica Blackwood books to read since this series have become a personal favorite of mine. Each book has stories that it will take ex-magician now FBI agent Jessica Blackwood to solve since the bureau needs someone that can think outside the box and that she can.

Black Fall has the best opening of all the three books I have read, with the missing town in Colorado. I mean WOW, what happened here? And, then the story shifts focus as Jessica is pulled into a new case when a young woman turns up at her doorstep clutching a baby and threatens to kill it. If that is not bad, long time dead physicist Peter Devon seems to be able to predict upcoming natural disasters in videos that go viral. Could this have something to do with Warlock? However, he's behind bars, not could even he mastermind this...?

This book is great, really really great. I love everything from the opening to the mystery of the dead physicist professor to the town that disappeared. And, Damian, Jessica oh so secret "boyfriend", who is wanted by the FBI, but is always there when Jessica needs him (even if she always alert FBI about it). Jessica Blackwood has become a favorite character of mine and this book is so engrossing. 

I really, really hope there will be more books in this series!

#BookReview Name of the Devil by Andrew Mayne @AndrewMayne @harpercollins

Name of the Devil by Andrew Mayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In this electrifying sequel to the crowd-pleasing thriller Angel Killer,magician-turned-FBI agent Jessica Blackwood must once again draw on her past to go up against a brutal murderer desperate for revenge at any price

After playing a pivotal role in the capture of the Warlock, a seemingly supernatural serial killer—and saving the FBI’s reputation in the process—agent Jessica Blackwood can no longer ignore the world she left behind. Formerly a prodigy in a family dynasty of illusionists, her talent and experience endow her with a unique understanding of the power and potential of deception, as well as a knack for knowing when things are not always as they appear to be.

When a church congregation vanishes under mysterious circumstances in rural Appalachia, the bizarre trail of carnage indicates the Devil’s hand at work. But Satan can’t be the suspect, so FBI consultant Dr. Ailes and Jessica’s boss on the Warlock case, Agent Knoll, turn to the ace up their sleeve: Jessica. She’s convinced that an old cassette tape holds the key to the mystery, and unraveling the recorded events reveals a troubling act with far-reaching implications. The evil at work is human, and Jessica must follow the trail from West Virginia to Mexico, Miami, and even the hallowed halls of the Vatican.

Can she stop a cold-blooded killer obsessed by a mortal sin—or will she become the next target in a twisted, diabolical game of hunter and prey…?

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Name of the Devil is the sequel to Angel Killer (that I haven't read yet). Starting with book two is not the best perhaps, but I'm used to reading out of order and this one can easily be read without you having read the first book. Although if you are anything like me will you be dying to read the first book after you finished this book. I was, but I read book three instead, and now as I'm writing this review I'm reminded that I still have one book left to read woohoo!

I found Name of the Devil to be an engrossing story about some brutal murders that seem to be the devil's work, and then more people die in more mysterious ways. Thankfully FBI has agent Jessica Blackwood ex-magician to work the case and she is soon hot on the trail of the suspect. Which would go easier if her boss was more on her side and not working against her.

This book is great. I found the storyline to my liking and I adored Jessica Blackwood and I especially liked that she comes from a family of illusionists (with secrets) and that she has a "weird" relationship with a man wanted by the FBI. Just the extra ingredients in this story to make me even more intrigued.