Labyrinth by Catherine Coulter

Labyrinth (FBI Thriller #23)Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: FBI Thriller #23
Publication Date: 7/30/19
Number of Pages: 512

Another exciting, non-stop, action-packed adventure! As always, there are two different cases to solve – and I can’t decide which one I thought was better, because they were both great. Yes, we have another winner to add to this impressive series.

One case involves treason – Oh! My! As Sherlock is driving toward the gym to meet Savich, her car is t-boned by a black SUV. Her car is sent into a spin where she strikes several other cars – and a man – before it finally comes to rest against a fire hydrant. Sherlock is rushed to the hospital where her most serious injury is head trauma – and – she has amnesia. Can you imagine how terrifying it would be to awaken and have no idea who you were and not remember any of the people around you – even your own husband and son?

As Savich and his team review all of the video taken of the accident, they pick up on something strange. The man Sherlock hit is missing, it appears that he was running from someone and the woman who hit Sherlock was watching the man who was hit. Coincidence after coincidence just pique Savich’s interest and before long they are on the trail of a traitor and espionage at the highest levels of the CIA.

The other case involves the vacationing Agent Griffin Hammersmith. His last case was a long and tough one and Savich had insisted he take a few days off. Griffin decided to visit a good friend in Gaffer’s Ridge, Virginia and had a quiet peaceful couple of days. As he was walking one afternoon, there was a call for help – and then again. When he finally locates the origins, he bursts through the door and sees a man pointing a gun at a woman. Griffin kicks the gun out of the man’s hand while the woman hits the man on the head with a piece of pipe. The woman, Dr. Carson DeSilva, and Griffin soon find that they have a lot in common, but before they can explore that, they have to deal with a Sheriff who is also the uncle of the man with the gun. The whole town is owned by the man and his family, so justice won’t be coming easily. Was that man responsible for the kidnapping and perhaps murder of three teenage girls? The investigation will be very difficult with the sheriff and his family impeding them at every turn.

This author always spins a very suspenseful tale that is intriguing, unique and keeps you wondering where it is going next. I love all of the characters in the series and look forward to visiting with them again in each new book. I think we might have a new addition to the mix with Dr. DeSilva as the love interest of Griffin.

All-in-all this is a great read and I highly recommend it – and the other books in the series as well.

Paradox by Catherine Coulter

Paradox (FBI Thriller #22)Paradox by Catherine Coulter

Barbara’s Rating: ** 4.5 of 5 suspenseful stars **

Series: FBI Thriller #22
Publication Date: 7/31/18

Another pulse-pounding, non-stop action addition to the FBI Thriller series. This time it is very, very personal to Savich and Sherlock. In the early hours of the morning, Sherlock is awakened when she hears a series of almost inaudible chirps coming from their home alarm. That means that their home alarm isn’t active and being smart, savvy FBI agents, they have a plan for that. Savich heads downstairs to investigate and Sherlock heads to the nursery. The sight Sherlock sees knocks the breath from her. Someone is standing over her sleeping son and he has a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. After a bit of verbal and physical altercation, the culprit escapes through the cut screen in the window. Were they going to kidnap Sean for a ransom or was it even more sinister because someone wanted revenge against Savich or Sherlock?

Thus begins the first of the four mysteries that will be solved. I love that there isn’t just one case per book – just as in real life, the agents have more than one case to solve at a time. I also love the characters. They are all well-written and relatable. In addition to the continuing characters of Savich and Sherlock, we meet FBI agent Sala Porto who is both a victim and an investigator and Willicott, Maryland’s Police Chief Ty Christie.

Ty gets up very early each morning to have a cup of the sludge-thick Turkish coffee she loves. As she walks onto her back deck she sees a small rowboat out on foggy Lake Massey. There are two figures in the boat, but she can’t determine if they are male or female or even make out anything recognizable about them. Then, to her astonishment, one swings the boat oar at the other and then pushes the body off the boat and into the lake. Ty immediately calls in her deputies and then gets into her own boat and heads out to see if she can rescue the victim. There isn’t a body there! Was the body already weighted before they were struck and dumped into the water? Ty then calls in the local who drags the lake to search for the body. They are all shocked when they not only find the body but bones from a number of other skeletons. Somebody has been using the lake as a body dumping ground for a very long time. Does Willicott have a serial killer in its midst?

Are all of the cases interrelated? The investigations intertwine and separate and intertwine and separate. That is just to say that there are many, many unexpected twists and turns.

I do have to say that I miss seeing Savich’s ‘visions’ playing a part in the case and I also missed MAX even though he was featured just a bit.

It was a great read and I hope you’ll love it as much as I did.

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