Description
"Explosive." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Loaded with suspense." -- Library Journal "Move over, Hannibal Lecter." -- Scottish Daily Record "A first-rate thriller." -- Boston Globe From Publishers Weekly Readers fearing that recently retired FBI Agent E.L. Pender ( The Girls He Adored ; Fear Itself ) would devote himself to a life of leisure on a sandy beach can breathe a sigh of relief: his serial killer hunter skills are as sharp as ever. Pender does head for a tropical isle, though-the fictional St. Luke in the U.S. Virgin Islands-when old pal Julian Coffee, the chief of police, invites him to help hunt down a sadistic killer whose signature is severing the right hand of his many victims. The identity of the killer, or in this case killers, is no secret to the reader: kinky anthropologist spouses Phil and Emily Epps are shown early on murdering St. Luke resident Andy Arena after a "sadomasochistic tango." The Epps believe that sucking in a dying person's last breath will make them all-powerful, a ritual learned on one of their field expeditions. Drawn into the Epps's cabal is narcissistic Lewis Apgard, scion of one of the island's founding families. Lewis needs to have his wife, Hokey, killed so he can move forward with a land scheme that will net him big money, and fortunately for him, the Epps are glad to help him out. Meanwhile, Pender, "bald and homely as a boiled potato," finds love with a beautiful local lady who has a serious law enforcement problem in her past. Nasaw is such a clever writer that it's hard not to root for all his quirky characters, including the Epps, though we're constantly reminded that the deadly duo is bad, bad, bad. Even so, Nasaw is able to whip up plenty of suspense as Apgard and the Epps take Pender prisoner, grab a child hostage and make one last bid for freedom. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From Booklist The third E. L. Pender novel finds the retired FBI special agent hot (literally) on the trail of a serial killer who turns out to be far more scary and far more brilliant than our hero could possibly have imagined. Someone is murdering people in the U.S. Virgin Islands, killing them and cutting off their right hands, and only Pender (we hope) can solve the mystery. Writing with remarkable attention to detail, Nasaw grounds his story in the particulars of place and character, vividly evoking the overweight, disheveled Pender forced to trudge about in the sweltering tropical heat. The villain of the piece--it would be a crime to get any more specific--is original and weird enough to fit nicely into a novel by Thomas Harris (to whom Nasaw often has been compared). Pender himself, an imaginative variation on the Columbo-like rumpled detective, is a crafty and inventive sleuth, and it's always fun to watch him work. David Pitt Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Jonathan Nasaw is the acclaimed author of Fear Itself and The Girls He Adored, both Literary Guild Selections. He lives in Pacific Grove, California. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Read more
Features & Highlights
- The brilliant author of
- Fear Itself
- pulls readers into an intricate web of ritual killings orchestrated by an evil pair of murderers who always manage to be one step ahead of the law.
- Former FBI Special Agent E.L. Pender may be retired, but he jumps at the chance to help solve a particularly gruesome series of crimes in the U.S. Virgin Islands. This is no ordinary case, seeing as the right hand on each body in the string of murders is missing. The police want to keep the existence of a serial killer under wraps; they hope to solve the crime before a stampede sets in. Meanwhile, Pender is convinced the killer must be the husband of the last victim and sets out to capture him -- but he's only partly right. The husband is connected to the case, but the real murderers are a cunning husband-and-wife team of archeologists who believe that if they breathe in their victim's last breath they will live forever. Never before has Pender come up against such savvy, diabolical opponents. From one trail of dead ends to another, readers will feel Pender's fever to prevent more murders from occurring...and his sheer panic when he can't.
- Twenty-Seven Bones
- is that most quintessential of thrilling reads, providing a visceral experience of chills and excitement on every page.
