Robert Daniels (2)

The second installment in Robert Daniels' Sturgis and Kale series, Wake the Devil is another fast-paced and perplexing mystery that is full of shocking twists and turns.

Atlanta Police Detective Beth Sturgis and retired FBI agent Jack Kale team up once again to find a hired assassin dubbed "the Sandman" after a trio of Atlanta doctors are targeted in the days leading up to their Grand Jury testimony against suspected terrorist Sergei Borov. With one of the witnesses dead, the FBI are called in to hopefully capture the Sandman before he murders the two remaining witnesses. Working alongside Beth's partner, Dan Pappas, newly promoted FBI Deputy Director Janet Newton and Special Agent Todd Milner, Beth and Jack manage to foil several of the Sandman's plots to kill the doctors but he still manages to elude capture time and again. With the body count quickly rising, Beth makes some impulsive decisions that endanger her life while Jack continues to battle the demons that led to his early retirement from the FBI. Under intense pressure from Attorney General Carmine Donofrio, Jack and Beth are in a race against time as they try to catch the Sandman before he strikes again.

Jack is a brilliant investigator with a degree in psychology who has an uncanny ability to take seemingly innocuous details and piece together a perpetrator's next move. In this current case, there is very little information to go on despite the Sandman's prolific career but Jack closely studies the Sandman's previous crimes in hopes of anticipating his next move. While he is sometimes able to accurately predict what he will most likely do next and prevent him from killing the witnesses, Jack remains frustrated by their inability to capture the coldhearted killer. With the Grand Jury date looming and a slightly uncooperative witness to protect, Jack's investigation is hindered by his anxiety attacks and concern for Beth's safety.

With seven months of experience under her belt and some specialized training from Jack, Beth has turned into a formidable detective. She is still a trifle impetuous but with so much at stake, it is very difficult to fault her for her sometimes iffy decisions. Coming face to face with the Sandman on two separate occasions, Beth is perplexed that he let her escape unscathed. Information she and Jack uncover about his possible identity provides a plausible reason for his seemingly inexplicable decision to let her live and they also begin to predict some of his future plans for attack. Growing increasingly worried for the witnesses' safety, Beth takes unnecessary risks in hopes they will catch the Sandman before he can carry out his vicious plot to silence them.

The Sandman is a clever strategist who goes to extreme lengths in order to carry out the assassinations he has been hired to perform. With seemingly endless resources at his fingertips, he has successfully carried out numerous jobs and avoided capture for several years. Several agencies have compiled very little information about the hired killer but with fresh eyes looking at his previous cases and the new evidence from the current investigation, authorities are close to identifying him. Will he manage to carry out his latest hits and escape before Jack and Beth discover the truth?

Wake the Devil is a top-notch police procedural that has a dizzying array of nefarious schemes that keep the storyline moving at a brisk pace. Beth and Jack are more than capable of outmaneuvering their devious foe but will interagency squabbling distract them from the unraveling the various threads of their latest mystery before it is too late? Robert Daniels pits the crime fighting duo against a seemingly unstoppable assassin who is more than willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. Incredibly exciting plot twists and shocking revelations bring the novel to a dynamite conclusion that will stun readers and leave them eagerly awaiting the next installment in the Sturgis and Kale series.… (plus d'informations)

4.5 stars.
Robert Daniels' debut mystery Once Shadows Fall is a riveting psychological thriller about a series of copycat murders. The original killer is safely locked away in a mental facility so when Detective Beth Sturgis notices similarities in a current case, she contacts the agent who worked the original case, now retired FBI profiler Jack Kale. Despite his reluctance to assist her, Beth gently coerces Jack into lending his considerable expertise to the investigation.

New to the robbery-homicide division, Beth is assigned as the lead detective to the grisly murder. A little out of her depth, she is hoping Jack's insight into the mind of serial killer Dr. Howard Pell aka Scarecrow will help her capture the copycat killer. After taking a quick look at Kale's FBI folder, she is rather confused about the series of events that led to his retirement, but this does not stop her from tracking him down. He offers invaluable insight that leads to overlooked evidence at the crime scene, but when she returns to ask him to take a look at what they uncovered, he immediately shuts her down. After a little underhandedly maneuvering by Beth, Jack eventually joins the investigation as a consultant. Jack and Beth, along with the other Atlanta PD detectives, remain one step behind the diabolical killer as they are in a race against time to locate his next victims before it is too late.

Although Beth is extremely intelligent, her inexperience shows as she begins her investigation. She is a determined and tenacious detective but in her eagerness to prove herself, she makes a few strategic errors. Bold with a hint of fearlessness, she interviews Pell with ease and while he does not reveal new information, Beth picks up on a few clues that take the investigation in a rather unexpected direction. After making a precipitous decision about the wrong person, she makes every effort to ensure her facts are correct before bringing new theories to the rest of the team. In doing so, Beth unwittingly places herself in danger but she remains cool under pressure and refuses to give up on getting herself out of what appears to be a hopeless situation.

Jack is a brilliant profiler with an uncanny knack for putting the most miniscule clues into the proper context which leads to some fairly astute predictions of the killer's next move. But the investigation of Pell's crimes years earlier left a horrific mark on him and Jack has only just begun to put those events behind him. He still continues to suffer from PTSD and although his anxiety is much improved, he remains plagued by nightmares and panic attacks. His involvement with the current case brings his unresolved issues to the surface and his new co-workers cannot help but worry that Jack will become a liability to the current investigation.

The murders are macabre and each new victim is subjected to horrific torture. With no clear motive for the crimes and very little evidence, the police have no suspect but it soon becomes painstakingly clear that Pell is somehow involved with the deaths. Trying to find the connection takes valuable time that is nearly impossible to spare, but with dogged determination, the investigators meticulously follow all leads until they discover the killer's identity.

Once Shadows Fall is a fiendishly clever police procedural with an intriguing storyline. Although there are a few similarities to other novels in the genre, Robert Daniels does a fantastic job of keeping the plot fresh and unique with unexpected twists, turns and revelations. The novel thunders to a pulse pounding and satisfying conclusion that will leave readers hoping Once Shadows Fall is the first of many mysteries starring Jack Kale and Beth Sturgis.… (plus d'informations)