Double Blind

February 15, 2018

Clutched by a murdered man, an envelope addressed to FBI/CIA hired gun Kendra Michaels contains the video of a wedding reception. Nothing special, except the groom has also been knocked off, and the victims starting to pile up all helped to convict a serial killer. So who's pulling the trigger?

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2018
No-longer-blind music therapist Kendra Michaels, who's already survived 26 attempts on her life (Look Behind You, 2017, etc.) while consulting with the FBI, gets an offer she can't refuse about a new case.Connecticut paralegal Elena Meyer was run down as she sprinted across San Diego's Fifth Street, but she'd already been fatally shot. Why would Kendra be interested in the murder of a visitor she'd never met? Because Elena was carrying an envelope addressed to Kendra containing a memory stick with a video of a wedding. Given Kendra's razor-sharp senses and keen logical prowess, it's child's play for her to establish that the wedding was that of Elizabeth and Jeffery Gelson. But it takes quite a while to figure out why Elena would have found it so urgent to share the video, which seems as innocuous as most of its ilk. When Kendra's frequent collaborator, freelance consultant Adam Lynch, takes her to visit Brock Limited, a hardball security firm Elena's law practice had been defending in what everybody insists was a routine lawsuit, Josh Blake, the Brock VP who's repeatedly tried to recruit Adam, shows a dramatically darker side. Meanwhile, Kendra has already survived her 27th murder attempt, this one by French bulldog and poisoned leash. Readers know from the beginning who killed Elena Meyer but not why her killer continues to target other members of the Gelson wedding party or why he leaves each succeeding corpse at the same spot from which he kidnaps his next victim (a creepy twist that's never satisfactorily explained). Although Kendra tosses off on-the-spot deductions as briskly as Sherlock Holmes, the emphasis is less on mystery than on the cat-and-mouse game between Kendra and the FBI, on the one hand, and the dark forces of Brock Ltd., on the other.The heroine's miraculous powers, the seemingly unstoppable villains, the perfunctory interest in character, the punchy dialogue, and the highly efficient action sequences suggest more clearly than ever that what the Johansens have been doing throughout this series is writing superhero comics without the pictures.

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May 21, 2018
At the start of bestseller Johansen and son’s satisfying sixth novel featuring FBI investigator Kendra Michaels (after 2017’s Look Behind You), Elena Meyer, a paralegal for a Connecticut law firm, is found dead just a few blocks from Kendra’s condo in San Diego, Calif. In her possession is an envelope with Kendra’s name on it. Kendra, who didn’t know the woman, has no idea why her name would have been on the envelope containing a USB memory stick with a video of a wedding reception. As Kendra and Adam Lynch, a former FBI agent turned freelancer, start looking into the connection between Elena and the video, the bride from the video goes missing. The romantic tension heats up between Kendra and Adam as the body count rises. Eventually, Kendra and her team get on the track of a complex conspiracy. Magnetic characters and a twisty, suspenseful plot ensure that readers will eagerly anticipate the next installment. Agent: Andrea Cirillo, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

May 1, 2018
As much as Kendra Michaels would like to maintain her distance from the FBI, her heightened sensory powers make her their go-to analyst in cases exceeding the agency's traditional expertise. When a body is recovered near her home and bearing an envelope marked with Kendra's name, Kendra is eager to investigate a crime that could have personal implications. The envelope contains a wedding video, and before long, several members of that happy celebration are abducted and murdered. Reluctant in the past to work with freelance agent Adam Lynch, Kendra welcomes his assistance and protection as the case's next victim is taken practically on Kendra's own doorstep. In the crosshairs is Brock, Ltd., an international private security firm of ex-military and ex-law enforcement personnel that is this close to going rogue worldwide. With Brock as a slippery and lethal adversary shielding a serial killer with a specific vendetta against Kendra, she faces new risks on both personal and professional levels in bringing the killer to justice. A worthy addition to the Johansens' Kendra Michaels series, following Look behind You (2017).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)