More than meets the eye

Bestseller Johansen and son's pulse-pounding ninth Kendra Michaels thriller (after 2021's Blink of an Eye) opens with FBI agents and other law enforcement officers escorting serial killer James Michael Barrett, who has taken a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, to where he buried his first victim two years earlier in a remote area east of San Diego, Calif. As two officials begin to dig, a bomb goes off, killing Barrett and others. The San Diego FBI reluctantly allows consultant Kendra Michaels to assist in its investigation, as she's eager to help after learning that an FBI friend of hers was seriously injured in the blast. With help from Adam Lynch, a former FBI agent now working in black ops, Kendra discovers that Barrett was likely taking orders from some unknown person. Kendra and Lynch come to believe that this person is still out there as the body count rises, along with the suspense. The pair must draw on their entire arsenal of skills to prevent more deaths and expose the bomber. Fans and newcomers alike will be enthralled. Agents: Andrea Cirillo and Rebecca Scherer, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Feb.)

A shocking discovery at the burial site of a serial killer's first victim sets Kendra Michaels on the track of another serial killer. Facing certain conviction for murder, James Michael Barrett agrees to lead the authorities to the spot where he buried Dayna Voyles two years ago in order to avoid the death penalty. As it turns out, her body's not the only thing in the grave he dug. When the dust clears, Kendra, a once-blind music therapist who frequently consults with the FBI, is convinced that Barrett had an accomplice who buried that additional item in Dayna's grave too recently for Barrett to have done it himself. According to Jackie Gabert, Barrett's smart, ruthless fiancee, this accomplice may have been an Alpha who was pulling the strings from the beginning. A search of Barrett's cell in the McArthur Detention Center reveals a clue that identifies the next victim of Barrett, and presumably the Alpha, as Tricia Walton, a champion swimmer at UC San Diego determined to qualify for the Olympics. Kendra is working with Michael Griffin, the San Diego FBI chief who doesn't like her much; Adam Lynch, the Department of Justice troubleshooter who likes her to pieces; and Olivia Moore, her blind best friend who runs the online platform Outasite; as Lynch announces: "All we have to do is figure out who the Alpha is, and a few other small items like when, where, and how." The torrid pace of the cat-and-mouse game is sent into hyperdrive by the suggestion that the Alpha may well be an FBI agent. A model nail-biter whose only misstep is killing off its most interesting character early on. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.