Inside man

Inside man A head cases series

John McMahon, 1970-

Book - 2026

"In this sequel to McMahon's electrifying series debut, Head Cases, Gardner Camden and the PAR team return to investigate potentially connected cases. FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI's hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve. PAR's latest case involves a militia group stockpiling weapons. When their confidential informant in the case is killed, it quickly becomes clear that the militia did not kill him. As the squad looks into the evidence surrounding his murder, an unidentified man is caught on camera with their informant. This mystery man's pic...ture is connected to another case at the FBI, an unsolved series of murdered women, buried in the ground in north Florida. Could they have uncovered a serial killer? And if so, what is his connection to their C.I.? As PAR juggles an investigation into both the dead women and the militia, they enroll a new informant, only to find the case escalating in dangerous ways. How will PAR handle a case that increasingly looks like a terrorist plot? And in the serial case, with no puzzles or witnesses, and few leads, how will a group set up to decode riddles be successful?"-- Provided by publisher.

Saved in:
Place a Hold Save to List Email this
1 person waiting
1 copy ordered
Subjects
Detective and mystery fiction.
Fiction.
Novels.
Genres
Detective and mystery fiction
Fiction
Novels
Published
New York : Minotaur Books 2026.
Language
English
Main Author
John McMahon, 1970- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
pages cm
ISBN
9781250348326
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

McMahon's disappointing second outing for the FBI's oddball Patterns and Recognition Unit (after Head Cases) fails to recapture the magic of its predecessor. PAR head Gardner Camden and his partner, Joanne Harris, are on the way to the Florida home of informant Freddie Pecos, who's supposed to be aiding the FBI's investigation of militia group leader and weapons stockpiler J.P. Sandoval. In recent days, however, Pecos has gone silent. When Camden and Harris arrive, they find him dead from a gunshot. The obvious explanation that Pecos was outed as a rat is complicated by the weapons and $1 million in cash left behind, which Camden and Harris take to mean that whoever killed him was uninvolved in Sandoval's operations. After the agents evade an ambush by Sandoval's men, they return to the PAR offices, where subsequent sleuthing pins Pecos's murder on a key suspect in what appears to be an unrelated string of north Florida missing persons cases. As the pieces click into place, McMahon falls victim to genre clichés--including a few instances of sloppy policing from his supposedly competent leads--that he managed to skirt or subvert in the previous novel. The result is a ho-hum mystery that fails to distinguish itself from the pack. (Jan.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

In this follow-up to Head Cases, the FBI's PAR (Patterns and Recognition) unit, led by Gardner Camden, grapples with a case in Florida. Their investigation into a militia group stockpiling weapons is derailed when their informant is murdered, and things are further complicated when that murder leads them to what seems to be a serial killer who preys on women. Even as they scramble to find another confidential informant to track the militia and thwart what may be a terrorist plan, Gardner knows that the serial murder case is somehow connected. The PAR team works by finding patterns in human behavior, but the murders they're dealing with are seemingly random. There's no pattern to be found, though Gardner knows that's just not possible. Now they're in a race against time and the powers that be to find answers. VERDICT Fast-paced and clever, this is a tightly plotted, propulsive novel that will appeal to fans of Mick Herron and Jussi Adler-Olsen.--Jane Jorgenson

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

An elite team of eggheads tackles the murder of an FBI informant. After a lively debut in which Mad Dog, a prolific killer of serial killers, was neutralized (Head Cases, 2025), McMahon's Patterns and Recognition Unit is back and pursuing another savage supervillain under the guidance of veteran FBI bureaucrat Frank Roberts. The plot is twisty. PAR is brought in to investigate after informant Freddie Pecos is murdered. When recovered video pinpoints a suspect already linked to the murder of multiple women, the team finds itself on the trail of another serial killer. The blossoming series puts a shrewd twist on a familiar formula. There's the ragtag and diverse cast of specialists, including sniper Joanne "Shooter" Harris and eager newbie Richie Brancato, whose auspicious, mysterious past is revealed in tidbits, along with the backstories of other team members, as the mission progresses. Unlike traditional thriller writers, whose books are highlighted by chases, shootouts, and explosions, with detailed descriptions of munitions and weapons systems, McMahon focuses more on patterns and puzzles, analyzing each development in the complex probe. Analyst and team leader Gardner Camden is a peppy, wisecracking first-person narrator, folding his challenging personal story into the plot. The tale moves briskly on a cushion of rhythmic prose and nearly nonstop banter. Gardner's relationship with PAR math genius Cassie Pardo inches progressively toward an affair, but readers will have to wait for its consummation. A slick and lively thriller featuring a team you'll want to hang with. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Similar Items