Hiding in Plain Sight
A true crime podcaster has many weird fans. You might say that their content caters to a certain fringe niche of society; but when the All Murder podcast receives a human face in a package of fan mail, a line in the sand must be drawn. Detective Victor Loshak and his media correspondent partner Jevon Spinks head to Colorado to assist the local authorities. No sooner than they get there Loshak works up a preliminary profile, only to find out that another package has been received. Another true crime podcaster is the recipient of a similarly gruesome package. With no other known connection between the recipients other than gender, the duo set out to identify and bring in the suspect before any more packages turn up. But the process is not easy. Even though the Denver area is well equipped with camera technology throughout the city the local authorities are only able to secure two grainy images to work from. And with the second package mailed from the Aurora area almost twenty miles away the possibility of an accomplice or a copycat cannot be ruled out. Loshak and Spinks hit the streets to try to locate the elusive psychopath, but with the locals wary to help the law enforcement officials on a good day the sight of an FBI agent sends up red flags all around. When a break finally comes, Loshak is hot on the trail, but with the killer seemingly always one step ahead will this case be his last?
Lone Wolf is the fifth in the series by author team Tim McBain, L.T. Vargus and E.M. Smith. This time the duo is called out to Colorado where a popular podcaster has received a gruesome present. When additional packages start to turn up it is clear that this is not an isolated case. But how is the killer gaining access to these people to carry out his crimes? With the demographics of the victims all over the board, the possibilities appear to be way too many. With some undercover sleuthing on Spinks’ part the net narrows and the killer comes into focus. I loved the section of the book where Spinks goes “undercover” posing as a homeless man dubbed Ol’ J. Watching him transform was intriguing and seeing him maintain character as he navigated the world of the overlooked and forgotten was probably worth an entire story itself. I really hope that there is a repeat of Ol’ J in future books, or if not this persona maybe more undercover work from our resident media correspondent. As with all books in this series the crimes are gruesome and memorable but the narrative is structured in such a way that they can be read in any order.
For long time fans of the series and the characters, Lone Wolf is sure to have you binge reading to the final sentence. If you are new to this series or these authors, but are a fan of police procedurals with a bad guy that is nightmare inducing I recommend not only Lone Wolf but any of the books in the Victor Loshak series.
Full disclosure – I was provided an advanced reader’s copy of this book by the authors but have voluntarily provided a review. All opinions are my own.
Jennly Reads 