I thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. This author was new to me and I was not let down. It was a great story and very well written. The characters were easy to relate to and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this to everyone!!

This was a great follow up that can also be read as a stand alone. One word of caution however, the third (final?) installment will feature the killer, PPP, from the first.

I really like the writing style and characters that this author creates. The stories, which are told from several viewpoints, build at a steady pace and are quite fascinating.

I do love the cop (Rick) working with profiler/psychiatrist (Pat). It adds a different layer to the story and really does allow you to see all the “angles”. I did say in the series first review that I was irritated by the sexual tension between the two. This installment does shed a bit of enlightenment (on his part, I felt, hers not so much). I do still feel that is a bit over the top and unnecessary to be part of every interaction between them. That’s one minor gripe in an otherwise fantastic story.

It looks like the next, with the return of PPP, will be exciting as well. I look forward to it. This really is a different type of serial killer story and a welcome addition to the genre.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Backlit PR for a copy in exchange for a review.

3 stars

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This book was just ok for me. I haven't read the first book in the series, but there was enough information in this book for me to understand what was going on and the main story line is a stand alone mystery. The book was well-written, but I didn't like the format. It's a mystery/thriller, but we find out early on who the killer is and why. The rest of the book is just reading how the detectives figure it out.

During an outing on a beautiful lake, a father and son discover the corpse of a young girl inside a cave they are exploring. The police search the cave and find the bodies of 5 more girls, all in varying stages of decomposition. The lead detective, Rick McCoy of the Major Crime Squad, is assigned to investigate. He asks for the help of criminal psychologist, Patricia Holmes, to help profile the killer because they previously worked together to catch a serial killer (which is the subject of the first book).

An annoying side story in the book was the attraction between Rick and Patricia. A lot of the book was devoted to Rick's inner turmoil about whether he should try to work on his failing marriage or have an affair with Pat. I did not care for this and felt that it really detracted from the story. Pick a lane - either write a romance novel or a mystery, but not a hybrid of the two.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stephen B. King is a good suspenseful writter that has intriguing plots to his books. I enjoyed this book and it's characters. This is a definite read for the year.

A young girl's body is found in a cave. She's fully dressed with a wreath of flowers on her chest. There is no evidence of how she died .... when she died .... or any identification.

Rick McCoy and his partner, Tyler, are sent to investigate and what they find is mind boggling. There are five more bodies found in the cave ... all young women, all dressed, all with wreaths of flowers on their chests. Again.. there is no evidence of how they died.

To complicate the search for a killer, criminal psychologist Patrica Holmes will be working on this case with Rick. There is an attraction between the two of them, although both are married. Rick has just reunited with his wife after having a short lived fling with another woman. Patricia's husband is a physician and hates the idea of his wife working in the field.

And then another school girl goes missing. How long before she dies at the hand of a madman?

This is an absorbing take on a serial killer. The 'why' takes center stage as there are chapters where the reader gets a glimpse in the mind of this murderer.

It's a well written page turning crime fiction. Although second in the series, this one can easily be read as a stand alone. There is enough information to keep the reader engaged without feeling lost. As always, I recommend starting with the first book, in order to pick up all those nuggets that make a good story a great story.

Many thanks to the author / The Wild Rose Press, Inc / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.