4 Stars
This was an exhilarating ride and was a lot of fun to follow (it was basically like listening to a super long criminal minds/Mindhunter episode which is right up my alley)! I really enjoyed this read that featured fun, interesting characters and a mystery that kept me guessing until the end. I loved getting to experience how Gardener's mind worked (it's obvious he's neurodivergent) and how he picked up on things that I would've missed to solve the mystery.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

This was a great, fast-paced thriller perfect for fans of Criminal Minds. It kept me engaged the whole way through, and the auxiliary characters were distinct and enjoyable.

This was my first book by John McMahon and I really enjoyed it. Gardner Camden is a uniquely gifted FBI agent working on the Patterns and Recognition team to solve cold cases. He's an expert at solving puzzles and riddles and cracking codes (and he's most likely on the autism spectrum). Each of the PAR members brings a special skill to the team - math, shooting and weapons, and computer analytics. The team is known as the "Head Cases" both for their incredible intellectual abilities but also because people think they're weird. There's a vigilante out there killing serial killers - one of whom was presumed dead ten years ago in a case Gardner closed. The new murderer is leaving clues behind for Gardner and the PAR team. Will Gardner be able to crack this case before others are murdered? Will the PAR team be able to avoid being disbanded by proving their worth? Thanks to #netgalley and #minotaurbooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't quite tell if this book was taking itself seriously or not. If it was meant to be funny, the jokes didn't quite hit for me. I think it would have benefited the book to have a sensitivity reader send notes. I'm sure libraries will purchase this title if it is being turned into a TV series, but this book just wasn't for me.

A groups of brilliant misfit FBI agents hunting a serial killer?! Sign me up! This case has the agents running around the country and even stopping by my favorite book store in Houston! What a wild ride with a satisfying ending. Can’t wait to read more from this author! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

An interesting story about a quirky FBI team. I would recommend it to patrons. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you to John McMahon, St. Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books, and Net Galley for this arc of Head Cases, out January 28, 2025!

📜Quick Summary: Gardener Camden has a way with puzzles and riddles, but not with people; social scenes are not his thing. Gardener and his team of 5 on the FBI unit are working on solving cold cases. As previous serial killers who were presumed dead start actually showing up murdered ten years later, his team has quite the work ahead of them. Can they start solving these cold cases before more murders take place? Can they follow the clues and bread crumbs left behind to stop this vigilante? The first thrilling novel in what will become an awesome Criminal Minds like series!

❣️Initial Feels: I wish I didn’t have any responsibilities so I can devour this in one sitting! I am loving the cast of characters and the fast pace movement of the book. I feel like I’m trying to solve it along with the PAR (Patterns and Recognition) team!

👀Trigger Warnings: serial killers, gruesome murders

🙋🏼‍♀️Moving Character: Gardner is a star of a person! I absolutely adored his character. The love he has for his mom and daughter…well, it tugged at my heart strings. The intricacies in his brain were unique, and his character continually got stronger as the pages flew by. Gardener knew he was different but used advice from his mom to help in social situations.

📖Read if you want: mystery, first in a thrilling series, Criminal Minds type of read, fast paced novel

💡Final Sentiments: I cannot wait for more in this series! What a phenomenal book! The way the backstories intertwined with the fast moving investigation, brought a lot of depth into these characters. Gardener and his soft spot for his daughter…melted my heart. Serial killers, killers who are taking out the bad guys, but also a bad guy on the inside… It had it all. When the mystery killer comes after Gardener and his family, along with his small FBI group, he knew he had to work fast. But this killer is everywhere…in more than just a couple states, and they have to work fast. Because of that, this book was fast paced, had my heart racing, and I could not put it down. I didn’t want to say good bye to the characters, but I had to know what was happening before I went to bed. The “Head Cases,” Gardner’s special team in the FBI, is surely going to have many more cases coming up.

🌟Overall Rating: 4.75 stars

This novel was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

4.25 ⭐️ for Head Cases. Head Cases is a name for the analytical brainiacs at the FBI. The main character Gardner Camden is a walking brainiac that loves solving riddles, puzzles, and codes. He is part of a department at the FBI called PAR which stands for Patterns and Recognition. There are only five people associated with this department. They are all misfit agents and get assigned with solving cold cases.

Many years previously, Gardner helped to identify a serial killer who was presumed dead. But this serial killer turns up murdered with many of the similar elements from his own kills. Then another serial killer is found dead. Someone is killing the serial killers.

This was a very engaging and captivating police procedural. It was an intriguing mystery, and the characters were interesting. It was a fast paced criminal thriller. I felt at times the sentence structure could be clearer.

All in all I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to the second book in this series. John McMahon is on the top of my list for a good crime mystery thriller read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this complimentary copy for an honest review.

Head Cases by John McMahon
Narrated by Will Damron

When a killer targets a serial killer whose case FBI Agent Gardner Camden worked years ago, Camden takes the lead on this new case for the PAR (Patterns and Recognition) team. The thing is that this new victim, a serial killer that was supposed to have died in a fire years ago, shouldn't have been alive to have been murdered. Right on the heels of this murder is another murder and it's soon clear that whoever is killing these men now has an agenda and a message and they are not going to stop his murder spree.

The PAR team is made up of a wide range of specialized experts with Camden's analytical brain and eidetic memory making him seem to be a human computer of information and brain power. But along with his super brain power comes his inability to read people and social cues easily. The fact that Camden puts great effort in making up for this lack of social graces means that he usually will remember how he "should" act and is often able to cover blunders he might otherwise make in the course of everyday life and work. Despite not being like most other people in the social arena, Camden is a devoted son and father and he will do anything to protect his mother and daughter. It is actually his mother who has instilled the desire to understand who people are under their outer demeanor as she has always urged a sense of empathy in Camden that wouldn't have come naturally.

The rest of Camden's team have specific skills to go along with their overall ability to work the cases thrown their way. Each of them have some reason to have been sent to PAR, usually as a last ditch effort to stay employed with the FBI before being shoved out the door if PAR isn't a fit for them. They get left over cases, cold cases, cases that need a new way of looking at the evidence when what has been tried so far has finally stalled and is going nowhere.

Everything is seen from Camden's POV and I really liked experiencing the story from his viewpoint. We get all kinds of information, tidbits I would have never noticed but that are a part of Camden's mind taking in every little detail and recording it. You can feel his brain working and it's very understandable to me the way he processes information. I like hanging with this man who has to work so hard at the social part of life while other parts come so much easier for him. I can relate.

I've listened to Will Damron narrate at least ten books and he can be a reason I'll pick up an audiobook. He does his usual great job here and his voice, as Camden, will be in my head for the next week. Since I have both the audiobook and ebook, I was easily able to move from audiobook in the car to the ebook in a waiting room, always a bonus on days spent at a doctor's office.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.

This book is complex and I loved it! It kept me guessing from the very beginning, and I enjoyed all of the characters. Gardner is leading a group of FBI agents who are tasked with finding a serial killer. Gardner is challenged in this role and we get to see how he evolves both at the FBI and in his personal life throughout the book. I'm excited at the possibility of a series with how this book ended.

4.25 stars!

This really made me feel like I was in the midst of a Criminal Minds episode and I absolutely loved it. There was just something so compulsively readable about this FBI case, with its puzzles and twists and turns, that I could not stop reading.

I would not recommend this for anyone that does not like police procedurals, but I think Gardner and the other members of the PAR made me so invested in the case. After finishing this book, I immediately went to my Libby app and downloaded John McMahon's other books because I really see him as a new favorite author. I hope this ends up becoming a new series because I would definitely read more about Gardner Camden and his team!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4 stars for a fast paced mystery about a FBI crime solving unit called PAR(Patterns and Recognition). PAR is brought into a case when no one else can solve it. The narrator is a man named Gardner. The unit consists of Gardner, a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. They are all quirky people, and more misfits than traditional clean cut FBI agents. But they are brilliant at solving crimes.
The case that they are assigned is one of a serial killer killing other serial killers. This killer is methodical, clever and vengeful. They do solve the case, but not before more deaths.
Warning: while there is not graphic violence in the present tense, some of the aftermath of the murders are very gruesome. One scene has them finding a refrigerator full of body parts in bags.
One quote, describing Cassie, PAR member:
"Cassie had changed intro black tights and a pink V-neck tee that bore a long chemical equation: C8H11NO2 + C10H12N2O + C43H66N12O12S2. It was was science geek shirt; the chemicals listed were commonly known as dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.
Put together, the three were the formula for love."
This is a series starter.
One minor quibble: One of the incidents takes place at Big Thicket National Preserve, administered by the NPS(National Park Service). When Gardner calls for assistance from NPS, a woman identified as a "Park Warden" comes to help. The NPS has Park Rangers not Wardens. Canada's National Parks have Wardens. The US does have Game Wardens, who enforce hunting laws.

Pub Date Jan 28 2025
Thanks to Steve Erickson, St. Martin’s Publishing Group for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.

This book is dark and twisted in all the right ways. I really enjoyed going on the hunt for a serial killer killing serial killers. The team is unique and though the rest of the worlds might see them as screw ups, they have all the right skills to truly get into the head of a seriously twisted killer. Readers will be drawn in and get lost on this incredible hunt. I can’t wait to start getting it on people’s to be read lists.
Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

"Head Cases follows an enigmatic group of FBI agents as they hunt down a murderer seeking his own justice in this electrifying - and commercial - series debut.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner 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.

When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer.

Along with Gardner, PAR consists of a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. Each of them must use every skill they have to solve the riddle of the killer's identity. But with the perpetrator somehow learning more and more about the team at PAR, can they protect themselves and their families...before it's too late?

With an enigmatic case that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and a thoroughly engaging ensemble cast, John McMahon's Head Cases is a triumph."

I mean, if she wasn't seven wouldn't it be great if Camila was the killer?

I loved this book! It would be great for fans of serial killer mysteries, Criminal Minds, or Mind Hunter. I would highly recommend to lovers of mystery / thrillers - and plan to press this into the hands of many library patrons once this releases.

I wasn't sure about this book when I started - detective with a "personality quirk" that others don't understand, in a group of agents who have messed up, profiling cold cases. It all felt a little Will Trent/Slow Horses/Criminal Minds to me. I am so glad though, that I didn't allow my initial thoughts become biases as I continued the book.

Gardner Camden is a brilliant detective, if not the most personable. After what some in the FBI consider a misguided step for justice, Camden is relegated to a team of agents who have "messed up" in someway or another who focus on cold cases. Suddenly, they are thrown into the middle of a very current case- someone is replicating murders of serial killers on the killers themselves. And all too quickly, it becomes personal for Camden, and the future of the team hangs in the balance of these new crimes being solved.

McMahon does a great job of weaving in the story of Camden's past while bringing us along on his current mission. There were a few details that left me confused, but all in all, I was engaged and kept turning pages faster and faster. And I can't wait to see what else is in store for this group of agents!

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy.

Even for books that I really enjoy, it's rare for me to be so engaged that I speed through them in an afternoon. But that was my experience with McMahon's Head Cases. Gardner Camden is a unique main character: a neurodivergent, semi-disgraced FBI agent, who turned his wife in for a financial crime, and has been relegated to the Puzzle division of the Bureau (the "Head Cases"). When a serial killer that he thought was long dead turns up actually dead, and then another, Camden must figure out who is killing serial killers without losing himself in the process. While the plot was interesting enough, it's the details that make up who Camden is that made this such an enjoyable reading experience: a blunt and socially awkward man who has a soft spot for his daughter and mother, the fact that while no one is immune from his analytical gaze (he investigates his own team) he still chooses loyalty over politics, and though he's portrayed as the least sexy man on the page there's still potentially something brewing with his younger FBI partner.

I'm looking forward to the second in the Head Cases series.

Head Cases will be published January 28, 2025

It’s like if Criminal Minds only tracked serial killers and the group were led by Spencer Reid.

I really enjoyed it. 4.5 stars! Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the E-ARC.

9/10

This is the first book in what I imagine will be a really popular suspense series.

The main character is an FBI agent named Gardner. He’s on the spectrum, Level I autism (essentially Asperger’s). He’s meticulous, not always connected to others emotions, takes things literally, and thinks of things in a very unique way.

The case he’s tackling is a serial killer killing serial killers. And the journey brings Gardner and his team to places that surprised me.

I read a fair amount of suspense novels and it’s hard to be unique anymore. Somehow John McMahon did it and he did it seemingly effortlessly. Every time I expected something cliché to happen, it went the other way.

This is a really good book. My only challenge with it, was the difficulty in the beginning to get all the names and people straight. It was very confusing for about 60 pages. But once that started clicking in, i couldn’t put the book down.

This is primed for a NY Times Best Selling book and series. Speaking of series, it would also probably make a great television show.

Well done John McMahon.

#netgalley #headcases

A quirky FBI agent, who looks at everything analytically, along with other FBI agents, each with their own special characteristics chase after a serial killer. The continuously moving action takes place in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California, but the writing is so skillful the reader never gets lost. Entertaining, worthwhile read.