Dec. 13, 2019: 'The Fix' by David Baldacci

Shadonna has chosen her book for Dec. 13: "The Fix" by David Baldacci. We are continuing with the FBI theme! Here's a description from Amazon.com:

Amos Decker witnesses a murder just outside FBI headquarters. A man shoots a woman execution-style on a crowded sidewalk, then turns the gun on himself. Even with Decker's extraordinary powers of observation and deduction, the killing is baffling. Decker and his team can find absolutely no connection between the shooter -- a family man with a successful consulting business -- and his victim, a schoolteacher. 

Nor is there a hint of any possible motive for the attack. Enter Harper Brown. An agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency, she orders Decker to back off the case. The murder is part of an open DIA investigation, one so classified that Decker and his team aren't cleared for it. But they learn that the DIA believes solving the murder is now a matter of urgent national security. 

Critical information may have been leaked to a hostile government -- or worse, an international terrorist group -- and an attack may be imminent. Decker's never been one to follow the rules, especially with the stakes so high. Forced into an uneasy alliance with Agent Brown, Decker remains laser focused on only one goal: solving the case before it's too late.

And some reviews:

"A compelling puzzler...Baldacci is a truly gifted storyteller, and this novel is a perfect "fix" for the thriller aficionado." - Associated Press

"The set-up for THE FIX is one of the best this master of the thriller has ever come up with, and there is no letdown as Amos and his associates dig into an increasingly bizarre case ...[Baldacci's] plotting is more masterful than ever, and THE FIX is nothing less than terrific from start to finish." - Connecticut News

Nov. 1, 2019, Book: 'Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit' by John E. Douglas

I'm not sure if you've watched the series. Well, there's also a book. Sam has selected "Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit" a the Nov. 1, 2019, book.

From Amazon.com:

Discover the classic, behind-the-scenes chronicle of John E. Douglas’ twenty-five-year career in the FBI Investigative Support Unit, where he used psychological profiling to delve into the minds of the country’s most notorious serial killers and criminals.

In chilling detail, the legendary Mindhunter takes us behind the scenes of some of his most gruesome, fascinating, and challenging cases—and into the darkest recesses of our worst nightmares.

During his twenty-five year career with the Investigative Support Unit, Special Agent John Douglas became a legendary figure in law enforcement, pursuing some of the most notorious and sadistic serial killers of our time: the man who hunted prostitutes for sport in the woods of Alaska, the Atlanta child murderer, and Seattle's Green River killer, the case that nearly cost Douglas his life.

Sept. 20, 2019: 'Death of a Rainmaker' by Laurie Loewenstein

April is hosting and the book she selected is "Death of a Rainmaker" by Laurie Loewenstein. A summary from Amazon.com:

"The murder investigation allows Loewenstein to probe into the lives of proud people who would never expose their troubles to strangers. People like John Hodge, the town's most respected lawyer, who knocks his wife around, and kindhearted Etha Jennings, who surreptitiously delivers home-cooked meals to the hobo camp outside town because one of the young Civilian Conservation Corps workers reminds her of her dead son. Loewenstein's sensitive treatment of these dark days in the Dust Bowl era offers little humor but a whole lot of compassion."

Some reviews:

"This striking historical mystery...is brooding and gritty and graced with authenticity."
--NPR, A Best Book of 2018

"The Depression and a 240-day-long dry spell drive the desperate townspeople of Vermillion, OK, to hire a rainmaker, but he's murdered, leaving sheriff Temple Jennings to investigate. Loewenstein's terrific historical mystery wears its history lightly and its humanity beautifully. The first in a series, it's a realistic, expertly drawn novel with characters you'll come to love."
--Library Journal, A Best Book of 2018