COLD SILENCE

A computer security expert with a troubling past works with an FBI hostage rescue team to find an elusive, sadistic killer in this novel.

Yael Brooks has relocated to Houston, where she works in a satellite office for a security firm run by Alex Parker. Her top-flight computer skills are needed by the FBI in the hunt for Evi1Geni-us, a twisted murderer. He has kidnapped, tortured, and is now killing his hostage, Anya Baker, “a brilliant young chemist.” Yael watches the horrific online broadcast along with colleagues and FBI agent Shane Livingstone. The team has managed to track down the location of the crime, but Yael and Shane watch in shock as they figure out the perpetrator has booby-trapped the place. A bomb detonates when the FBI rescue team enters the site. The serial killer has already fled the scene, leading to the realization that the livestream was from a recording; Baker is already dead; and the murderer could be anywhere. As Shane reels from the loss of a colleague, Yael learns that Evi1Geni-us has kidnapped another woman. His sickening livestream broadcasts have generated a fortune for him in crypto, and Yael starts thinking of ways to connect the dots. While she and Shane grow closer personally and professionally, a dark secret from Yael’s past may ruin everything while providing the key to cracking the case. Anderson’s charged cyberthriller is packed with explosive elements that deftly propel the story forward. The action scenes pulse with the necessary tension as more personal elements are slowly added to this series opener. Yael is a convincing protagonist, a hard-nosed hacker who doesn’t give too much away but is haunted by her past and what that means for the case. Shane and Yael, both dynamic investigators, are dealing with trauma and loss. Their relationship, playing out against the backdrop of the hunt for the serial killer, is electrifying in its own right.

A heady, tech-infused thriller with an exciting murder investigation and a steamy relationship.