John McMahon - Head Cases

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?

Comment: I follow a site where sometimes I check some book recommendations, especially if the recommendations are grouped by theme. I saw this being praised as being a story where we could see the cleverness of a team investigating a crime, so I was sold on it!

In this story we meet Gardner Camden, a FBI agent who, with his team, is investigating a killer who murdered another killer. As the team connects the dots, they realize that killer very likely had already murdered a different killer and it seems he is some sort of vigilante. With the FBI resources, investigating things and physically being in many places at once is a lot easier, but it's the agents' cleverness and skills, the same ones which label them as head cases by their fellow agents, that will be the way to solve the crimes. However, the killer seems to be in a rush, is there a way for the team to catch him before he kills innocents on his way?

This is the first time I try something by this author and if not for the reference on the site, I probably would not have this book in my radar, since thrillers are not usually my preferable genre. Still, I was surprised by the economy of the story, there are no unnecessary distractions and if there is a negative aspect for me, is how some things are made to seem easy and/or quick, like how easy it seems to be for these agents too travel by plane anywhere!

The FBI team, PAR (Patterns and Recognition) seems to include four of five elements who have unique skills in how they process information and details and they work, mostly with "cold" cases where a lot happened and or the case stagnated or reached a point others cannot see those patterns anymore. At least, this is my vision of things.

Of course, the other side of this is that the majority of the agents sees this team as a group of "head cases" because of their skills and how that affects their interactions with others (I have the impression Gardner is on the spectrum of autism although that word/description is never mentioned) but also because all of them are a team due to the fact they've committed some kind of career mistake and were relegated to this team, which is not truly appreciated in the FBI ranks.

The story is centered on the plot and how they reach certain conclusions, but it is also obvious the focus is on Gardner as a character and, at some point, the killer seems to establish a seek and hide game with him as the plot develops. Through little clues and situations, we also learn who the other team members are and what led them to the place where they are now but Gardner is definitely the main character. We also see him with his daughter and how he came to be in the position he is at, which to me was a great way to get a glimpse of him without having him saying things or we knowing from others what he is doing or did before. In this regards, the author wrote very cleverly.

As for the plot, how can I explain without spoilers, but let is be said the killer aiming for other bad guys is a great device, but this doesn't mean this killer is really convinced he is doing something good, his intentions are actually not that naive. After watching movies and reading similar books, I cannot say this plot is much better or much worse than all of those, but it was always intriguing, fast paced (with all those plane travels even more so!) and something was always being shared/explained/added. I liked the presentation style here, and will read the next book at some point, it will be released next year.

The case being investigated is solved at the end and while this isn't the type of book that lives up to shock the reader with a surprising twist, it does have enough clues and hints to please those who like puzzles just like the characters do. I confess I did not see the importance of some things when I should... but it was as rewarding to see how everything is connected at the end. I certainly recommend this book to anyone who likes the genre.

Grade: 8/10