Under Cover of Darkness

By James Grippando
HarperCollins $25.00  
ISBN 0-06-019240-2
 

After a wedding day fiasco, Seattle FBI agent Andie Henning is ready for an assignment - any assignment. The one she's given is a doozy, a real career-maker. Or career-killer.

A possible serial murderer appears to have claimed three lives. The first two are males so similar as to be twins. The third is a woman, strangled and displayed with the same MO. 
 Andie is not an experienced profiler, but she'll be working with one, the nearly burned out Victoria Santos. Andie's rookie "bookend" theory makes the papers, creating tension between them. The next victim may well be a woman, because the third victim resembles the missing wife of power attorney Gus Wheatley, and the killer seems to target people (all strangers) in pairs.

Gus has misplaced his wife. After years of a loveless marriage, the distracted head of a huge and powerful law firm is shocked to learn that she did not pick up their young daughter from tumbling class. In fact, Beth Wheatley has disappeared, and it doesn't take long for everyone involved to realize that Beth exactly fits the description of the third victim. Will Beth Wheatley be next?

A phone call which could only have come from Beth forces Gus to admit the possibility that she may be an accomplice. Victim or accomplice? This becomes the theme of James Grippando's new and very competent novel, along with exploring the definition of spouse abuse - for Gus has only ignored his wife, but everyone believes him to have been physically abusive. Add to this the fact that he is suddenly thrust into the uncomfortable role of both father and mother, Gus's life and routine are altered forever. And the emotions swirling around him are as realistically heart-wrenching as a missing mom is to his daughter.  

After solid reviews for his previous thrillers, THE ABDUCTION and FOUND MONEY, ex-trial lawyer Grippando enters John Sandford territory with this yarn in which an FBI agent faces her first undercover mission, a father faces what is really his first true fatherhood, and Seattle faces yet another serial killer. 

Though it lacks the intensity and violence of a John Sandford novel, UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS still packs a punch as it examines themes recognizable from your evening news, especially with its references to Waco and similar situations. It's a gripping tale that crests with a surprise twist and a satisfying climax.
 

Note: A version of this review was previously published in BookPage. This version appears here by permission of ProMotion, Inc.