Salem's Cipher

July 1, 2016
Circumstances force a pair of best friends to take on a dangerous quest.Salem Wiley and Isabel "Bel" Odegaard are lifelong friends despite their differences. Salem is a brilliant loner, with degrees in computer science and mathematics, who lives in Minneapolis, specializes in cryptanalysis, but is terrified of new places. Only a rigid schedule makes her feel secure. Bel is a stunning Chicago cop who's a few years older and much tougher. One night Salem gets a late-night call from Bel--there's been a bloody crime in Bel's mother Grace's Minneapolis apartment. Grace is missing, and her neighbor is dead. Meeting Bel and the police in Grace's apartment, Salem finds a wooden box that she'd made for her own mother, Vida, years ago--and Vida turns out to be missing, too. The only clue on the scene is a sliced-off finger. FBI agent Lucan Stone knows but doesn't reveal that this is just the latest in a series of murders the press has not connected because of all the hype surrounding a female presidential candidate, Minnesota senator Gina Hayes. Salem finds a coded note in her mother's box but keeps it from the police. When Salem decodes the note, it reads: "Talk: to Keller about Revenge then go home follow the trail trust no one." This initial hint sends the pair on a dangerous hunt and reveals much they didn't know about their families. Their mothers are part of a large group of women who have been fighting a powerful collective known as the Hermitage for hundreds of years. The Hermitage, who'll do anything to keep women subjugated, sets assassins on Salem's and Bel's trails and plans to kill Sen. Hayes. Salem's skills send the pair hunting all over the country. Desperate to discover the fates of their mothers, Salem and Bel must depend on luck and some newfound friends as they strive to unlock the secrets of the past and present.Fans of Lourey's mysteries featuring a librarian heroine (February Fever, 2015, etc.) will scarcely recognize this series debut. The fascinating historical information combined with a storyline ripped from the headlines will hook conspiracy theorists and action addicts alike.

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Starred review from August 1, 2016

Best friends Salem Wiley and Isabel Odegaard grew up together, but Bel has gone on to the Chicago police department and Salem remains in Minneapolis, hemmed in by her agoraphobia, after the suicide of her beloved father. Despite her condition, Salem has triumphed in the world of cryptography, which serves her well when her mother, Grace, is kidnapped along with Bel's mom, Vida. Bel and Salem are drawn into a centuries-old conspiracy to derail women's rights. On the eve of the election of the first female U.S. president, the ruthless Heritage Foundation works to identify members of the Underground, of which Grace and Vida are important participants. A secret message encrypted in an Emily Dickinson poem; codes tucked into the Beale ciphers, three texts dating back to the country's early days; and computer cryptography all combine to pack a punch in Lourey's ("Murder-by-Month" mysteries) first volume of her new "Witch Hunt" series. VERDICT Complex protagonists who overcome many obstacles take adventurous readers on a hair-raising thrill ride. Dan Brown fans will eagerly anticipate more Salem and Bel adventures down the road.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2016
Fans of Lourey's whimsical Murder-by-Month mysteries (February Fever, 2015) should be prepared for a shock. Her latest has neither quirky characters nor humorous dialogue. Instead, it's a fast-paced, sometimes brutal thriller reminiscent of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (2003). Lifelong friends, cryptoanalyst Salem Wiley and Chicago police officer Bel Odegaard are on the run, and their mothers have been kidnapped. A putty-faced, cold-blooded killer able to change his appearance at will is intent on eliminating them. He's not the only one. Unbeknownst to them, Salem and Bel have been carefully raised to be assets in the Underground. The antifemale Hermitage Foundation, dating back to Andrew Jackson, is the Underground's mortal enemy, and many of the most powerful men in the world are members. Now that it looks as though a woman might be the next president, the foundation has kicked into high gear. The secret to its defeat lies in ancient codes and secrets, and even as Salem and Bel flee for their lives, they have to find and break those codes. The first in the Witch Hunt series is a real nail-biter with a clever, timely premise.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)