Thrill Kill

April 24, 2017
Bruns brings the chaotic frenzy of Mardi Gras to life in his second novel featuring New Orleans homicide detective Quentin Archer (after 2016’s Casting Bones). Spray canisters of Chill, a gas that instantly cools down bottles of wine as well as providing a quick high when inhaled, are found under the bodies of three seemingly random murder victims. The pressure is on Archer and his partner, Josh Levy, to find out what the common denominator is before another person ends up dead. The case meanders along, with false starts and a dearth of clues, until Archer calls on his small collection of friends/informers: Mike, the gregarious bartender; Alexia Chantel, a former pharmacist turned stripper; and Solange Corday, the beautiful psychic and voodoo practitioner with whom Quentin is smitten. What starts out as a search for a serial killer loops into something even bigger, more sinister, and far-reaching. Those expecting some really creepy voodoo will have to settle for a little lackluster black magic. Agent: Jill Marr, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.

October 1, 2016

Quentin Archer fled Detroit after his wife was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Archer had uncovered a criminal conspiracy involving drugs, his two brothers, and a fellow cop. Now a New Orleans homicide detective, Archer is approached by Solange Cordray, a voodoo priestess, who claims to have knowledge of a plot to kill a judge in the juvenile court system. When Judge David Lerner's body is found floating in the Mississippi and two more jurists are also murdered, Archer and Cordray team up to reveal corruption in the courts as well as the world of for-profit prisons. VERDICT As hot and steamy as a Louisiana night, this series debut hits all the right notes with the evocative Big Easy setting, colorful and memorable characters, and a smartly twisty plot. Bruns (Don't Sweat the Small Stuff; South Beach Shakedown) uses all of his considerable talents to cast a spell over readers.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2017
A New Orleans detective searches for the motive behind a puzzling series of murders, all with the same calling card left by the killer.Still adjusting to his new home in the Big Easy, police detective Quentin Archer is developing a name for himself for the intelligence with which he conducts his investigations. That includes his work on the case of a murdered judge, during which he revealed dirty police work in the department. In that same outing (Casting Bones, 2016), Quentin made a tentative connection with Solange Cordray, a voodoo practitioner who seems to have special insight into his cases. Solange is the daughter of a family of voodoo women, and she keeps the family tradition alive in order to stay connected to her mother, who's alive but uncommunicative in a facility for those with dementia. Now that Quentin is saddled with a case that's all but unsolvable, he seeks out Solange for help. He's been investigating a rash of murders the press has dubbed the Thrill Kills; each victim has been posed with a can of Chill, a spray gas. In the absence of other leads, Solange is Quentin's only hope, but he can't even get close enough to her to get her to call him by his nickname, Q, let alone press her to help him solve the case before another body is found. Fans of the series debut may be underwhelmed: Bruns provides few new details of the hero's past and even less development of his relationship with his unlikely collaborator.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 15, 2017
The Chill Thrill Kills. That's what a New Orleans newspaper calls a string of knife murders in the Big Easy. Chill is a spray can of nitroxicetylene, used to cool warm bottled beer and wine in a hurry, found next to each corpse. Why? Homicide detective Quentin Archer has to find out. He gets help from Solange Cordray, a voodoo woman he publicly scoffs at. But when she asks for a can of Chill to hold because there's energy in inanimate things, he's quick to obey. Archer's spooky scenes with her are among the best parts of the book. Another is a lengthy sequence of cops studying videos of tumultuous street scenes, attempting to find somethinganythingthat would lead them to the killer. Sounds prosaic, but Bruns manages to wring remarkable tension out of that scene. Too much time is spent on a subplot about a turf war between cocaine dealers, but thriller readers eager for a taste of something creepy will find what they want here. Go for the voodoo. And the video from that camera mounted on a stick. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)