The Darker Side

August 4, 2008
Full of horrific violence, this solid third thriller to feature scarred FBI agent Smoky Barrett (after The Face of Death
) shows that McFadyen knows how to shock. When the FBI director calls Smoky to Washington, D.C., to inspect the body of a beautiful young woman stabbed to death aboard an airplane, Smoky can’t figure out why she’s been assigned a case so far outside her L.A. jurisdiction. But when Smoky learns that not only was the victim, Lisa Reid, the child of a powerful Democratic senator but also that “she” was a pre-op transsexual, Smoky realizes that this is more than a bizarre homicide. Smoky and her team soon get on the trail of the man they dub “the Preacher,” a sin collector who murders people to obtain their darkest secrets. Harboring secrets of her own, Smoky must stay one step ahead of the killer if she’s to bring him down. The forays into the victims’ minds to expose their “secrets” are unnecessary, but the formidable Smoky makes up for the occasional plot tangent.

October 15, 2008
After a prominent senator's daughter is found dead on a plane, FBI special agent Smoky Barrett and her team are called in to investigate. Soon, they discover this is the work of an overzealous vigilante serial killer who calls himself the Preacherhe collects confessions and then kills the confessors. He kills those he feels are not truly repentant or who have not fully confessed their sins. Smoky is a clever heroine, literally and figuratively scarred from a run-in with a killer from an earlier case. She juggles healing herself from her painful past and finding those who are hurting others in this follow-up to "Shadow Man" and "The Face of Death". While McFadyen can periodically get bogged down in Smoky's emotions, he does a good job of juxtaposing her home and work lives. This gritty novel is a fun and fast read for thriller fans; recommended for public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 6/1/08.]Elizabeth Cornelius, Trevor Day Sch., New York

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2008
The third timethat is, the third Smoky-Barrett-tracking-a-serial-killer novelmay well be the charm. This time the diminutive Barrett and her team of manhunters are searching for a brilliant religious zealot who is explaining his killingsand his beliefson viral video Web sites. Because one of the killers featured victims is the transgender son of a very prominent congressman and potential presidential candidate, Smoky finds herself under the additional scrutiny of the director of the FBI, the president, and possibly even the pope. McFadyen has worked every angle and blended several subgenres with tremendous assurance. The killer, who calls himself The Preacher, makes some fascinating arguments about truth, sin, and the path to absolution. The police-procedural elements of the story seem knowing. The tension builds with each page. Continuing characters in the series continue to grow in complexity, especially Smoky, who must confront whether she is ready to love again after losing her husband and daughter to another serial killer. And, above all, McFadyen is a supremely gifted storyteller. The Darker Side is an utterly compelling thriller.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)