Breakneck

November 17, 2008
Det. Kitt Lundgren and her partner, Mary Catherine Riggio, of the Rockford, Ill., Violent Crimes Bureau pursue a serial killer ripped from Internet urban legend in this unconvincing thriller from bestseller Spindler (Copycat
). When Riggio’s too-good-to-be-true fiancé is caught in the line of fire, the shooting at first appears to be unrelated to the murder spree of Breakneck, who targets computer-savvy 20-somethings. Of course, the connection is immediately obvious to readers, if not the veteran staff of the VCB. Lundgren’s preoccupied with mending her broken marriage while ambling toward career burnout, and Riggio doesn’t hesitate to throw out the procedural rulebook, eschewing her police training in a desperate search for the truth. Spindler strays from her comfort zone in tackling the mysterious world of cyber crime. Casting disaffected youth as criminal masterminds doesn’t ring true, while descriptions of technology and its applications are painstakingly overexplained.

December 15, 2008
Rockford, Illinois, homicide detective Mary Catherine Riggio is having a rotten time. Not long after her boyfriend proposes marriage, hes murdered. Soon after that, MCs cousin Tommy is also killed. And then theres the mysterious death of a young computer whiz, whose killer apparently made off with his computer after breaking his neck. Can MC and her partner, Kitt Lundgren, solve the kids murder, and can MC find out whos responsible for the deaths of her cousin and fianc'? Readers of this follow-up to 2006s Copycat will likely see the plot twists and surprising revelations coming long before the characters do, but thats OK. The two leads are a likable pair, each with her own personal foibles, and the dramatic element of MCs unexpected loss of her fianc' gives the novel an emotional layer that will keep readers interested, even if the story itself is rather predictable.This solid-enough mystery suffers from the lack of any real surprises, but it will appeal to the authors fans, who will appreciate the continuing development of the lead character.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)