The Informant

September 2, 1996
The title character of attorney Grippando's second thriller (after The Pardon) is the anonymous man who contacts Miami Tribune reporter Mike Posten and claims that he can predict the next victim of a serial killer who has eluded the FBI's Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit. The informant wants to be paid in cash for what he says he knows. After a brief debate, Posten and his paper pony up for a series of exclusives. Posten also talks to the FBI, in the form of agent Victoria Santos, who is alone in believing that the informant and the killer are different people. It's an unusually cerebral and low-key beginning to a serial-killer thriller, emphasizing procedure, forensics and professional ethics rather than shock or even suspense; the killings that occur during this set-up take place off page. Soon enough, however, the informer/killer question is resolved and Grippando moves his story into more familiar territory, telling an absorbing tale with cool competence. The murders are given a plausible motive and the climax, which takes place on a hijacked cruise ship, surges with tension; even Posten's marital problems are tied neatly to the plot line. Former FBI agent and veteran serial-killer-stalker John Douglas (Mind Hunter) has blurbed this novel as authentic and "thoroughly convincing"; true--and it's a nail-biter to boot. $60,000 ad/promo; simultaneous HarperAudio release.

June 15, 1996
A Miami Tribune reporter is receiving anonymous calls from someone who knows the exact moves of a serial killer. Could it be the killer himself? More from the best-selling author of The Pardon (LJ 8/94).

August 1, 1996
Grippando's (The Pardon, LJ 8/94) second novel is a taut page-turner with class, reminiscent of the work of Michael Connelly (The Concrete Blond, Little, Brown, 1994) and Patricia Cornwell (Cause of Death, LJ 3/1/96). A diabolical serial killer is traversing the country slicing out the tongues of his seemingly random victims. In a stunning twist on the otherwise tired serial killer theme, reporter Mike Posten of the Miami Tribune is contacted by a man claiming to know the killer's patterns intimately. As the "informant" extorts more and more outrageous sums for his uncannily accurate predictions, Posten and FBI agent Victoria Santos forge an uneasy alliance. While FBI brass are convinced that they are dealing with one man, Victoria remains loyal to her gut instincts. Ultimately, she must acquiesce to using Mike as a lure in a stand-off with the killer aboard a cruise ship. Public libraries will want several copies of this potential best seller. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/96.]--Susan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix

August 1, 1996
There's a serial killer out there, but the locations are disparate and the victims seemingly unconnected. FBI agent Victoria Santos has developed a psychological profile of the killer, whose attention to detail results in a dearth of clues. Then "Miami Tribune" reporter Mike Posten receives calls from someone who claims he's not the killer, but he thinks so much like him he can predict the killer's next move. The caller will talk for cash, which the FBI supplies. The finale takes place on a cruise ship and pits the killer against Santos and Posten. HarperCollins is investing big money to convince readers that this is another "Silence of the Lambs," but it's not even close. At best, it's a run-of-the-mill thriller populated from Central Casting: the plucky FBI agent, the intrepid reporter, and the killer with a dysfunctional childhood. Still, the author's previous thriller, "The Pardon" (1994), did well, and the publicity blitz will generate some demand. Buy cautiously. ((Reviewed Aug. 1996))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1996, American Library Association.)