Insidious
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4.2 • 553 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In this thrilling entry in #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter’s FBI series, FBI agents Savich and Sherlock must discover who is trying to murder Venus Rasmussen, a powerful, wealthy society icon. They soon discover that the danger may be closer than expected.
Venus Rasmussen, a powerful woman who runs the international conglomerate Rasmussen Industries, believes someone is poisoning her. After Savich and Sherlock visit with her, someone attempts to shoot her in broad daylight. Who’s trying to kill her and why? A member of her rapacious family, or her grandson who’s been missing for ten years but suddenly reappears? Savich and Sherlock must peel away the layers and sift through unforeseen lies to uncover the incredible truth about who would target Venus.
Meanwhile, Special Agent Cam Wittier leaves Washington for Los Angeles to work with local Detective Daniel Montoya to lead the hunt for the Starlet Slasher, a serial killer who has cut the throats of five young actresses. When a sixth young actress is murdered, Cam comes to realize the truth might be closer than she’d ever want to believe.
With breakneck speed and unexpected twists and turns, Coulter’s Insidious will leave you breathless until the shocking conclusion.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
There’s something refreshingly old-fashioned about Catherine Coulter’s FBI Thrillers and their carefully constructed plots. In Insidious, she maps out two parallel storylines: on one coast, married agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock investigate the murder attempts on a Washington grande dame, while thousands of miles away in L.A., their colleague Cam Wittier tries to catch a serial killer preying on young actresses. We flew through, savoring the glimpses into two very different worlds of glamour and sordid deception.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two complex cases propel bestseller Coulter's absorbing 20th FBI thriller featuring married FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock (after 2015's Nemesis). In Washington, D.C., businesswoman Venus Rasmussen, who still runs Rasmussen Industries at age 86, believes that it isn't just her old-lady stomach the third time she suffers from food poisoning. She's certain, as she tells Savich, that someone close to her wants her dead. No one is above suspicion as Savich and Sherlock investigate Venus's family members and her staff. Meanwhile, a serial killer out of Los Angeles breaks pattern and murders a young actress in Las Vegas, Nev. The MO is identical to four previous murders of young and up-and-coming Hollywood actresses. Savich dispatches agent Cam Wittier, who's highly recommended by Sherlock, to L.A. to assist the local police. As the body count rises, Cam desperately searches for links among the victims and a motive. Coulter keeps the two plot lines equally engaging and the reader guessing all the way to the satisfying resolution of each.
Customer Reviews
Decent Book, 3.5 Stars
INSIDIOUS, the 20th book in Catherine Coulter's FBI THRILLER SERIES, is a decent followup to NEMESIS, the previous book in the series, but didn't knock my socks off. In this book, married FBI Special Agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock investigate the attempted murder of 86-year-old powerful, wealthy society icon Venus Rasmussen in D.C., while Special Agent Cam Wittier flies to L.A. to help catch the Starlet Slasher.
Having known Savich his whole life, as she and his mother were best friends,Venus contacts Savich for help in discovering who is trying to poison her. The only people eating with her the three times Venus got sick were her son and a grandson, but loyal household staff can't be ruled out. Savich and Sherlock don't want to accuse family without hard evidence, but it appears that someone close to Venus wishes her dead. The two FBI agents must work quickly to find the culprit and prevent Venus's murder.
While Savich and Sherlock rush to keep Venus alive, Cam Whittier is in L.A. heading the investigation into the Starlet Slasher serial killings. A multi-municipal task force works around the clock to prevent more Hollywood starlets' deaths. Since the killer takes each woman's cellphone and computer or tablet, primary resources frequently used to help investigations, the task force lacks the immediate info to establish a connection between the murders. Cam has two resources that prove invaluable to get the info they need. Her parents, well-known actors who live down the street from one of the murder sites, know the ins and outs of the Hollywood scene and share their knowledge with the task force. Also, Cam runs into a friend from high school who is pursuing acting and who went to auditions with a few of the victims. The race is on to find the murderer before any more starlets are killed.
I've only read two other books in the author's FBI THRILLER SERIES, and the set up in this book is similar--two concurrent but distinct investigations linked by using staff from the FBI office. In this book, I didn't get a good image of Savich and Sherlock, but I guess after 19 books, fans would know the characters inside and out. Cam's background and motivations were more fully developed, so I felt I knew her better. And her investigation was much more interesting.
Though I enjoyed the plot and end of both investigations, they didn't seem to have much tension or subplots. And I felt as if I was getting two short stories instead of one compelling mystery book. So I give this book 3.5 stars. It's not a bad read, but if you're wanting to read a character-driven, tension-filled thriller, look somewhere else.
If You Like This, You Might Like: TRACERS SERIES by Laura Griffin, FORGOTTEN FILES and THE MORGANS OF NASHVILLE series by Mary Burton, MAX REVERE NOVELSby Allison Brennan, ALL THE MISSING GIRLS by Megan Miranda, GOOD AS GONE by Amy Gentry, WITH MALICE by Eileen Cook
* Read my other reviews on the Blue Moon Mystery Saloon blog.
** An e-galley was provided by Gallery Books and Edelweiss for an honest review.
Great book.
All the books are wonderful.
Familiar but not as fun.
Balancing two stories left the fun and suspense a little thin. Not much depth of characters or real anticipation. A little bland. I love the people in the stories and their personal backgrounds. Helps me to evaluate character and know what to expect from them. Missing here. Guess I just want more content , twists and unexpectedness. Love your series but let’s get more of your depth in characters and storylines. Thank you