I was at the library the other day, looking through the new books section and came across one called THE PAWN by Steven James. He has written other books but this is his first thriller and it is a doozy!
In the first of a trilogy, James introduces FBI agent Patrick Bowers. His specialty is environmental criminology, which attempts to track lawbreakers by analyzing the significance of the time and place at which the crime occurred. When corpses of young women start turning up near Asheville, N.C., he is called in to assist. The killer's MO is to tie a yellow ribbon in his victims' hair and leave a chess piece somewhere on the scene. Bowers begins to suspect that the governor of North Carolina is somehow connected to the murders, and that a cult with links to Jonestown might also be involved. Making matters worse, the special agent supervising Bowers turns out to be a longtime colleague with whom Bowers has some bad blood. Bowers, a recent widower, tries to keep his grief and confusion under control so that he can focus on the case as the killer targets more innocent women, including his stepdaughter Tessa. Christian faith makes a subtle appearance in the story and appears to be a theme that will be developed in future installments.
I started reading and it seemed kind of slow at first but boy did it ever pick up. I couldn't read it fast enough and now I can wait for the next installment THE ROOK coming in Spring 2008.
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