The Rook: The Bowers Files #2 by Steven James

While investigating a series of baffling fires in San Diego, FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers is drawn into a deadly web of intrigue where nothing is as it appears to be. With his own criminology research being turned against him and one of the world's most deadly devices missing, Bowers is caught up in a race against time to stop a criminal mastermind's trap before it closes around him and the people he loves.

Book 2 in The Bowers Files, this riveting look into the darkness that lies in every soul is the perfect follow-up to James's critically acclaimed bestselling thriller, The Pawn.

My Review:
I'm a wimp, so I usually steer clear of thriller books. However I definitely loved this one, even though I may not sleep so well tonight. There are no graphic sex scenes. There is no profanity. There's just a beautifully written, edgy, scary thriller. How refreshing!

The characters are believable. They're not perfect; rather, they're flawed, just like you and me. Since the loss of his wife, FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers struggles with Tessa, his independent stepdaughter. Tessa an intelligent seventeen year-old is a handful and a good sub-plot involves her antics. She's brilliant, and at one point presents a comparison/contrast of Edgar Allan Poe's Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. That discussion, in and of itself is intriguing enough to warrant the purchase price.

The author's research is amazing. The reader is introduced to technological weaponry, the study of sharks, and Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA) a rare disorder in which the afflicted feels no pain--ever. All of this is set in San Diego, where Bowers has been called in to investigate a series of fires. However, more evil takes place, and I can say no more.

If you usually figure out the ending, I think this one will give you the challenge you've been looking for.