Literary Scene

Three New Thrillers

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

Snakes and Ladders
by Victoria Selman

I’m a sucker for serial killer stories, so when I heard that this book was being advertised as Psycho meets The Silence of the Lambs, I knew I was going to include it in the Literary Scene. For those who don’t know, Snakes and Ladders is the third in the Ziba MacKenzie thriller series.

Set in contemporary London, this is the story of a serial killer—called the Pink Rose Killer— ravaging that fine city. Their calling card is removing a piece of each victim and in its place, they leave behind a pink rose. Playing the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter is Dr. Vernon Sange, a cold-blooded American murderer serving a life sentence in the largest high security prison in the UK, where he awaits extradition to the US for crimes he committed there. He’s got valuable info on the killer’s identity, but he’ll only share it with Ziba, a profiler with special forces experience behind her. Their battle of wits is often as esoteric as it is compelling.

One of the interesting aspects of this story is how Ziba is still grieving over her lost husband—Duncan died a few years prior to the timeline of this story. Selman gives Ziba another chance at happiness via a possible relationship with the intriguing journalist Jack Wolfe, for whom Ziba clearly has feelings. But her #1 task is discovering the identity of the Pink Rose Killer and capturing him before the death toll rises higher.

Ziba is a complicated character. She’s brilliant as anything, as well as capable and introspective, but she’s somehow constantly playing from behind. As a forensics profiler, it seems as if she’d be able to match Dr. Sange a bit better than she does. With Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs, she had the excuse of being an FBI trainee. Ziba is a well-seasoned pro who’s seen plenty of action.

While a few too many plot moments sync up 1:1 with the aforementioned books, Selman ultimately knows what readers of this type of story want, and the fast-paced cat-and-mouse action here will please readers.

Rating: 4 out of 5

VictoriaSelman.com

Toward the Light
by Bonnar Spring

If you’re tired of thrillers with the traditional male protagonist, meet Luz Concepion, the star of Bonnar Spring’s debut thriller. She’s returned to Guatemala to take out Martin Benavides, the monster who murdered her father nearly two decades before. Benavides is no easy target, as he’s the country’s former president and a man who has deep ties to a massive drug cartel. But Luz has long been groomed for years for this very mission, and with the help of CIA friends, she finds employment as a nanny to Benavides’ lonely grandson. It’s exactly the sort of close access she needs to Benavides to complete her mission.

What makes this book more interesting than many thrillers is that things aren’t as black and white as they might seem upon first blush. While this is a revenge story, Luz quickly learns that nothing is as it appears, and the truth is elusive no matter what you think you know.

While Luz is originally positioned as an assassin, she gets involved in a romance of sorts with Evan, a painter who is her method of contact to her CIA connections. The odd tension between her being a capable hero and a damsel in distress isn’t quite resolved in a meaningful way. But Springs shows promise as a writer, and the moral dilemma Luz faces at the end makes the last few chapters of this book memorable and striking.

Rating:  3.5 out of 5
facebook.com/BonnarSpringBooks

Civil Terror: Waterborne
by J. Luke Bennecke

Bennecke’s latest—the second of a three-book thriller series—is Civil Terror: Waterborne, which takes a fictional look into the terrifying question of what might happen if terrorists decide to weaponize a city’s water supply. Right at the start of this book, Californians begin getting sick with the flu from tainted drinking water. It’s more than just a flu outbreak—it’s something being done on purpose.

Traumatized engineer Jake Bendel quickly realizes that a secret masterplan is in place to genetically modify all the males in the entire state. With his unlikely partner, FBI agent Jose Cavanaugh, they’ve got to track down the evil mind at the heart of this twisted plot. Considering Jake himself gets infected with the same virus ravaging in the bodies of other Californians, his own body becomes the ticking clock he has to beat if he wants to survive this latest unexpected adventure.

With this series, Bennecke says, “My hope is to plant seeds that might bear fruit someday for mankind, whether it’s for self-driving cars, solving the drought in California, or fixing our ailing electrical infrastructure before terrorists find a way to bring it down.” While that might indeed be one outcome of these books, most are satisfied to read them for the enjoyment value alone.

The action is fast, and the language is terse. But Bennecke’s background as a civil engineer brings extra life to the behind-the-scenes aspects of civic infrastructure. Some of the plot points are familiar, but the breakneck pace will surely thrill and delight many.

Rating:  3.75 out of 5
JLukeBennecke.com