Vigilante detective
Emily Stone has covertly hunted down killers and closed more serial cases than
most seasoned homicide cops combined. Her exceptional profiling skills and
forensic techniques, along with deductive crime scene investigations, have made
her a compelling force that cannot be beat. She has reached her ultimate
breaking point and now must face her toughest opponent yet her biggest fears.
With disturbing preciseness, the Tick-Tock Killer has taken his next child
victim and promised to dump the body precisely four days later, mocking police
and the community. Stone struggles to balance her inner demons and ghosts from
the past, against the wits of a brutal and cunning serial killer in an all-out
battle of psychological warfare. Can Stone save the next child in time?
Dark Pursuit
(Thriller)
By Jennifer Chase
JEC Press
ISBN #978-0991096916
Price $15.99 paperback
343 Pages
Rating 5-Stars
“Plenty of Thrills To
Keep You On The Edge of Your Seat.”
Emily Stone and her
partner, Rick Lopez, the phantom detectives, are searching for a child serial
killer called The Tick Tock Killer by
the media. He has already killed several children that are known, and maybe
more that have yet to be discovered. As the story opens Emily is in pursuit of
Kevin Werner, a recent suspect in the case, when her vehicle is ran off a cliff
and she barely escapes. Now trailing the suspect into the woods on foot she
finds the latest victim still alive, but before she can rescue the child Werner
knocks her out and leaves her on an open grave with the bodies of other
children long missing. She awakes to find the victim also dead, and wonders why
the killer left her alive.
As a long time pulp
fan and researcher, I was surprised to read that the vigilante team is called the phantom detectives. A little later I
came across this: “…what evil lurked inside him…” The 1930s through the ‘50s
were rampant with great pulp vigilante heroes, such as The Phantom Detective,
and who will ever forget The Shadow’s weird announcement, “Who Knows What evil
lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow Knows!” I can’t help but wonder if the
author is familiar with the pulps. In this case, the phantom detectives, Emily
Stone and Rick Lopez are working outside the law to catch serial killers. Emily
is a master profiler, and ex sheriff’s deputy, while Rick was a police officer
and detective, now working with Emily. There are only rumors that the phantom
detectives exist. The police receive anonymous information concerning the
killer once the phantom detectives have the data, then they disappear to trail
another killer. It’s a fascinating concept, and certainly a fun story, as we
follow the team of vigilantes pursuing The Tick Tock Killer.
Regardless of the
retro connection to the pulp era, this is a contemporary setting in California,
with all the computer and electronic gadgets available to the covert
investigators. I did get the impression that the phantom detectives had little
trust in police solving the cases. The subject matter is dark, but the writing
is entertaining, and the characters move the story at a fast pace, with plenty
of thrills to keep you on the edge of your seat. Highly recommended.
Tom Johnson
Detective Mystery
Stories
