The Nightmare Thief

May 23, 2011
Bringing her two series leads together for the first time, Gardiner pits forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett (The Dirty Secrets Club) and reporter Evan Delaney (Kill Chain) against a kidnapping team that's out for something more than ransom in this strong thriller. When Evan contacts Jo in San Francisco for help with a story on the suspicious death of attorney Phelps Wylie, whose body was found in a mine in the Sierras, Jo agrees to conduct a psychological autopsy on Wylie, including poking around the mine with her pararescueman boyfriend, Gabe Quintana. Back in San Francisco, Autumn Reiniger embarks on an urban reality game run by Edge Adventures, a 21st birthday present from her father, the director of a hedge fund, Reiniger Capital, but is soon kidnapped, along with her friends, by a group impersonating the Edge crew, raising the stakes. In the Sierras, Jo and Gabe run into Autumn and her kidnappers, who are demanding $20 million for her safe returnâand Gardiner really gets the adrenaline pumping.

May 15, 2011

Bay Area forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett's fourth case (The Liar's Lullaby, 2010, etc.) finds her caught in the middle of a fantasy crime spree turned deadly.

Hedge-fund king Peter Reiniger is no ordinary father, and his 21st-birthday present to his thoroughly spoiled daughter Autumn is no ordinary gift. He's hired Edge Adventures to orchestrate a weekend scenario in which Autumn becomes the Queen of Crime and five of her best buds get to play the roles of her lawyer, her accomplices and her nemesis. But not even Edge's reputation for elaborate planning can prevent rogue financier Dane Haugen from stepping into the middle of this latter-day fairy tale and, motivated by some obscure harm he suffered at Reiniger's hands, kidnapping Autumn for real for $20 million. Jo and her main man, Sgt. Gabe Quintana, are on their way back from attorney Phelps Wylie's final resting place—an abandoned gold mine in which, Jo quickly rules, he certainly didn't commit suicide—when they stop to play Good Samaritan and are rewarded by getting taken captive along with Autumn and her friends. Not enough complications for you? Another freelance kidnapper plans to grab Autumn and company from Haugen's clutches, ransom Autumn and make short work of the supporting cast—one of whom has the bright idea of jumping the bad guys, turning a routine fake-kidnapping-turned-real into a fight for survival against armed criminals, rattlesnakes and every other wilderness peril you can imagine.

The mind-bogglingly improbable setup and the number of wild cards in the mix guarantee endless plot twists, most of them so diabolically engineered that you'll forget how wafer-thin the characters are.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 1, 2011

For her 21st birthday, rich, spoiled Autumn Reiniger gets a real treat from her father: she and a group of friends will participate in an urban reality game featuring a staged drug deal, manhunt, and jailbreak, all played with fake guns. The police are instructed not to intervene--which makes it easy for actual kidnappers lured by Daddy Reiniger's hedge fund profits to enter into the proceedings. Fortunately, forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett is on the scene. An intriguing premise that Edgar Award winner Gardiner should be able to pull off; with a four-city tour.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
Beware the disgruntled employee is a message readers are sure to take away from Gardiners swiftly paced thriller, the fourth in the series featuring San Francisco forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett. This time around, Gardiner weaves the twisted tale of former hedge-fund employee Dane Haugen, who seeks violent revenge after losing his job. The object of his wrath is billionaire investor Peter Reiniger, but its Reinigers daughter, Autumn, who will suffer for her fathers actions. To celebrate Autumns twenty-first birthday, Reiniger has enlisted her and her closest friends in an urban reality game that includes a simulated drug deal, manhunt, and jailbreak. The SFPD has been alerted to the staged crime spree, so suspicions arent aroused when a cadre of real-life criminals, spearheaded by Haugen, kidnaps the kids and drags them deep into the Sierra wilderness. Lucky for Autumn and her pals that they cross paths with Beckett and her partner, Gabe Quintana, who are investigating a San Francisco attorneys suspicious death. The premise is a little over the top, but mystery fans will still stay up late reading Gardiners breathless latest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2011

When forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett and her partner, Gabe Quintana, in the course of an investigation come across six teenagers being corralled by a suspicious group of men for a "wilderness adventure," she senses that something is amiss. Far from being reassured when the teenagers tell her that they are simply part of a mock kidnapping designed to celebrate spoiled rich girl Autumn Reiniger's entrance into adulthood, Jo is anxious to depart and investigate further. Before they can leave, confusion erupts, and Jo and Gabe become unwitting members of the birthday group. They have ample experience surviving the elements, luckily, because they must formulate a daring plan to rescue the teenagers and unmask the players behind the kidnapping before it is too late. VERDICT In her eighth novel, Gardiner (The Dirty Secrets Club) spins a thrilling, fast-paced tale about what can happen when we tempt fate. Fans of Iris Johansen will enjoy Jo Beckett's propensity for knocking down trouble and landing squarely on her feet. [See Prepub Alert, 12/21/10.]--Natasha Grant, New York

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.