Review: Black Fall by Andrew Mayne

Title: Black Fall

Author: Andrew Mayne

Series: Jessica Blackwood, #3

Published:March 2017, Harper Paperbacks

Format:ARC Paperback, 384 pages

Source: Publisher

In Black Fall, the third book in the ITW Award-nominated series that began with self-published eBook phenomenon Angel Killer, magician-turned-FBI
agent Jessica Blackwood investigates a series of seemingly unrelated,
but equally bizarre and sinister, crimes that lead her to the Colorado
desert and a town that has, simply, disappeared.

With two big
cases under her belt, FBI Agent Jessica Blackwood is learning to embrace
her unconventional past as the rising star in a family dynasty of
illusionists. Her talent and experience endow her with a unique
understanding of the power and potential of deception, and a gift for
knowing when things are not always as they appear to be. Once resenting
her eccentric grandfather, a brilliant magician in his own right,
Jessica now sees him as a mentor and regularly seeks his advice about
her work.

But Jessica’s routine surveillance operation becomes a
fight for survival when a disturbed young woman, clutching a baby, shows
up at the stake-out location and threatens to kill her child. On the
same day, an hour after a severe earthquake rocks the eastern seaboard, a
strange video goes viral. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Peter Devon has
been dead for eight years, yet here he is on camera, predicting the
location and date of the earthquake. Jessica is put on the case by her
boss, Dr. Ailes, but when Detective Aileen Lewis reports that they’ve
found a Jane Doe who matches her description of her attacker, she’s torn
between professional duty and a personal desire to find out who the
woman was, and why she was killed.

The investigations pull her in
very different directions—until they start to converge, leading Jessica
to confront something darker, and more powerful, than anyone expected.
Something so twisted, only one person could be behind it…the Warlock.

My thoughts:This is the third book in Andrew Mayne’s Jessica Blackwood series and I just love this series! It’s such a unique series in it’s premise and I just cannot get enough of it.

Once again, I found myself completely engaged in the story and hooked from page one. As soon as I started reading, I had a hard time putting this book down – the story just grabs you, and then there’s the short chapters that typically end with mini-cliffhangers where you just can’t stop reading – you need to find out more about what was just revealed! 

And then there’s Jessica – one of my favorite characters! She’s endearing because she’s so unsure of herself at times and known for her bluntness, yet she’s so good at her job that she ultimately ends up getting the case solved. I loved the way she took to Detective Aileen Lewis. I would love to see them work together again – that bond they created just seemed to jive, and the dinner invitation was just priceless! I also like how we get the occasional flashbacks of Jessica’s childhood every once in a while – these help give us a better glimpse of who Jessica really is, a more solid picture of her. 

The case that Jessica and her team are working on is quite intense and it never really seems to let up. The tension is so palpable I could feel everyone’s nerves as they feverishly worked to solve what was going on. And it seems as if it could have been ripped from today’s headlines to some extent – that’s a little scary!

This is such a great book and while it can be read as a stand-alone, I highly recommend reading the two previous books in the series first to have a better understanding of Jessica and all her talents.  Now, hopefully we haven’t seen the last of Jessica…I need more of her, more of this magician turned FBI agent!!!

Books in this series:

 

     1.  Angel Killer

     1.5  Fire in the Sky

     2.  Name of the Devil

    3.  Black Fall