ARC Review: Whispers of the Dead by Spencer Kope

Whispers of the Dead
Author: Spencer Kope
Series: Special Tracking Unit (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (April 17, 2018)

Description: A series of bizarre murders―the victims nearly unidentifiable―forces FBI tracker “Steps” Craig to match wits with the most cold-blooded killer he’s ever encountered.

There has been a murder, but not only is the identity of the victim unknown, most of the body itself is missing. All that’s been found is a pair of feet, stored in a portable cooler, and left in the house of a Federal judge in El Paso, Texas. The killer apparently broke into the judge’s house, left his grizzly message, and disappeared without a trace. With no clues as to the killer, the person killed, or the intent behind the cooler, all the authorities really know is that this likely isn’t the killer’s first―or his last―victim.

Magnus “Steps” Craig is an FBI agent and an elite tracker, easily the best in the world. Steps is renowned for his incredible ability to find and follow trails over any surface. As part of the three-man special team, FBI’s Special Tracking Unit (STU), he is called in on cases where his skills are indispensable. But there’s a secret to his skill. Steps has a kind of synesthesia, an ability that allows him to see whatever each particular person has touched in a unique color―what Steps calls ‘shine.’ His ability is known to only a few people―his father, the director of the FBI, and his partner, Special Agent Jimmy Donovan.

While the Special Tracking Unit tries to grapple with the gruesome scene in El Paso, they soon discover another, earlier victim. Once again, only the feet―in a disposable icebox―were left behind. With almost no clues besides the body parts, Steps and his team find themselves enmeshed in the most difficult case of their careers. And The Icebox Killer has only just begun.

My Thoughts: The latest case for Steps Craig and his partner Jimmy Donovan is a puzzler. They are called to El Paso because a Federal Judge has found a cooler with feet in it in his living room. Steps sees everyone in different colors which is very helpful in his investigations but needs to be kept secret. He can use his ability to see the shine of a killer and, by seeing the shine on multiple victims, know if the killer is a serial killer. However, his ability isn't evidence that can lead to a court conviction so he and his partner need to find conventional evidence too.

The first pair of feet leads to another pair of feet this time in the home of a defense attorney. Steps and Jimmy spend a lot of time on their Gulfstream jet traveling between crime sites. Their office assistant Diane holds down the fort at their home location in Washington State and is a computer guru who tracks down all sorts of evidence for them from State and Federal databases. Very few people know about Steps's special ability and Diane isn't one of them though she is getting suspicious.

Despite Steps's special ability which can only be muted by special lead crystal glasses and which causes massive headaches, Jimmy and Steps still need to do the ordinary police work of knocking on doors and traveling up and down I-10 from Texas to Albuquerque to follow the path of the killer they have nicknamed the Ice Box Killer.

What I enjoyed most about this book was the friendship between Steps and Jimmy and the way they work so well together. I also liked seeing Steps's relationship with journalist Heather growing. I thought the fact that he wrote her letters was romantic. I also liked that he felt that it was time to tell her about his special ability but couldn't quite bring himself to do it.

The writing was engaging as it was told by Steps who has a number of interesting personality quirks. The action was fast-paced. The mystery itself was nicely done with clues and motives gradually revealed. I recommend this series. Start with COLLECTING THE DEAD to get the whole story but this one does stand alone quite well.

Favorite Quote:

I'm not interested in the ice box; I'm keeping my distance. Styrofoam freaks me out. I don't know why, it just does. I have issues, okay?

The only thing that freaks me out as much as Styrofoam is your standard everyday forest. Anytime large numbers of deciduous and evergreen trees start milling about together, you know it can't end well.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

First Paragraph/Teaser Tuesday: Whispers of the Dead by Spencer Kope

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posted the first paragraph of a book she is reading or planning to read. In 2018, Vicki from I'd Rather Be at the Beach is taking over this meme.

Here's mine:

Darkness -- nearly complete.

Overwhelmed and surrounded, a single incandescent bulb pushes back defiantly against the stygian black. Its feeble light barely reaches through the emptiness, but what illumination it brings reveals the length of a man secured horizontally to a low bench with leather straps and restraints.

 

Link up here. It is very easy to play along:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Here's mine:

"Go ahead and collect all the police tape," Jimmy tells the officer. "Close down the crime scene; we're done here."

This week I am reading Whispers of the Dead by Spencer Kope. I got this eARC from NetGalley. Here is the description from Amazon:

A series of bizarre murders―the victims nearly unidentifiable―forces FBI tracker “Steps” Craig to match wits with the most cold-blooded killer he’s ever encountered.

There has been a murder, but not only is the identity of the victim unknown, most of the body itself is missing. All that’s been found is a pair of feet, stored in a portable cooler, and left in the house of a Federal judge in El Paso, Texas. The killer apparently broke into the judge’s house, left his grizzly message, and disappeared without a trace. With no clues as to the killer, the person killed, or the intent behind the cooler, all the authorities really know is that this likely isn’t the killer’s first―or his last―victim.

Magnus “Steps” Craig is an FBI agent and an elite tracker, easily the best in the world. Steps is renowned for his incredible ability to find and follow trails over any surface. As part of the three-man special team, FBI’s Special Tracking Unit (STU), he is called in on cases where his skills are indispensable. But there’s a secret to his skill. Steps has a kind of synesthesia, an ability that allows him to see whatever each particular person has touched in a unique color―what Steps calls ‘shine.’ His ability is known to only a few people―his father, the director of the FBI, and his partner, Special Agent Jimmy Donovan.

While the Special Tracking Unit tries to grapple with the gruesome scene in El Paso, they soon discover another, earlier victim. Once again, only the feet―in a disposable icebox―were left behind. With almost no clues besides the body parts, Steps and his team find themselves enmeshed in the most difficult case of their careers. And The Icebox Killer has only just begun.

Book Review: Collecting the Dead by Spencer Kope

Collecting the Dead
Author: Spencer Kope
Series: Special Tracking Unit (Book 1)
Publication: Minotaur Books (June 28, 2016)

Description: Magnus “Steps” Craig is part of an elite three-man Special Tracking Unit of the FBI, charged with finding the lost or abducted and bringing them home. Dubbed “The Human Bloodhound,” Steps is renowned for his incredible ability to find and follow trails over any surface. He has a special skill―known only to his partner―that has enabled his team to stop seventeen serial killers over the past five years. But now there’s a new monster at-large, and the bodies are piling up.

When the remains of one young woman are found, Steps recognizes the “signature” from another crime scene: the mark of a sad face. Meanwhile, a serial killer that Steps has been trying to track for over ten years, code name “Leonardo,” is back in play―and on Steps’s trail. Just as the investigation seems to be closing in on Leonardo, the hunt for Sad Face heats up. Now, it’s up to Steps to outrun and outwit one of the most twisted serial killers he’s ever encountered. . .as time ticks away on the lives of the victims. Will this be another one of Steps’s miraculously-solved cases―or his last?

My Thoughts: "Steps" Craig is part of a three-man Special Tracking Unit of the FBI. Everyone thinks that he is just a superb tracker. Only a few people know that Steps tracks using a psychic ability that lets him see the shine left by people. Steps is pretty sure that this isn't really a gift because he can't not see the shine that surrounds everyone. Only a special pair of lead crystal glasses hides the shine. And, while he and his team have stopped seventeen serial killers over the past five years, Steps still feels his failure to save the victims. His sleep is plagued with nightmares.

When the team is called in and the remains of a young woman are found, Steps recognizes the shine of the killer as someone he has seen before at another death. As the team investigates they find the shine of a person that they name the Sad Face Killer for the sad faces he leaves at crime scenes and begin linking a number of other deaths to the same killer. When they find a list the killer left, they know that they have just a short time to track him down before he kills again.

This was a great story told by Steps who has a unique gift and a unique way of looking at the world. I was immediately pulled into the story and couldn't put it down. I was moved by the high personal cost that the team has to pay in order to do the jobs they do.

This was a fast-paced story and an intense one. I highly recommend it.

Favorite Quote:

I'm probably a bravo male.

Bravo males are important because they help out the alpha males and say, Bravo! Bravo! whenever they do something right, even if it's infrequently. This positive reinforcement is vital because alpha males have large egos that constantly need refilling.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.