Angel Killer: A Jessica Blackwood Novel

by Andrew Mayne

Overview

In the first installment in Andrew Mayne's sensational mystery series, FBI agent Jessica Blackwood believes she has successfully left her complicated life as a gifted magician behind her . . . until a killer with seemingly supernatural powers puts her talents to the ultimate test.

A mysterious hacker, who identifies himself only as “Warlock,” brings down the FBI’s website and posts a code in its place. It hides the GPS coordinates of a Michigan cemetery, where a dead girl is discovered rising from the ground . . . as if she tried to crawl out of her own grave.

Born into a dynasty of illusionists, Jessica Blackwood is destined to become its next star—until she turns her back on her troubled family, and her legacy, to begin a new life in law enforcement. But FBI consultant Dr. Jeffrey Ailes’s discovery of an old copy of Magician Magazine will turn Jessica’s carefully constructed world upside down. Faced with a crime that appears beyond explanation, Ailes has nothing to lose—and everything to gain—by taking a chance on an agent raised in a world devoted to seemingly achieving the impossible.

The body in the cemetery is only the first in the Warlock’s series of dark miracles. Thrust into the media spotlight, with time ticking away until the next crime, can Jessica confront her past to embrace her gifts and stop a depraved killer?

If she can’t, she may become his next victim.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062348883
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/23/2014
Series:	Jessica Blackwood , #1
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	122,307
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Andrew Mayne started his first illusion tour while he was a teenager and was soon headlining in resorts and casinos around the world. He’s worked behind the scenes creatively for David Copperfield, Penn & Teller, and David Blaine. With the support of talk show host and amateur magician Johnny Carson, Andrew started a program to use magic to teach critical thinking skills in public schools for the James Randi Educational Foundation. Andrew’s “Wizard School” segments, teaching magic and science to children, aired nationwide on public television. He also starred in the reality show Don’t Trust Andrew Mayne.

Editorial Reviews

A fun read that goes quickly, holds your interest, and spices up your week with...a great story.

M-U-M Magazine

07/21/2014
Mayne, the star of the A&E show Don’t Trust Andrew Mayne, combines magic and mayhem in this delightful beginning to a new series starring Jessica Blackwood, a talented fourth-generation magician, who has left the family business to work for the FBI. When a hacker dubbing himself Warlock leads agents to a Michigan cemetery, they find a newly dead body that appears to be identical to a girl murdered two years earlier. Faced with a seemingly impossible crime, a high-ranking FBI consultant has Jessica assigned to the case, hoping her expertise in magic can help unmask a killer who seems determined to build his own cult through “miracles.” Initially reluctant to draw on her past, Jessica quickly becomes engrossed in debunking the Warlock’s increasingly flamboyant demonstrations and anticipating his next moves. Readers will look forward to Jessica’s future adventures. Agent: Erica Spellman-Silverman, Trident Media Group. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A magical debut that mixes charismatic characters, an intriguing premise and a dash of illusionists’ secrets to entertain readers and leave them eager for the next act.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Mayne, the star of the A&E show Don’t Trust Andrew Mayne, combines magic and mayhem in this delightful beginning to a new series…. Readers will look forward to Jessica’s future adventures.” — Publishers Weekly

“Professional illusionist Mayne introduces a fresh angle to serial-killer hunting.… Mayne forgoes gimmicks, instead dissecting illusions with human behavior, math, and science without losing sight of the story’s big picture.” — Booklist

“Magic and murder make a spectacular entrance in Angel Killer, an intricate thriller with techno overtones written by illusionist Andrew Mayne…. Addictive.” — BookPage

“Lovers of high-action thrillers will be delighted to discover Angel Killer by Andrew Mayne, who has used his extensive experience as a professional illusionist as the basis for an unusual and highly entertaining detective story.” — Shelf Awareness

“Mayne has created an unbelievably unforgettable book! 5 Stars!” — Suspense Magazine

“Mayne … mixes the best of an FBI procedural with an exposé of how magicians operate their craft. The end result is a … fascinating page-turner.… readers will be eager to read more thrillers featuring Jessica Blackwood. — Romantic Times BOOKclub

“An innovative, incredibly exciting mystery…. This is an exceptionally fine suspense novel.” — Mysterious Reviews

“Angel Killer will have you compulsively turning the pages until the very end.…Andrew Mayne…lives up to the standards of well-known authors of thrillers.” — Genii Magazine

“A fun read that goes quickly, holds your interest, and spices up your week with...a great story.” — M–U–M Magazine

From the Publisher

A fun read that goes quickly, holds your interest, and spices up your week with...a great story.

M–U–M Magazine

Mayne … mixes the best of an FBI procedural with an exposé of how magicians operate their craft. The end result is a … fascinating page-turner.… readers will be eager to read more thrillers featuring Jessica Blackwood.

Romantic Times BOOKclub

Angel Killer will have you compulsively turning the pages until the very end.…Andrew Mayne…lives up to the standards of well-known authors of thrillers.

Genii Magazine

Professional illusionist Mayne introduces a fresh angle to serial-killer hunting.… Mayne forgoes gimmicks, instead dissecting illusions with human behavior, math, and science without losing sight of the story’s big picture.

Booklist

Lovers of high-action thrillers will be delighted to discover Angel Killer by Andrew Mayne, who has used his extensive experience as a professional illusionist as the basis for an unusual and highly entertaining detective story.

Shelf Awareness

An innovative, incredibly exciting mystery…. This is an exceptionally fine suspense novel.

Mysterious Reviews

Magic and murder make a spectacular entrance in Angel Killer, an intricate thriller with techno overtones written by illusionist Andrew Mayne…. Addictive.

BookPage

Mayne has created an unbelievably unforgettable book! 5 Stars!

Suspense Magazine

Professional illusionist Mayne introduces a fresh angle to serial-killer hunting.… Mayne forgoes gimmicks, instead dissecting illusions with human behavior, math, and science without losing sight of the story’s big picture.

Booklist

04/15/2014
FBI agent Jessica Blackwood must draw on her troubled past as a magician to catch a crazed killer. Star of his own magic reality show on A&E, Mayne already boasts 100,000 paid downloads of this story as a self-published ebook; the paperback original will be revised and edited. With a 40,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

2014-10-09
A killer determined to bring miracles to life—and death—is hunted by a former magician determined to show that the culprit has nothing more than tricks up his sleeve.Though she's usually more the paper-pusher type, FBI Agent Jessica Blackwood is called into the office over the weekend by Dr. Jeffrey Ailes, better known as the Witchfinder. Ailes, who specializes in cases that require intricate knowledge of coding, is hot on the trail of someone who's hacked into the FBI's system with GPS coordinates, presumably of a dead body. When the team arrives at the murder scene, the victim appears to be crawling out of her own grave. Even though she's very recently dead, records show that she was killed two years before. Now Jessica knows how she'll be used in the case. The perp, nicknamed "Warlock" by the Bureau, is using some kind of illusion to stage elaborate crime scenes. Jessica's been brought in as an expert in the art of illusion. As a fourth-generation magician, she'll be the one who's expected to understand the logic behind the elaborate staging of Warlock's crimes. She's helped not only by her expertise, but by the love—or at least the obsession—of Damian, an expert human chameleon and sometime stalker whose clues in the case help Jessica understand that Warlock may be only the beginning.A magical debut that mixes charismatic characters, an intriguing premise and a dash of illusionists' secrets to entertain readers and leave them eager for the next act.

Kirkus Reviews