Velocity

by Alan Jacobson

Overview

From a USA Today–bestselling author: FBI profiler Karen Vail’s hunt for a serial killer leads her into a dangerous criminal web—“relentless as a bullet” (Michael Connelly).

After a colleague connects Vail with covert Department of Defense operative Hector DeSantos, who has a knack for uncovering difficult-to-locate information, the pair pries loose long-buried secrets and deceptions that reveal a much-larger criminal enterprise at work. As Vail squares off against foes more dangerous than any she has yet encountered, shocking personal and professional truths emerge—truths that may be more than she can handle.

In keeping with Alan Jacobson’s page-turning style, Velocity is a high-octane thriller, a memorable work rich in believable characters and an intricately plotted story that’s well-researched and ripped from today’s headlines. Velocity was named one of the Strand Magazine’s top ten books for 2010, Suspense Magazine’s top five thrillers of 2010, Library Journal’s top five thrillers of the year, and the Los Angeles Times’ top picks of the year.
 
Velocity is the second installment of a two-part story that begins with Crush, book two of the Karen Vail Series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781497692084
Publisher:	Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Publication date:	03/03/2015
Series:	The Karen Vail Novels , #3
Pages:	590
Sales rank:	886,145
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 4.90(d)

About the Author

Alan Jacobson is the national bestselling author of the critically acclaimed FBI profiler Karen Vail and OPSIG Team Black series. Jacobson’s years of extensive research and training while embedded with federal and local law enforcement agencies have influenced him both personally and professionally, and have helped shape the stories he tells and the diverse characters that populate his novels.

Editorial Reviews

"From the first page, Velocity is as relentless as a bullet. Karen Vail is my kind of hero and Alan Jacobson is my kind of writer!” —Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times–bestselling author

“Jacobson captures the complexity of the mission faced by DEA, the threat posed to our country, and the constant danger our agents face battling members of international drug trafficking organizations. As someone who devoted his career to carrying out that mission, I can say first-hand that Velocity hits the target. Jacobson’s acquired a new fan.” —Supervisory Special Agent Michael Upchurch, Drug Enforcement Administration

“Jacobson writes for suspense junkies and gets the monkey off their backs; he’s that good.” —New York Journal of Books

From the Publisher

Jacobson’s third thriller featuring FBI profiler Karen Vail (after Crush) sizzles with nonstop action and startling details about drug trafficking. When Karen’s lover, Det. Robby Hernandez, disappears in California’s Napa Valley while she’s busy catching John Wayne Mayfield, the notorious “Crush Killer,” Karen is horrified to learn that she may have blown Robby’s cover. As part of a DEA operation, Robby was investigating drug cartel kingpin Carlos Cortez and his associates, including the CFO of a mobile wine bottling company, César Guevara. Guevara was funneling drugs for Cortez and using Mayfield to eliminate anyone opposing the drug lord. For years the DEA has wanted to take down Cortez, and now Karen does, too. Refreshingly real, Karen doesn’t let her tough “take no prisoners” attitude stand in the way of following her heart. While this dizzy nail-biter is a direct sequel to Crush, enough backstory will keep new readers up to speed. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

In this sequel to Crush, FBI profiler Karen Vail and the Napa County Major Crimes Task Force have captured the Napa Crush Killer. Vail's lover, Detective Robby Hernandez, has gone missing, a suspected victim of foul play. As Vail and her colleagues launch a frantic search for Robby, a new murder points to someone operating under the same M.O. as the Crush Killer. Is an accomplice still on the loose? Is there more to Robby's disappearance than meets the eye? Is this the case that causes Vail to come unhinged? Joined by mysterious operative Hector De Santos, a desperate Vail repeatedly throws scruples and regulations to the wind in her attempts to find Robby before it's too late. VERDICT Velocity plunges readers into a nail-biting, heart-pounding chase through the dark world of serial killers, drug cartels, and DEA busts and exposes an edgier, more vulnerable Vail. Jacobson's best to date; essential for anyone who craves nonstop action, danger, and a gutsy heroine.—Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

Library Journal

After capturing a sadistic serial killer, FBI Agent Karen Vail and her partner/boyfriend, Robby, take a vacation. In short order, Robby mysteriously disappears, and an exhausted Vail is determined to find him, no matter what rules she breaks. Even with the great setup, Alan Jacobson’s latest thriller feels thin and contrived. Perhaps it’s because VELOCITY’s action begins—without a breath—where his previous novel, CRUSH, ended. Characters from earlier books enter and exit without context, and Deanna Hurst’s narration can do little to mitigate the problem. While she keeps the plot’s bewildering randomness moving forward, many of her male characters sound forced while her female characters are either dispassionate or overwrought. Listeners new to the series may want to start at the beginning or face terminal confusion. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2010 - AudioFile

After capturing a sadistic serial killer, FBI Agent Karen Vail and her partner/boyfriend, Robby, take a vacation. In short order, Robby mysteriously disappears, and an exhausted Vail is determined to find him, no matter what rules she breaks. Even with the great setup, Alan Jacobson’s latest thriller feels thin and contrived. Perhaps it’s because VELOCITY’s action begins—without a breath—where his previous novel, CRUSH, ended. Characters from earlier books enter and exit without context, and Deanna Hurst’s narration can do little to mitigate the problem. While she keeps the plot’s bewildering randomness moving forward, many of her male characters sound forced while her female characters are either dispassionate or overwrought. Listeners new to the series may want to start at the beginning or face terminal confusion. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2010 - AudioFile