Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
When the FBI gets a case no one else can solve, they call in the Patterns and Recognition team. The PAR team has a variety of specialized skills, pulled together for their ability to see what other agents may miss. This is a group of misfits who have experienced failures on other team, which has put them in the crosshairs of FBI leadership. Their latest case has also put them in the crosshairs of a serial killer. Will they find the killer before leadership shuts them down?
Acclaimed author John McMahon returns with Head Cases – the debut of the new PAR Unit series. Known for the PT Marsh detective series, McMahon latest work has already been optioned by HBO Max before it’s even hit shelves! This is a book about leaning into strengths others may see as weaknesses, but also a realistic look at how loss impacts each of us differently. With mystery, drama, and relatable characters, this book will keep you engaged and entertained the entire way.
I give Head Cases 5 out of 5 stars. I connected with the main character and got pulled into the storyline from page one. I enjoyed the mystery and will admit I didn’t figure out who the criminal was until the author revealed in later in the book! The author crafts scenes with detail and authenticity that bring them to life off the page – I can understand why this was picked up for the screen! The only holdback I had on giving this a perfect 5.0 rating was a few slight errors when referencing locations in Georgia. In one specific example, the author references a location of “south of Atlanta”. Having lived south of Atlanta all of my life, that typically references locations that are still north of Macon – the location in the book was several hours further south nearly to the Florida border.
If you love Karen Slaughter’s Will Trent series, Marc Cameron’s Arliss Cutter series, or the Jack Ryan books by Tom Clancy, you will love this book! It would also be a great choice for a mystery or crime book club – there is so much to unpack about the main character and the crimes. With gun violence, death, and serious injury, I would direct this to readers over 16.
I have recently been watching the Netflix “Mindhunter” about the early days of serial killer profiling in the FBI, so I was immediately drawn to this novel when read the description on NetGalley. I love police and military thrillers and this was right up my alley. Head Cases will release on January 28th – you can preorder you copy in our Bookshop.org store today!
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