Quick Synopsis

In this sequel to McMahon’s electrifying series debut, Head Cases, Gardner Camden and the PAR team return to investigate potentially connected cases.

Publisher’s Synopsis

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.

PAR’s latest case involves a militia group stockpiling weapons. When their confidential informant in the case is killed, it quickly becomes clear that the militia did not kill him.

As the squad looks into the evidence surrounding his murder, an unidentified man is caught on camera with their informant. This mystery man’s picture is connected to another case at the FBI, an unsolved series of murdered women, buried in the ground in north Florida. Could they have uncovered a serial killer? And if so, what is his connection to their C.I.?

As PAR juggles an investigation into both the dead women and the militia, they enroll a new informant, only to find the case escalating in dangerous ways. How will PAR handle a case that increasingly looks like a terrorist plot? And in the serial case, with no puzzles or witnesses, and few leads, how will a group set up to decode riddles be successful?

Book Review

Inside Man is the sophomore novel in the Head Cases series about a quirky but brilliant team of FBI agents assigned to the Patterns and Recognition Unit. This book focuses on the team solving two cases – one in which a militia group is stockpiling weapons and kills their CI and another where a serial killer is murdering young women.

I adored this series debut, Head Cases, when I read it last year. I always try to temper my expectations at the start of any series in recognition that they can easily go downhill or have a second book slump. Unfortunately, I found that this was the case with Inside Man. Although the cases were twisty, complex, and interesting, what I enjoyed most about Head Cases was largely absent: the fun team dynamic and fast-paced narrative. In fact, I felt like Inside Man skipped any development of the team members, which is what I think was one of the big factors that originally set this series apart from others. The PAR team is geographically separated for a large portion of the novel, preventing interpersonal dynamics to shine. Additionally, the continuing characters are not really re-introduced nor are they further developed in this sequel.

I am always a proponent of authors re-establishing characters and a team’s dynamic at the start of each book in a series. First, I think this allows readers to pick up a series at any point without reading its predecessors. Second, it typically takes about a year, at the soonest, for a subsequent book to be published. This is a significant enough time gap for readers to forget details. I have yet to be annoyed by an author rehashing the events of a prior book. I am however dissuaded from continuing a series when an author assumes their reader remembers absolutely everything about the previous novel without a refresher.

Although both the criminal cases that occur in Inside Man are compelling, I felt that they were a big convoluted. Once I read the last page, I had difficulty explaining exactly what had happened to anyone. While I like a plot taking me by surprise and being stumped by a mystery, I also want to be able to recall the major plot points after finishing. As a result, I think there were a few too many twists and turns in this book. I can easily see some readers becoming confused or lost in the details.

Overall, Inside Man is a decent novel with interesting enough cases to keep you engaged but it fell short of its predecessor. I still recommend it despite my disappointment it is not as great as the series debut. I plan to give the series another chance.