Review – The Pawn

FBI Special Agent-Patrick Bowers is called to Asheville, North Carolina as a police consultant and he’s almost relieved to focus on a criminal investigation instead of his recent widowhood, and the challenge of raising his surly seventeen-year-old stepdaughter. The case intrigues him, because the killer calls himself The Illusionist.

Author Steven James’ debut mystery thriller pits Bowers and his unique criminologist skills against a challenging and elusive serial killer. However what Bowers doesn’t know is that The Illusionist has completed his own profile of Bowers and intends to play a kind of chess game with him, with the prize of life going to the winner.

But the killer is only one of many challenges Bowers faces. His supervisor in North Carolina is an antagonistic former colleague intent on making him look bad. The governor of North Carolina and his suspected involvement could be devastating to his career; he’s also a Republican presidential contender. Add to the puzzle the strange connection to the mass Kool-Aid suicides in Jonestown years ago, and Bowers struggles with a growing list of questions.

Why does the killer tie a yellow ribbon in each victim’s hair? What does the chess piece found near the crime scene, on the body, or clutched in the victim’s hand mean? Why does the killer choose remote, difficult, mountainous terrain, sometimes hidden, treacherous caves for the kill? How does he choose his victims? With more questions than answers, Bowers has to use Sherlock-style deduction with high-tech forensics to unravel the killer’s methods and motives. The only thing Bowers knows for sure is he’s in a battle of wits with a madman who’s outwitted the best in law enforcement.

The Pawn, drawing advance rave reviews, is the first in a compelling new mystery trilogy titled, The Bowers Files that exposes the fine line between good and evil. Bowers uses ultra-modern environmental methods to track criminals by the day, time and place of the crime to complete a profile and forecast the killer’s next innocent victim. Well-developed characters, brisk pacing and a gripping plot will keep the pages turning. Christian faith is understated, but foundational and will be further developed in book two and three. Already noted for story-telling, James’ launch into the mystery genre with his vivid imagination, evocative writing, and intricately plotted tale makes him a writer to watch.