Review – Opening Moves

Steven James in his new book, “Opening Moves” The Prequel in the Patrick Bowers series published by Signet Select introduces us not only to Patrick Bowers but to his supporting cast of characters as well.

From the back cover:  In The Bowers Files novels, FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers has stopped some of the most vicious serial killers ever imagined. Now, in the fifth exciting installment, author Steven James takes readers back to Bowers’s terrifying beginning.

Milwaukee, 1997. In a city reeling from the crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer, a series of gruesome kidnappings and mutilations draw authorities into a case like nothing they’ve ever seen. Cops think a Dahmer copycat is on the loose.

But Patrick Bowers, working as a homicide detective, suspects this is more than an ode to the infamous cannibal. When he discovers that the shocking acts reference some of the most notorious and macabre killers in our nation’s history, the investigation spirals into a nightmare of manipulation, brutality, and terror.

Wielding groundbreaking investigative techniques, Bowers must now face off with a killer who will stop at nothing to get his message out to the world. Chilling, gritty, and packed with twists and turns, Opening Moves is Steven James’s most heart-pounding novel yet.

So far there have been five books in the Patrick Bowers series and in each one the character of Richard Basque has either been mentioned or has appeared.  His character has always been dangerous and as he has evolved one cannot tell if he is lying or not.  Basque is a marvelously creepy villain.  Now, in “Opening Moves”, Basque makes his premiere appearance and this is quite an introduction.  During the course of the series Mr. James has told us various scenes from their initial encounter.  Well get ready these flashbacks never prepared us for what is between these pages.  There is a reason for why Basque scares Bowers and now we know what it is.

“Opening Moves” is unique in that all of the characters, including Patrick Bowers, are new.  They are not the characters that we know as they have not become them yet and we are even treated to meeting the woman who will become Patrick’s wife and his future step-daughter.  Have no fear this is your typical Steven James roller-coaster ride breathless thriller where we are on the hunt for a cannibal serial killer.  This book races along at lightening speed and all the characters are put thought their paces trying to solve this homicide spree and put all the pieces together.  Another really great offering from the pen of Steven James.  If you enjoy a good adventure thriller then this is the book for you!