Leslie Wolfe

This story is told by multiple characters from Tess as she tries to find the kidnapped child, to the kidnappers as they try to work out how to retrieve their ransom money and we hear from each of the grief-stricken parents as they try to comply with the kidnappers demands and terms all make for some great characters and a nail-biting investigation. Tess is used to being called reckless and a loose cannon, so she is surprised when she is the only FBI Agent called in to investigate a child show more abduction case, especially as her background is serial killer cases. She learns that the child's father is the reason she is called in. She has faced him many times across a court room. Now he needs her reckless behavior to help find his missing daughter. The kidnapping was well planned but something about it is just "off" and she can't help but wonder just what the state district attorney is not telling her. Can she meet the kidnappers demands and get his daughter back or is there something else going on and will she and computer special analyst Donovan be able to uncover it in time? This has become one of the boldest kidnappings the bureau has ever seen. There were several "plot holes", hence the 4.5-star rating, but overall, an enjoyable read. show less

TW: Sexual Predator (Graphic)

Dr. Kay Sharp has returned to Mount Chester on personal leave from her job as an FBI profiler in San Francisco. A local case captures her attention, and she can’t dismiss the signs of a serial killer.

"She watched him through a blur of tears, her heart thumping against her ribcage, plastic ties cutting into her flesh as she struggled to free herself."

The 1st sentence generates stark images, and that’s as a reader. It’s a race against time. Clues come to show more dead ends. Kay can develop a profile, adjust and fine-tune, adjust and fine-tune again every time a little evidence available comes to light, but how do you find the perpetrator? The perpetrator tortures women, some of them mothers. The one child located so traumatized she hasn’t spoken, and other children are still missing.

I read "The Surgeon" (stand-alone) earlier this year and wanted to read more of the author’s writing. The clock is ticking. Lives are at risk. Pulsating intensity. Danger unlike any other experience. An experience too frightening to even contemplate. Dr. Sharp will contemplate. She must contemplate the elements of the crime to solve the case. Even as the case ended, the lead detective Elliot who had asked for Kay’s help, commented,

"I don’t know how you do this…How can anyone do this type of work for living?"

One of the differences in this crime fiction is the character development is not only of the law enforcement personnel and victims, but the narrative also reveals the course of events that led the individual to be an offender.

This novel is fiction, but sadly some women and children have experienced and suffered the trauma of unspeakable acts of violence. I don’t know how FBI profilers and other law enforcement personnel work these cases, but I am thankful they do. Although I’ll never know their names, I give them silent but heartfelt thanks for every case solved. Thank you for your dedication and relentless spirit. Thank you. show less

Possible Trigger Warnings: Torture, child and mother abduction
The Girl from Silent Lake is the first in a new series by Leslie Wolfe and the first book of hers I have read. The story follows the path of most crime/detective series and is a worthwhile read. I had a few problems with the believability of the actions by this "seasoned detective"...(the author's description, not mine). Kay was an FBI profiler, not an agent, that quits her job to return to her hometown when her brother is show more arrested for a "barroom brawl". Problem question#1 - Why in the world would a "seasoned profiler" quit a position like that just because of an arrest for "a bar-room brawl"? He didn't kill anyone...he was only held overnight so the police must not have considered him a danger to anyone...but here is his now unemployed sister.... Humm. Now Question #2- While getting acclimated at her old home and town, Kay "offers some advice on a local murder" and ends up "helping in the investigation of a serial killer." Kay was not an agent although I'm sure she had some knowledge as a profiler, but she is not even employed any longer by any law enforcement agency...so she is now a civilian like the rest of the town. "She goes to the crime scene to see what she could discover but has no credentials now to take an official role in the case." This doesn't seem to be problem for the detective, Elliott, who says her brain is " bigger than an ol' pickup truck." I'm still laughing over that bright remark. Since when would a civilian, more or less off the street, no matter how big her brain is, be asked or allowed to participate in a serial killer manhunt for just offering some advice? I could see that they might ask her to profile the killer but not help hunt for him. In spite of my two main questions, the story is fast paced, interesting, and I never guessed the killer...but the reader needs to be aware that there is also a HUGE TRIGGER WARNING in this book. The victims are mothers that are kidnapped with their children and there are vivid descriptions of the victims being tortured. The story idea is not bad, but you will need to be a really big crime novel fan to overlook parts of it. I guess you will need a brain "bigger than ol' pickup truck." :) show less

Another thrilling read by Leslie Wolfe, who is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, and I'm not a big crime fan! I have thoroughly enjoyed following Special Agent Tess Winnett and her team as they hunt down merciless killers and, I must say, I did not suspect the killer at all in "Taker of Lives". This unsub was cold, intelligent, ruthless and tech savvy. I enjoyed the fact that this was a cybercrime and relied heavily on the dark web - scary!

I loved how the author provided different show more points of view and allowed the reader to understand Tess' thinking as she worked the case to try and stop the Taker of Lives before another girl lost hers. Her frustrations and anger were real and the tension was palpable as the killer seemed to always be one step ahead of her.

I just hope this isn't the end of Tess Winnett. show less