The Third to Die : A Novel
Allison Brennan
On Sale Date: February 4, 2020
9780778309444, 0778309444
Hardcover
$26.99 USD, $33.50 CAD
Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
464 pages
About the Book:
New York Times bestselling
author and gifted storyteller Allison Brennan's new standalone
thriller features a troubled female police detective and an ambitious
FBI special agent who wind up at the center of a ticking-clock
investigation into a diabolical serial killer.
Brennan's novel will launch a
book-a-year series featuring a fabulous cast of recurring characters.
It’s the story of a troubled female police detective and an
ambitious FBI special agent who wind up at the center of a
ticking-clock investigation into a diabolical serial killer; and the
bond they forge in this crucible sets the stage for the future books
in the series.
Detective Kara Quinn is visiting her
hometown of Liberty Lake, Washington, after being placed on
administrative leave by the LAPD, when she comes upon the mutilated
body of a young nurse during an early morning jog. The manner of
death is clearly ritualistic; she calls it in. Meanwhile back in DC,
special agent in charge Mattias Costa is meticulously staffing his
newly-minted Mobile Response Team. One of his first recruits is the
brilliant FBI forensic psychologist Catherine Jones. When word
reaches Matt that the Washington state murder appears to be the work
of the Triple Killer--it will be the first case for the MRT. Jones
has done the only profile on this serial killer, but she is reluctant
to join the unit, still shaken by the death of her sister a year ago
under circumstances for which she holds herself responsible. But only
she holds the key to understanding the killer's obsessive
pattern--three murder victims, three deep slashes a piece, each three
days apart, each series beginning on a March 3rd--3/3, then a
three-year hiatus before he strikes again.
This time they have a chance to stop
him before he claims another victim strikes, but only if they can
figure out who he is and where is is hiding.
About the Author:
Allison Brennan is the New York
Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author
of three dozen thrillers and numerous short stories. She was
nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International
Thriller Writers, has had multiple nominations and two Daphne du
Maurier Awards, and is a five-time RITA finalist for Best Romantic
Suspense. Allison believes life is too short to be bored, so she had
five kids. Allison and her family live in Arizona. Visit her at
allisonbrennan.com
Social Links:
Facebook: @AllisonBrennan
Twitter: @Allison_Brennan
Instagram: @abwrites
Buy Links:
REVIEW:
An unusual serial killer with a complicated pattern and an unknowable goal, a workaholic FBI SAC of a brand-new not yet fully constituted mobile unit, an undercover feisty LAPD officer, and a quiet Pacific Northwest community: the combination makes for a tense nonstop week as law enforcement mobilizes to stop the next killing, none realizing how close is the killer to completing his silent vendetta, never guessing his identity.
EXCERPT:
Wednesday, March 3
Liberty Lake, Washington
12:09 a.m.
Warm blood covered him.
His arms, up to his elbows, were slick with
it. His clothing splattered with it. The knife—the blade that had
taken his retribution—hung in his gloved hand by his side.
It was good. Very good.
He was almost done.
The killer stared at the blackness in front of
him, his mind as silent and dark as the night. The water lapped
gently at the banks of the lake. A faint swish swish swish as it
rolled up and back, up and back, in the lightest of breezes.
He breathed in cold air; he exhaled steam.
Calm. Focused.
As the sounds and chill penetrated his
subconscious, he moved into action. Staying here with the body would
be foolish, even in the middle of the night.
He placed the knife carefully on a waist-high
boulder, then removed his clothes. Jacket. Sweater. Undershirt. He
stuffed them into a plastic bag. Took off his shoes. Socks. Pants.
Boxers. Added them to the bag. He stood naked except for his gloves.
He tied the top of the plastic, then picked up
the knife again and stabbed the bag multiple times. With strength
that belied his lean frame, he threw the knife into the water. He
couldn’t see where it fell; he barely heard the plunk.
Then he placed the bag in the lake and pushed
it under, holding it beneath the surface to let the frigid water seep
in. When the bag was saturated, he pulled it out and spun himself
around as if he were throwing a shot put. He let go and the bag flew,
hitting the water with a loud splash.
Even if the police found it—which he doubted
they would— the water would destroy any evidence. He’d bought the
clothes and shoes, even his underwear, at a discount store in another
city, at another time. He’d never worn them before tonight.
Though he didn’t want DNA evidence in the
system, it didn’t scare him if the police found something. He
didn’t have a record. He’d killed before, many times, and not one
person had spoken to him. He was smart—smarter than the cops, and
certainly smarter than the victims he’d carefully selected.
Still, he must be cautious. Meticulous. Being
smart meant that he couldn’t assume anything. What did his old man
use to say?
Assume makes an ass out of you and me…
The killer scowled. He wasn’t doing any of
this for his old man, though his father would get the retribution he
deserved. He was doing this for himself. His own
retribution. He was this close to finishing the elaborate plan
he’d conceived years ago.
He could scarcely wait until six days from now,
March 9, when his revenge would be complete.
He was saving the guiltiest of them for last.
Still, he hoped his old man would be pleased.
Hadn’t he done what his father was too weak to do? Righted the many
wrongs that had been done to them. How many times had the old man
said these people should suffer? How many times had his father told
him these people were fools?
Still, he hoped his old man would be pleased.
Hadn’t he done what his father was too weak to do? Righted the many
wrongs that had been done to them. How many times had the old man
said these people should suffer? How many times had his father told
him these people were fools?
Yet his father just let it happen and did
nothing about it! Nothing! Because he was weak. He was weak
and pathetic and cruel.
Breathe. Focus. All in good time.
All in good time.
The killer took another, smaller plastic bag
from his backpack. He removed his wet gloves, put them inside, added
a good-sized rock, tied the bag, then threw it into the lake.
Still naked, he shivered in the cold, still
air. He wasn’t done.
Do it quick.
He walked into the lake, the water colder than
ice. Still, he took several steps forward, his feet sinking into the
rough muck at the bottom. When his knees were submersed, he did a
shallow dive. His chest scraped a rock, but he was too numb to feel
pain. He broke through the surface with a loud scream. He couldn’t
breathe; he couldn’t think. His heart pounded in his chest, aching
from the icy water.
But he was alive. He was fucking alive!
He went under once more, rubbed his hands
briskly over his arms and face in case any blood remained. He would
take a hot shower when he returned home, use soap and a towel to
remove anything the lake left behind. But for now, this would do.
Twenty seconds in the water was almost too
long. He bolted out, coughed, his body shaking so hard he could
scarcely think. But he had planned everything well and operated on
autopilot.
He pulled a towel from his backpack and dried
off as best he could. Stepped into new sweatpants, sweatshirt, and
shoes. Pulled on a new pair of gloves. There might be blood on the
ATV, but it wasn’t his blood, so he wasn’t concerned.
He took a moment to stare back at the dark,
still lake. Then he took one final look at the body splayed faceup.
He felt nothing, because she was nothing. Unimportant. Simply a small
pawn in a much bigger game. A pawn easily sacrificed.
He hoped his old man would be proud of his
work, but he would probably just criticize his son’s process. He’d
complain about how he did the job, then open another bottle of booze.
He hoped his father was burning in hell.
He jumped on the ATV and rode into the night.
Excerpted
from The
Third to Die by
Allison Brennan, Copyright ©
2020 by Allison Brennan. Published by MIRA Books.
1. The Tenant. Read Jan. 3-4. NG.
2. The Purity of Vengeance. Read Jan. 4-6. NG.
3. The God Game. Read Jan. 6-7. NG
4. Storm Island Read Jan. 7. NG
5. Shadow Puppet Read Jan. 8. NG.
6. The God Game Read Jan. 8-9. NG.
7. Lion's Head Revisited
8. Charlie Harmer and The Lady In Red
9. The Tao of the Viper
10. The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane
11. Midwinter Folk
12. And Throw Away the Skins
13. The Girl Without Skin
14. Cold Fear
15. Curse of the Evil Librarian
16. Cold Storage
17. The Third to Die
18. Cast in Wisdom
19. The Other People
20. Fault Lines
21. IMPLOSION: The search is on for six million dollars hidden in a Las Vegas hotel destined for destruction!
22. My Hair-Raising and Heartwarming Adventures as a Pet Sitter: A Life of Fun, Fur, and Faith]
23. The Unwilling
24. Things in Jars
25. Inside
26. One Day You'll Burn
27. The Only Good Indians
28. The Burning
29. Watch You Burn
30. No Good Men
31. The Burning Girl
32. Burn the Dark
33. The Garden of Bewitchment
34. The Goblets Immortal
35. The Blood-Dimmed Tide
36. The Ice Maid's Tail
37. Magical Mystery Paws
38. Beyond the Gravy
39. I Know Where You Sleep
40. Zugzwang
41. Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft
42. No Bad Deed
43. The Evil Within
44. Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone
45. The Pennwood Haunting
46. The Kraken Project
47. Kraken's Keep
48. The Kraken King and the Scribbling Spinster
Mt. Kilimanjaro:
49. Octopus
50. Gone at Midnight: The Mysterious Death of Elisa Lam
51. Who Is the Doctor 2: The Unofficial Guide to Doctor Who -- The Modern Series
52. The Forever House
53. Two Lives
54. Vulcan's Forge
55. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
56. Plague Pit
57. Boy in the Box
58. Stephen King's The Body: Bookmarked
59. Some Choose Darkness
60. The Wise Friend
El Toro:
61. The Graveyard Apartment
62. Train Girl
63. The Heron Kings
64. The Trains That Climb the Winter Tree
65. The Seventh Sun
66. The Seventh Plague
67. The Bat
68. The Red House Mystery
69. Where the Forest Meets the Stars
70. The Scent of Murder
71. Until Summer Comes Around
72. Tomb of Gods
73. The City Among the Stars
74. The Main Line Is Murder
75. A Call for Kelp El Toro Achieved!!
Mount Everest:
76. The Cursed
77. The Hexed
78. The Betrayed
79. Pawsitively Poisonous
80. The Creature from Cleveland Depths and Other Tales
81. Lords of Deception
82. The Museum of Desire
83. All Cats Are Gray
84. Conjure Wife
85. Vicious Circle
86. Death Falls
87. Devil's Night
88. The Darwin Affair
89. Dark Sacred Night
90. The Night Fire
91. Beers and Fears: The Haunted Brewery
92. The Book of Skulls
93. Mayhem
94. Dark Channel
95. Cut Corners Volume 3
96. The Last Rakosh: A Repairman Jack Tale
97. The Keep
98. The Select
99. Faithful Shadow
100. The Truth about Belle Gunness: The True Story of Notorious Serial Killer Hell's Belle
EVEREST!
101. Plague
102. Plague
103. Lizardville The Ghost Story
104. A Case of Conscience
105. The Island
106. Scarecrow
107. Scarecrows
108. The Cask of Amontillado
109. The Witch of Halloween House
110. Chilling Effect
111. The Booking
112. The Library of the Unwritten
113. Venus Plus X
114. The Twisted Window (2012!)
115. Mr. Spaceship
116. The Skull
117. When the Clock Strikes on Halloween
118. The Twisted Ones
119. The Haunting of Sunshine Girl
120. The Hydrax Gamble
121. The Murders of Molly Southbourne
122. Lakewood
123. Bobby Ether and the Jade Academy
124. Bobby Ether and the Academy
125. Velocity Weapon
126. The Darwin Elevator
127. Blood Music
128. Queen of Angels
129. Judgment Engine
130. Moving Mars
131. Earth
132. Rescue Mode
133. Happy Bloody Halloween
134. A Memory Called Empire - Preview Excerpt
135. A Memory Called Empire
136. Children of the Fifth Sun
137. The Enceladus Mission: Hard Science Fiction
138. Mars Nation 1: Hard Science Fiction
139. BOOKBURNERS S01 E01
140. BOOKBURNERS S01 E02
141. BOOKBURNERS S01 E03
142. BOOKBURNERS S01 E04
143. BOOKBURNERS S01 E05
144. BOOKBURNERS S01 E06
145. BOOKBURNERS S01 E07
146. BOOKBURNERS S01 E08
147. BOOKBURNERS S01 E09
148. BOOKBURNERS S01 E10
149. BOOKBURNERS S01 E11
150. BOOKBURNERS S01 E12
MOUNT OLYMPUS COMPLETE!!!
151. BOOKBURNERS S01 E13
152. BOOKBURNERS S01 E14
153. BOOKBURNERS S01 E15
154. BOOKBURNERS S01 E16