The Rook by Steven James

Patrick Bowers has taken his step-daughter Tessa with him to San Diego to work on a series of arsons. Tessa and Pat are still trying to work out a relationship as father/daughter. Tessa is 17 and wanting independence, but with the work that Patrick does he knows the evil that is out there waiting for young women.

The arson cases and a government secret soon collide with each other and has the FBI and local authorities working against the clock to find a woman who only has hours left to live.

Lien-hua is a profiler that Patrick has worked with before. He doesn't like profiling, but he does like Lien-hua. Throughout the investigation they kind of dance around their attraction for each other.

A killer using the name "Shade" is the puppeteer master throughout the whole story. He now has his sights set on Patrick so I am assuming we will see more of him in future books.

I thought this book was a bit slower paced than the last Patrick Bowers book I read(OPENING MOVES), but it still kept me interested in continuing on to find out what happens. We met Tessa in THE PAWN and she still frustrated me in this book. It has been a while since I had a 17 year old in my home so I guess I may have forgotten that their decision making skills are sometimes lacking. Tessa has some destructive behavior that needs some serious counseling. I hope that her character will mature as the series goes on. I really like her and Patrick trying to be a family. The wrap-up of the book was exciting as always and of course left a bad guy to continue on into the next book.

   Other books I have read in the series:

Opening Moves
The Pawn