The Stranger You Seek

By: Amanda Kyle Williams

Narrated by: Anne Marie Lee

Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

In Atlanta, Georgia, a vicious serial killer is at loose, luring victims with ease, killing them with a combination of precision and twisted brutality.

Keye Street is not happy. Formally a rising FBI star, with two university degrees and a brilliant track record in criminal profiling, she's now working for herself as a bail recovery agent. It's not exciting work, but it keeps her agency afloat. So when her friend and mentor, Lieutenant Aaron Rauser, wants her on his case, Keye is reluctant to help him out. That way, obsession lies, and she knows her demons. But when he shows her a letter he's received from the killer, Keye feels a familiar excitement. They're being played with, the snare is set, and Keye just can't resist picking up the bait....

©2011 Amanda Kyle Williams (P)2011 Headline Digital

Critic reviews

"Williams has created one of the most realistic protagonists in crime fiction that I've had the thrill to read." (Tess Gerritsen)

"An exceptionally smart, funny and character-driven debut." (Karin Slaughter)

"This is one Street worth acquainting yourself with." (The Sun)

Brilliant

This is one book you need to plan for in advance. Because once you read the first few pages, you'll be glued to the book until you finish.

Williams has previously written a number of lesbian detective novels. I should mention also that more sensitive readers may be offended by the book, given the language and certain scenes. However, Williams juggles character, plot and tension--not to mention supplying plenty of twists and turns--as well as any other suspense writer you've read.

Keye Street, the protagonist, is a flawed but likeable former profiler for the FBI. Although she's of Chinese ancestry, she was adopted as a baby by a Southern couple. Keye loves the South as only someone who grew up there can.

At one point, Keye was tossed out of the FBI because she was an alcoholic. And not only that, but her marriage came to an end. Four years later she's sober, if somewhat shakily, and works at chasing down bail jumpers.

Summer in Atlanta can be about two degrees cooler than hell itself. But what really disturbs the citizens is when a serial killer begins a frightening cat and mouse game with the media.

Keye has extensive experience at profiling, but she is no longer Special Agent Street, and so hardly expects to be drawn into the case. Yet as the bodies begin to pile up, she finds herself on the hunt for the killer, drawn in by her friend, Lt. Rauser, who heads the investigation.

And the problem with giving you any more information is then I will spoil some of the surprises. And I hate, hate, hate it when other reviewers do that. So just let me just sum the book up: yes, this is one serial killer thriller that does stand out and that is worth the price.