Inside Man by John McMahon

 

The team:  Gardner Camden, Joanne "Shooter" Harris, Cassie Pardo, and Richie Brancato, the rookie.

"(We) work for an FBI unit called PAR, which stands for Patterns and Recognition....Our job is to identify peculiarities in cases that have stalled or gone cold. To uncover details that others have missed, then hand the case off, either back to the field office that sent it to us--or to a team in Quantico. When people speak well of us, they call us puzzle-solvers. When they don't, we are thought of as oddballs. Freaks with a bent toward data. Often, they call us 'head cases.'"

Gardner Camden is the leader of this eccentric team, the oddest...and the smartest. He sees and calculates patterns others can't. He also has to remind himself to make small talk, and to smile, and try to show concern for others. Though never with his young daughter, Camila. With her, "I try not to be me."

He and his team are working a fraud case in Florida that quickly becomes complicated with a dead C.I., a missing shipment of ghost guns, the threat of domestic terrorism, and a possible serial killer.

My thoughts:  This book is as propulsive and gripping as McMahon's first Gardner Camden mystery, Head Cases, which was one of my favorite reads last year. Gardner is one of those characters that you can't help but like. And he's dealing with a lot in this novel. I love his interactions with his daughter, and how he figures out the intricacies of this cases. I couldn't put this one down. This novel is well-written, intense, compelling and entertaining. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!