John McMahon introduces us to a team of outcast geniuses in this page-turner!

This grabbed me from the opening chapter and kept me on the edge of my seat! The novel follows the FBI's specialized Patterns and Recognition Unit (PAR) in St. Augustine, Florida. The story centers on a group of agents unflatteringly called "head cases" by their colleagues. They are a group of outcasts with genius abilities in puzzles, patterns, codes, etc., but have all messed up somewhere in their careers, and PAR is their last chance. They usually work cold cases but get called to help catch a serial killer who is killing other serial killers and leaving riddles behind.
Analytical puzzle genius Gardner Camden leads an ensemble cast of well-developed, quirky, and distinctive characters. Each team member has a unique skill set, and seeing how they worked together was interesting and fun. Gardner's interactions with his mother and daughter also added an emotional layer to the story. I enjoyed seeing both the professional and private sides of Gardner's life right from the start.
This was my first book by this author, and I enjoyed his writing style, the carefully constructed plot, and how he built suspense. The twists were well done, and I did not anticipate some places this went. The premise was unique, and the crime set up a morally complex chase as the killer targets other killers. So, that was an interesting angle.
I hope this becomes a series, as I'd be interested in more stories with this group. The whole time I was reading this, I thought it would make a great TV show, and then I found out it was optioned for an adaptation.
Very entertaining and one that fans of thrillers and procedurals will want to check out!
Pub day: January 28, 2025
Thank you to St. Martin's Press Minotaur Books for the gifted review copy!
Also thank you to my Instagram book friend, @EricaBingesBooks She told me how good this was and I bumped it up on my tbr because of her! Her excellent review is available to read here on Instagram and on Goodreads!
My steep was Metropolitan by August Uncommon, a black tea with bergamot, plum, and clove!
PUBLISHER'S SYNOPSIS:
Head Cases follows an enigmatic group of FBI agents as they hunt down a murderer seeking his own justice in this electrifying—and commercial—series debut.
FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.
When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer.
Along with Gardner, PAR consists of a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. Each of them must use every skill they have to solve the riddle of the killer’s identity. But with the perpetrator somehow learning more and more about the team at PAR, can they protect themselves and their families…before it’s too late?
With an enigmatic case that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and a thoroughly engaging ensemble cast, John McMahon’s Head Cases is a triumph.
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