Find out the latest indie author news. For FREE.

ADVERTISEMENT

Formats
Ebook Details
  • 09/2013
  • 978-1494403720 B00FPAIWLO
  • 440 pages
  • $3.99
Paperback Details
  • 09/2013
  • 978-1494403720 B00FPAIWLO
  • 440 pages
  • $15.99
Ben Miller
Author
A Bustle in the Hedgerow
Ben Miller, author
The strangled body of a 9-year-old girl is discovered behind a hedgerow bordering her school playground in York, Pennsylvania. The local authorities’ only clue lies in a scrap of paper left in her front pocket, with a short phrase printed on it in an unfamiliar language. Jackson Byrne, an FBI agent who specializes in investigating crimes against children, has just completed a book tour promoting his best-seller about solving his most recent high-profile case—the abduction and murder of a celebrity’s young daughter. Unexpectedly, Jack receives an invitation from an old family friend and powerful political insider urging him to run for the U.S. Senate. At the same time, his FBI division learns of the murder of another child with a similar mysterious message, launching them into a search for a serial killer given the moniker The Playground Predator. As Jack becomes torn between his excitement about a new career and others’ expectations of a celebrated investigator, he must also continue to deal with demons from his past. While Jack’s devoted wife, a sycophantic young FBI colleague, and an ambitious and attractive female reporter all try to influence his path, none of them pulls the strings as effectively as the enigmatic Randall, the psychologically disturbed but brilliant Playground Predator himself, who orchestrates his own master plan, eventually dragging Jack into an inevitable showdown.
Reviews
FBI agent Jack Byrne, the hero of Miller’s twisty cat-and-mouse thriller, has become a national celebrity after the publication of his book about his role in solving the high-profile murder of an NFL star’s daughter. Though Jack’s work for the Child Abduction and Serial Murder Investigative Resource Center has been fulfilling, he’s nonetheless tempted to enter politics after Senator Montgomery Johnson, the majority leader, asks him to run for a soon-to-be-vacant seat in Virginia. After a timely surprise meeting with President Harrison Sullivan, Jack agrees to do so. Meanwhile, there’s a series of murders that he would normally investigate. A sadist, who comes to be known as the Playground Predator, has taken the lives of two nine-year-old girls, leaving cryptic notes on the bodies written in Serbian and Thai. Sections from the perspective of the murderer ratchet up the tension en route to a nail-biting climax. (BookLife)
Kirkus Reviews

KIRKUS REVIEW

In Miller’s debut, an FBI agent looking to leave the bureau for a career in politics gets pulled back in when a killer uses cryptic messages to toy with investigators.

“This one feels bad,” Special Agent Jackson Byrne says when two similar murders suggest that a possible serial killer is targeting young girls and leaving notes for authorities to find. A friend of Jack’s late father is doing a good job of convincing the agent to make a run for a U.S. Senate seat. But his recent fame, sparked by solving a high-profile kidnapping-murder and writing a book about it, may postpone Jack’s political aspirations—especially since the killer’s plan seems contingent upon Jack’s working the case. This nail-biter teems with suspense and competently manages two murder mysteries in one: the FBI’s current case and the much-publicized investigation from the previous year. The latter, its particulars only gradually brought to light, unfolds via flashbacks and snippets of Jack’s novel. Even a lengthy chapter, in which Jack criticizes child-protection laws, is perceptive and absorbing, despite the fact that it digresses from the narrative. Miller provides a first-person account of the killer, who’s so scrupulous with his “work” that seemingly trivial behavior, like watching a spider crawl across the ceiling, is profoundly unsettling. Other characters offer ample support, chiefly Special Agent Heath Reilly, a socially awkward fed who desperately wants to be the lead investigator. With regard to the young victims, the novel circumvents potentially unpleasant moments by concentrating on the tension derived from anticipation and uncertainty rather than any visceral imagery.

An unrelenting debut thriller that reads like the work of a pro.

News
03/02/2015
Interview with Indie Author News

Ben was interviewed by Alan Kealey from Indie Author News

Formats
Ebook Details
  • 09/2013
  • 978-1494403720 B00FPAIWLO
  • 440 pages
  • $3.99
Paperback Details
  • 09/2013
  • 978-1494403720 B00FPAIWLO
  • 440 pages
  • $15.99
ADVERTISEMENT

Loading...