KnockOut

Catherine Coulter

Book 13 of FBI Thriller

Language: English

Publisher: Putnam Adult

Published: Jun 16, 2009

Description:

The first time she spoke to him was at midnight. Seven-year-old Autumn Backman needed a hero. When she saw Special Agent Dillon Savich on TV after he’d brought down bank robbers in a Georgetown bank, she knew she’d found him. She called Savich, but she didn’t use the phone. They were burying dead people in my daddy’s grave . . . they’re coming after us. Please help me. Who’s they? Blessed, he’s coming. Ethan Merriweather, sheriff of Titusville, Virginia, a small mountain town near the Titus Hitch Wilderness, goes looking for a missing little girl. Soon after he finds her, Ethan realizes that Autumn has brought him a huge problem – a relentless madman who has the ability to control others simply by looking at them. And the madman is after her and her mom. It’s Uncle Blessed, and he wants Autumn. When Savich answers Autumn’s call, she tells him Blessed is from Bricker’s Bowl, Georgia. Savich and Sherlock go to Blessed’s home, learn about his brother, Grace, and meet their mother, Shepherd. Savich soon realizes the only way to stop Blessed is to “cut off the snake’s head.” Back in Titusville, Ethan, Autumn, and her mother, Joanna, are forced to hide from Blessed and Grace in the wilderness. Ethan knows the brothers will never give up their insane pursuit for Autumn. It’s a race to stop the madness, or the madness will destroy them all.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Bestseller Coulter's riveting 13th FBI thriller (after TailSpin) opens with a bang as psychic FBI agent Dillon Savich thwarts a gang of gun-totting robbers attempting to hold up the First Union Bank of Washington, D.C. Three days later, seven-year-old Autumn Backman, who sees Dillon on TV, sends him a telepathic message that she's in danger. Though eager to help Autumn, Dillon is busy tracking a bank robber who escaped, a teenage girl now leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. Meanwhile, in Titusville, Va., Autumn's mother reports her daughter missing to sheriff Ethan Merriweather. After finding Autumn, Ethan discovers her sinister uncle, Blessed, has evil designs on his psychic niece. Before Dillon and his fellow FBI agent and wife, Lacey Sherlock, can get to Titusville, Autumn and her mother flee. Well-developed characters and an expertly paced plot that builds to a breathtaking conclusion make this one of the best in this paranormal suspense series. (June)
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From Booklist

FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock have their hands full when Savich is caught in a bank holdup near his Washington, D.C., home. The vicious attack leaves the criminal leader dead and his injured teen daughter swearing revenge. She manages to escape, leading the FBI on a bloody chase. Then Savich receives a message from seven-year-old Autumn through extraordinary means: she contacts him with her mind. Her mother took her to Brickers Bowl, Georgia, to bury her father’s ashes, and now her very scary, psychic uncle Blessed is after them. The local sheriff vows to keep her safe, but he has no idea what he’s up against. These two cases keep Savich and Sherlock busy trying to protect their family from a brutal psychopathic teenage criminal and a psychotic paranormal family trying to bring a sweet child into their fold so they can manipulate her psychic power for nefarious purposes. This fast-paced thriller, featuring the author’s trademark wit in counterpoint to intense action, is an excellent addition to Coulter’s popular FBI series. --Patty Engelmann