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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Very heavy
Bombings with detailed forensic aftermath; deaths depicted with technical specificity
Language
A lot
Strong language; Carol Starkey's voice is raw and specific
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
A lot
Heavy drinking as Carol Starkey's primary coping mechanism; alcoholism is a character detail
Emotional Intensity
A lot
PTSD after a traumatic event that killed someone she loved, the particular danger of expertise (knowing exactly how much she risks), the compulsion to work a case that is also about her own death
What this book is about
Carol Starkey is a Los Angeles bomb squad detective who survived an explosion that killed her partner and left her with physical and psychological wounds she medicates with vodka and cigarettes. When a series of bombings begins targeting other bomb technicians — taunting the FBI with a pattern — Starkey becomes both detective and potential victim. Robert Crais's standalone thriller is a procedural about the specific, technical world of explosive ordnance, and about a woman who cannot stop walking toward what nearly killed her.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
graphic bomb violence and forensic detail
strong language throughout
alcoholism as a sustained character theme
Reader Verification
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