The story starts with an almost 12 yr old boy in bed, being read to from The Book by his mother. Adam hates it when she reads it to him because it scares him. Then she scares him even more when she recites the “Train Man” nursery rhyme to him. She does it to scare him into staying in bed until morning. His mother scares him and his father so much that they always obey her.
We learn later in the story that The Book is only allowed by certain people who belong to a group who call themselves the Circle. Jump ahead to when Adam is now an adult and tagging train cars. When bodies begin to appear in train cars that are tagged with a verse and initials TM. Alex works for the FBI and is being summoned to go to Kansas City as part of a task force to assist the KCPD in finding the serial killer. When she learns of the verses being used in the tagging she starts to remember The Book and her crazy aunt who recited it to her after she went to live with her aunt. Alex hasn’t been to see her aunt since she left Wichita at age 18. She is told to get her aunt’s copy of The Book to help with the investigation. When she and her coworker Logan arrive in Wichita they are met by Alex’s former neighbor friend Mike who now works for the local FBI office. Being back in Wichita and seeing her aunt is bringing up Alex’s painful past. Will she be able to get past it and have clear thinking for the investigation? When Alex’s aunt and caregiver are attacked and murdered in their home will they find out who did it? The caregiver Nettie was in bad condition in ICU at the hospital. When Alex & Logan arrive at the hospital they see Mike. They try talking to Nettie but she’s unable to talk well enough to understand and then all of a sudden she dies. We don’t learn until later why she died when she was in fairly stable condition. When it’s finally determined who TM (the train car tagged) is we find out he’s also stolen an active virus that is much worse than COVID-19. Will they find TM in time to get the vial of virus before it’s unleashed? How many more people will die before TM is caught? Will Alex get over her fears, and anger towards her aunt and God? What happens when Alex sets out on her own against orders to find TM and the gal he abducted? Will Logan get there in time to help Alex?
I received my copy as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to the next book.
- Goodreads rating – 4.10
- REVIEW – Cindy