Into the Fire

Girl, Alone by Blake Pierce is Book 1 of the new Ella Dark Mystery Series. 

Ella Dark has worked for the FBI for years but longs for the opportunity to join the Behavioral Crimes Unit. She's studied every serial killer where information has been published and memorized all of it. Having experienced watching her father being murdered as a child and wondering if she truly saw it happen through her nightmares, she's also lost her sister to a murderer. 

When she's assigned to the icon investigator in the FBI's Behavioral Crimes Unit (Mia Ripley), she tries to keep her admiration to a professional level on their flight to the bayou in Louisiana where a brutal murder has been discovered. Ella can't believe the exacting evidence they find at the scene which points to a particular serial killer as she takes it all in and has to admit seeing the deaths in person is far more disconcerting than viewing the photos in a book or file. 

At first, Special Agent Ripley reacts to the information Ella provides with disdain, but then there are more murders which point to Ella's theory about a copycat killer that prove to be legitimate. When Ella is asked to create the profile for the killer, she is both thrilled and fearful of being wrong. 

Girl, Alone is an intriguing, scary, and intense story detailing the search for a psychopath who has chosen his kills carefully with remarkable identifiable distinctions which Ella recognizes immediately and predicts who he will choose next. Blake manages to make Ella Dark a unique character with amazing skills and emotional scars who is imperfect but persistent and determined in spite of harrowing mistakes. A well-written macabre thriller for those fans of stories reminiscent of the former TV series "Criminal Minds". 

Some profanity.

Father, only you know our hearts and minds. I ask that you continue to bless Blake's prolific career. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.