Jan Burke: Nine (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
On the heels of her soaring bestseller Flight, Edgar Award-winning author Jan Burke reaches new heights of suspense in this ingenious novel of hard-hitting justice and cold-blooded murder.

Los Angeles County Homicide Detective Alex Brandon lives to bring killers to justice -- but when unknown assailants begin systematically killing off the FBI's Most Wanted suspects, Alex sees no cause for celebration. The vigilante slayings eerily echo the work of a serial killer from a decade ago, and convince Alex that "the Exterminators," as a grateful public has dubbed them, are more ruthless and sadistic than their victims. As the attacks mount, it is the ninth target that pulls Alex into a case that is quickly spiraling into deadly territory -- where justice is no longer enough.

Jan Burke: Nine. A Novel of Suspense. Pocket Books, ISBN: 074344454X (October, 2003), 525 p., $7.50.

Jan Burke: Nine (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
Hailed by reviewers and fellow authors alike, Edgar Award winner Jan Burke has won a legion of devoted readers with her witty, ingeniously crafted novels featuring Irene Kelly. Now Burke, who earned critical acclaim for her stunning departure novel, Flight, returns with another electrifying thriller: Nine will hold readers in thrall until the breathtaking conclusion.

When a brutal felon on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list turns up dead in Los Angeles County, few mourn him; in fact, the public begins to cheer his unknown assailants as heroes. But as more brutalized corpses of fugitive outlaws are found, Sheriff's Homicide Detective Alex Brandon knows that the vigilante group the public has nicknamed "The Exterminators" may be far more ruthless and sadistic than its victims.

The corpses bear eerie similarities to victims of a serial killer investigated by Brandon ten years ago. The perpetrator died at the hands of his own deeply traumatized teenaged stepson, Kit Logan. Logan, protected by his wealthy family, never spent a day in jail; instead, he was sent to a private reform school for the truant sons of L.A.'s most affluent. Alex Brandon, unable to locate Logan for questioning, has a chilling sense he is being manipulated. But why?

A terrifying novel that asks what happens when justice is no longer enough, Nine introduces an unforgettable protagonist. A modern morality tale, it is another captivating gem from an acclaimed master of mystery and suspense.

Jan Burke: Nine. A Novel of Suspense. Pocket Books, ISBN: 0743223896 (November, 2002), 384 p., $24.00.