Velocity (Karen Vail Series) [Hardcover]

Alan Jacobson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Karen Vail Series | Publication Date: October 5, 2010

Renowned FBI profiler Karen Vail returns in Velocity, national bestselling author Alan Jacobson’s most explosive thriller to date. Detective Robby Hernandez, Vail’s boyfriend, has vanished into the dense air of a Napa Valley evening. There are no clues to his whereabouts, other than blood stain and tenuous connections to a vicious serial killer operating it the wine country.

 

As the task force struggles with Robby’s disappearance, the killer challenges Vail by boldly leaving his high profile victims in public places. Is this offender somehow responsible for Robby’s disappearance? Evidence suggests that he is-but just when Vail and the task force begin to make progress, the FBI orders Vail to return to Quantico to handle a case of vital importance.

 

Back in Washington, Vail engages convert government operative Hector DeSantos to determine what happened to Robby. It’s a move that backfires when DeSantos’s confidential informants lead them into unforeseen dangers, forcing Vail to face off against powerful foes unlike any she’s ever encountered, threatening her life, her career…all that she holds dear.

In a frantic race against time that takes them from the monuments of Washington D.C. to the wealthy beach enclaves of San Diego and the bright excesses of Las Vegas, shocking truths emerge-truths that will forever change Karen Vail.

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Jacobson's third thriller featuring FBI profiler Karen Vail (after Crush) sizzles with nonstop action and startling details about drug trafficking. When Karen's lover, Det. Robby Hernandez, disappears in California's Napa Valley while she's busy catching John Wayne Mayfield, the notorious œCrush Killer,  Karen is horrified to learn that she may have blown Robby's cover. As part of a DEA operation, Robby was investigating drug cartel kingpin Carlos Cortez and his associates, including the CFO of a mobile wine bottling company, César Guevara. Guevara was funneling drugs for Cortez and using Mayfield to eliminate anyone opposing the drug lord. For years the DEA has wanted to take down Cortez, and now Karen does, too. Refreshingly real, Karen doesn't let her tough œtake no prisoners  attitude stand in the way of following her heart. While this dizzy nail-biter is a direct sequel to Crush, enough backstory will keep new readers up to speed.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

First, FBI profiler Karen Vail’s romantic getaway with Detective Robby Hernandez in the Napa Valley turns into a busman’s holiday, as she pursues a serial killer. Then Hernandez goes missing, and in her search for her best friend and lover, Vail inadvertently puts him in mortal danger. Called back to Quantico by her boss, Thomas Gifford, to work a high-profile case, Vail connects with Hector DeSantos, a government operative who agrees to put his considerable covert resources into finding Hernandez. When DeSantos uncovers Gifford’s involvement in the Hernandez disappearance, Vail—a veritable force of nature when someone she loves is in jeopardy—gets carte blanche to work the search. Jacobson, who dealt with the wine business in Crush (2009), picks up just where that book ended as he explores illegal drug trafficking and the deadly cartels behind it. Those who cross Karen Vail do so at their peril, and the third in this series is a high-tech, interagency procedural with nonstop action. Gritty crime fiction with adrenaline-producing suspense. --Michele Leber

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Vanguard Press (October 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593156219
• ISBN-13: 978-1593156213
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #281,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My literary career has been marked by a number of events, but none more significant than an accidental meeting nearly 20 years ago. While researching "False Accusations" at the Department of Justice's crime lab, I met FBI agent Mark Safarik, who was awaiting promotion to the FBI Behavioral Analysis (profiling) Unit--the one popularized by TV's Criminal Minds. We hit it off, stayed in touch, and Agent Safarik invited me out to Quantico to tour the FBI Academy and profiling unit. Thus began my immersion in the world of serial killers, rapists, bombers and arsonists.

Seven years later, my education had reached critical mass: I'd made numerous trips to the BAU, had countless hours of conversations with Agent Safarik and his partner; I'd edited four published FBI research papers on serial offenders and attended numerous FBI training courses; I'd shot submachine guns with the head firearms instructor at the Academy; and I'd parsed serial killer interviews with Agent Safarik. I felt that I owned the material well enough to use this knowledge and experience in writing my third novel, the first featuring FBI Profiler Karen Vail.

Vail had an explosive debut, bursting onto the scene in the national bestseller "The 7th Victim." Sporting a vibrant personality oozing sharp wit and sarcasm, Vail is a woman bucking the odds in a unit geared toward men, someone who always means well but, like you and me, makes mistakes. She has fears, loves, and vulnerabilities--and despite being very good at what she does--suffers perpetual unease about the decisions she makes. Because lives are on the line. Errors prove costly.

There's little doubt that Vail has resonated with hundreds of thousands of readers because she's real. But at the end of the day, Karen Vail is a cop you'd "go through a door with." That's how law enforcement officers of all stripes describe a colleague you'd entrust your life to when bullets are flying. And that's how the head of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers association described Karen Vail.

Vail has directed the action in "The 7th Victim," "Crush," "Velocity," and "Inmate 1577"--which are set in exotic locales, from Alcatraz to the Napa Valley, Las Vegas and San Diego to Washington DC. And wherever Karen Vail goes, trouble tends to follow.

My years of research and training with law enforcement have influenced me both personally and professionally and have helped shape the stories I tell and the diverse characters that populate my novels. So sit back, crack the spine--or click that button--and immerse yourself in the gripping world of Karen Vail.

But--before you go: I co-authored a free personal safety booklet with FBI profiler Mark Safarik. Hop over to my website, alanjacobson.com, and pick it up. Did I say it's free? Did I say it's super important for you and your loved ones in keeping them out of the crosshairs of violent criminals? (It is.) And while there, be social...and follow me on Facebook and Twitter. See you in cyberspace!

Alan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 and 1/2 stars, November 18, 2010

By 

M. A. Filippelli "Marc12074" (Roseville, CA, US) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Velocity (Karen Vail Series) (Hardcover)

This novel comes at the reader with "Velocity". This is the third installment in the Karen Vail series. Vail is a forensic artist working for the FBI for whom trouble always seems to find.

The reader should be warned that this story starts to unfold two thirds of the way through the second book "Crush" but Jacobson gives the reader enough of the back story in Velocity in the first couple chapters so that reading Crush isn't necessary but I highly recommend it because Crush is a good read and gives the reader a good feel for the two main characters going into Velocity. The reader is re introduced the many of the characters that were introduced in the first book "The 7th victim" but were largely absent from "Crush".

In Velocity Author Alan Jackson has Vail looking for her boy friend Robby Hernandez who has disappeared while on vacation with Karen in the Napa Valley. Vail finds herself in many situations that force to her buck authority in search of the greater truth about what has happened to Robby.

Jacobson uses Vail to take the reader on a fast paced journey through several States and harrowing situations involving the DEA, FBI and Mexican drug cartels. Jacobson takes the reader through the wine country describing the detail of the breath taking scenery and beauty of the Napa Valley. The reader a good insight into the wine making business and the politics of the wine making business. There are many secrets that unfold throughout the story to keep the reader involved and intrigued.

The visions of the scenery along with Jacobson's brilliant story telling make this an outstanding read.

Make no mistake about it, this is a fast paced adventure that moves at the speed of light so fasten your seatbelt and hang on for the ride.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!, September 23, 2010

By 

Nicola Manning (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Velocity (Karen Vail Series) (Hardcover)

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary defines "velocity" as "The speed and direction of motion of a moving body." FBI Profiler Karen Vail is that moving body and she is running to beat the clock with a fiery momentum to find her missing boyfriend who has disappeared into thin air with no clues but a possible connection with a serial killer. Unusual in the mystery/thriller series genre, Velocity picks up right where Crush ended. Literally starting with the next chapter. The plot starts off highly connected with book 2, followed by a resolution, then continues on with book 3's unique plot which always centres on the missing boyfriend, police detective Roberto Hernandez.

I loved this book! Jacobson keeps getting better and better. Velocity takes off in different directions, plot-wise, than either of his previous books making it more than just a serial killer case (not that there's anything wrong with that.) These new directions are surprising and unexpected reveals create a story that is much more than one at first assumes they are reading. Certainly plot is the mainstay of Velocity but, as often happens in mysteries, it has *not* been done so at the expense of characterization. Book 2 took us away from Karen's Quantico colleagues and Velocity continues with the now familiar California characters for whom we've grown fond (or not). But Karen gets sent back to Quantico where we are reintroduced to the characters from Book 1 and Jacobson has done a good job bringing these folks back to the reader's mind, especially giving significant development to Vail's boss, Gifford.

The book ends with the completion of the plot; the unique experience of a two-parter within a series is over but the personal lives of the main characters continue on, ending with a new trajectory for one of said characters and an interesting reveal which we can expect to be explored in the next book. I'm very much looking forward to the next book, which one can only hope is "in the works".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend the Vail Series, January 24, 2011

By 

Wanda Sykes - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Velocity (Karen Vail) (Kindle Edition)

The Karen Vail series was the first books I have read of Mr. Jacobson's. All three were well written and the material was obviously researched extensively. Every book had twist that I was not expecting. All three are well worth reading.