Into The Black Nowhere – UNSUB #2

Author: Meg Gardiner
Genre: Crime/Police Procedural Thriller
464 pages
Publisher: Dutton, 2019

Synopsis
In southern Texas, on Saturday nights, women are disappearing. One vanishes from a movie theater. Another, from her car at a stoplight. A mother is ripped from her home while checking on her baby. Rookie FBI agent Caitlin Hendrix, newly assigned to the FBI’s elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, fears that a serial killer is roaming the dark roads outside Austin.

Caitlin’s unit discovers the first victim’s body in the woods, laid out in a bloodstained white baby-doll nightgown. A second victim in a white nightie lies deeper in the forest’s darkness. Around the bodies, Polaroid photos are stuck in the earth like headstones, picturing other women with their wrists slashed. The women in the woods are not the killer’s first victims, nor are they likely to be his last.

To track the UNSUB, Caitlin must get inside his mind; he is a confident, meticulous killer, capable of charming his victims until their guard is down, snatching them in plain sight. He then plays out a twisted fantasy–turning them into dolls for him to possess, control, and ultimately destroy. Caitlin’s profile leads the FBI to focus on one man: a charismatic, successful professional who easily gains people’s trust. But can they apprehend him before it’s too late? As Saturday night approaches, Caitlin and the FBI enter a desperate game of cat and mouse, racing to capture the cunning predator before he claims his next victim.

My review
Into The Black Nowhere is the second installment in the UNSUB series and another top-notch police procedural crime fiction novel by Meg Gardiner. Gardiner’s writing is sharp, intelligent, and full of detail—I’ve definitely become a big fan! This one had a different structure and intensity compared to UNSUB, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The hunt for a serial killer in this installment perfectly captures how a wolf in sheep’s clothing can manipulate and deceive. Just fantastic writing, I couldn’t put it down!

Into The Black Nowhere picks up where UNSUB left off, with Caitlin Hendrix now in Virginia as a rookie criminal profiler with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. This time, she’s tracking the Saturday Night Killer in Austin, Texas, a case that’s downright chilling. Women are vanishing, first from public places like a movie theater and their cars, then from their own homes. As Hendrix and her team hunt the killer, they start finding victims dressed in pristine, white baby doll nightgowns. One is surrounded by Polaroid photos capturing her final moments. This unsub is cunning, dangerous, and absolutely ruthless. He’s also brilliant, arrogant, and as cold as they come. To catch him, Hendrix and the Behavioral Analysis Unit have to get inside his mind before he strikes again.

I got to know Hendrix a bit better in this book, and she continues to be a strong, yet flawed lead. She’s relentless when it comes to bringing criminals to justice, fully dedicated to her work, but we also see her trying to juggle a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, Sean, a bomb specialist working on the opposite coast. One of my favorite additions to this story was her colleague, Rainey. She’s sharp, professional, and makes an excellent partner for Hendrix. Rainey knows the ins and outs of profiling and has an almost instinctive read on the killer, which makes her such a compelling character. I really hope we see more of her in future cases.

This book had more of a cat-and-mouse feel than the first one—maybe a little less twisty, but just as engrossing. Since we had more insight into the case this time, the pacing and action were absolutely gripping. It felt like a true FBI thriller with straight-up criminal profiling at its best. I did miss seeing more of Sean in this one, but I get why he wasn’t as central to the story. The epilogue did a fantastic job setting up the third book, and I can’t wait to dive into it.

Into The Black Nowhere is an absolutely gripping read, and Meg Gardiner is quickly becoming one of my favorite police procedural writers. She has a way of making investigations both smart and compelling, balancing intricate details with a fast-moving plot. The pacing in this book is spot on and nothing feels rushed or dragged out. This installment really pushes the series forward, and once again, Gardiner proves she’s a master of suspense, detail, and the police procedural genre.

My recommendation: definitely worth the read!