Inhaled in One Sitting
You know you’re a true fan when you can inhale an author’s latest release in a single sitting. Robert Bryndza is that author for me. Having read thirteen of his books—almost all of them solid 5-star reads—I can feel his passion for the craft from the very first page to the absolute last. Thank you, Mr. Bryndza, for consistently delivering unputdownable thrillers that I can recommend to absolutely everyone. This one was another total slam dunk—especially since it speaks directly to my 1987 soul!
This isn’t a conventional whodunit; it’s an open-hand thriller where we learn the killer’s identity and motives early on. Yet, Bryndza still manages to pull the rug out from under us by withholding key, era-defining secrets until the absolute perfect moment. Set in a tech-free 1987—which is a wild and slightly existential realization for me, considering it’s my birth year and now officially qualifies as “historical fiction”—the story breathes a completely different kind of life.
The pacing is flawless, trading high-octane action for a heavy, psychological weight. It doesn’t need explicit gore to make your skin crawl; the anger and shock are built entirely on atmosphere. By splitting the narrative between the detectives and the killer, Bryndza forces us to look right into the face of the antagonist’s daily duplicity, making the whole investigation feel remarkably raw.
As the start of a brand-new series, this ticked every single box. I am incredibly excited to see where Robert Bryndza takes us next—and where he leads the slightly-less-innocent Jamie Day. But as a long-time reader, I do have one burning request: can we please get Jamie a girlfriend in the next book?
