I’m thrilled to be sharing my review of T. J. Brearton’s brand new thriller Sign of Evil. It’s number 3 in the FBI agent Shannon Ames series. I’ve read all three books, and let me tell you, if you like thrillers, you really don’t want to miss this series.
Sign of Evil by T. J. Brearton
Genre: Thriller
Publication: Inkubator Books, 24 January 2021
They came looking for pleasure. They found only pain.
A serial killer in New York’s South Bronx district is targeting clients of local sex workers. The victims, all male, are either burned alive or beaten to death.
With the body count mounting and no real leads, the FBI decides to put someone in undercover.
Enter rookie agent Shannon Ames. Suited for deep cover work because she is single, without family ties, Shannon is young enough to pass herself off as a working girl. More importantly, she is smart, energetic, and determined – her superiors know she’ll do whatever it takes to crack the case.
But spending her nights on the streets as she hunts for the killer takes its toll. Shannon’s personal life is falling apart, her strong moral core is being tested as never before. She begins to feel as if the case is eating her alive.
And as it becomes clear that she herself is on the killer’s radar, Shannon realizes she’s up against something truly terrifying – a monster who wants to see her forever marked with his sign of evil. (from Inkubator blog)
My thoughts
Yesterday morning, I sat down to read Sign of Evil by T. J. Brearton. Only an hour, I told myself, then I’ll get to work. I should’ve known better. After all, I had devoured Into Darkness (stopping only to sleep and eat) and Road to Mercy (ditto) after similar promises to myself. Sure enough, one hour slipped away . . . then two . . . Once I started reading, I didn’t want to stop. I couldn’t stop.
A Painful and Gruesome Death
One thing I can say for Brearton: he never wastes time getting to the action. On page one, we jump right into the case as Shannon studies the latest crime scene where a presumed client of a sex worker has been burned to death.
This is the latest in a series of brutal murders. Twice, the men have been doused with gasoline and set on fire. Twice, the men have been beaten to death. Despite the different methods, the circumstances of the deaths are similar. Each is in a known sex work hotspot. Plus, matching fingerprints in each victim’s car links the four deaths, though the prints don’t match anyone in the system.
Is the killer careless or intentionally mocking law enforcement? What’s the motivation behind the killings? Why are there two different methods of murder?
No one knows.
One thing I appreciate about Brearton’s work is that if he includes graphic violence, there’s a good reason for it. In the past, sometimes writers of fictional serial killers seem to choose the most gruesome methods of killing just for shock value. (Worse, sometimes they appeared to relish describing the mutilated bodies of victims, especially female victims.)
But Brearton never does that. Here, there’s a significant reason for the murder method. Without spoilers, I can’t divulge the significance. (It reminded me of how Louise Penny takes some significant but rather obscure piece of culture and uses it as a “key” that her Inspector Gamache uses to unlock the murderer’s motivations and solve the crime.) In Sign of Evil, Shannon will need all her knowledge and background to get to the bottom of it.
A Rookie Agent
In Brearton’s books, the killers are smart. This one is no exception. This killer is smart, always one step ahead of the law, and openly taunts law enforcement. But is she/he smarter than Shannon?
Despite still being in her probationary period, Shannon is recommended for this assignment because her boss thinks she’s good with people. And she is. Her empathy with the suspects, sex workers, and family members is real. Thanks in part to her background in clinical psychology, she’s often insightful about why people do the things they do, and whose role is it to judge their actions. There are some thought-provoking ideas about addiction, abuse, and the role of law enforcement in society, for better or for worse.
There’s an undercurrent of fear throughout the book. Not just fear of being on the streets, but fear of losing her own identity and becoming more like the fictional Giselle. It’s a real possibility. Undercover life changes people, and not always for the better.
And Shannon’s not a superhero. She’s a flesh and blood woman, one whom I’ve come to care about throughout the past books in the series. (Note to Shannon: I’m still on the fence about you and Luis. Love you both to pieces, but I don’t know if two law enforcement folks should get together. Especially when one has a kid. Think hard, pray harder on this one.)
It’s fascinating to watch Shannon and her FBI trainer develop her undercover persona. It feels realistic, too; I’m sure real law enforcement officers who go into deep undercover work wrestle through all these same questions and issues. (It’s a bit like what authors do when they create a fictional character!)
Reality of Sex Work
The language is sometimes coarse and filled with the slang of this subculture. Drug abuse and physical violence–including rape and attempted rape–are rampant. (Trigger alert for those who are sensitive to sex violence.) There’s nothing glamorous about sex work. For the vulnerable women Shannon befriends and encounters, this is life. Sobering.
Yet while Brearton shows the brutal reality of sex work, he never forgets the humanity of the workers and, in a gutsy move, the humanity of the johns, too. They are people first.
He does a great job developing these characters. The young and vulnerable Lana, who has plans to attend art school (and whom I always wanted to hug). The quiet and kind Everly, who’s upset over something from the past (and whom I wanted to hug and shake at the same time). David, a pimp who claims to be the nicest guy in the business (and whom I wanted to slap across the face but didn’t because he only exists on paper). And Ray, a seemingly ordinary man, whom I felt sorrow for as he grieved his dying wife even as I wondered how he fit into the story. They all came alive to me.
Non-stop Action
The tension escalates steadily as Shannon hits the streets and faces the dangers of streetwalking. Other sex workers are upset that she’s encroaching on their track. Pimps demand that she come under their so-called protection. Johns are alone with her in their cars; she’s at their mercy. For real sex workers, the dangers are real. For Shannon, it’s real, too, even if she does have a wire, FBI badge, and backup (in the form of Agent Charlie Bufort). Despite her FBI training, she’s an upstate farm girl; does she really understand the danger she is getting into?
The tension rises–and rises–and rises– Brearton turns up the heat as Shannon faces setbacks, false solutions, and danger greater than she could’ve imagined. Every time I thought I knew how it would end, he turned my expectations upside down and inside out. The story sprints toward the final showdown with the killer. When the climax comes, it’s electrifying. Thrilling. Devastating. No one is left untouched by the consequences–including Shannon. The ending is bittersweet but satisfying.
Highly Recommended
Brearton writes a tightly-crafted story full of intrigue and excitement, but also full of heart and soul. This is stellar work. For those who love thrillers and crime fiction, I highly recommend Sign of Evil.
Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
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