I can’t express how much I enjoyed At First Light. Author Nickless demonstrates great plotting, fascinating historical references, little-known trivial tidbits, intriguing characters, and a “ticking clock.” I have been binging on all things Viking lately, and At First Light is a contemporary take on the subject. I adored the main character here, Evan Wilding, Ph.D., an intelligent professor who is a four-foot, five-inch tall dwarf. He overcompensates for his height with a brain that is as delightful as it is immense, with a knowledge base that encompasses many subjects. A tenured college professor, he moonlights for the Chicago Police Department as a forensic semiotician, an expert in the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation. My favorite thrillers are the Gabriel Allon series written by Daniel Silva, and the Dr. Evan Wilding series has all the sophistication of a Silva novel. I’ve already ordered #2 and preordered #3, and plan to continue reading them as they are written.
When a corpse is discovered on the banks of Chicago’s Calumet River, Wilding joins Detective Addie Bisset and her partner Detective Patrick McBrady to solve the crime. As the corpses add up, they realize they are facing a serial killer. To find him, the team must shift through clues imbedded in ritual murders, bog bodies, Viking poetry written in runes at the scene of each murder, the legend of Beowolf, Grendel, and Grendel’s mother. The clock keeps ticking as they learn that five deaths are intended and strive to prevent them.
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At First Light (Thomas & Mercer, December 1, 2021) is available through:
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