Strip Search: A Novel of Suspense (Susan Pulaski)

Bernhardt always does a great job not only with creating and introducing the reader to believable characters, but also in weaving well- researched storylines. As the story plays-out and the plot intensifies, "Strip Search" was one of those books that I couldn't seem to put down because I couldn't wait to find out what happens next!

As a killer stalks the streets of Las Vegas, using numerology to target his victims, outcast detective Susan Pulaski is reunited with autistic savant Darcy O'Bannon, who may be the only one who can understand the murderer's complex mathematical game. I guess the only thing I like about Susan Pulaski is the fact that her friend, the autistic savant Darcy, hangs out with her. Her character, as mentioned by others, is not likeable. Darcy, on the other hand, makes the novel what it is. I like Bernhardt's novels and think he's a wonderful author. He writes a well rounded thriller with plenty of suspense and thrills.

This is the second in the Susan Pulaski novel by prolific writer William Bernhardt. The main character is a flawed but likeable character with a lot of baggage and issues to overcome. In this novel, our heroine is called in to profile a serial killer who is quite gruesome with his dismembering of selected people. With no apparent rhyme or reason to the killings, and no clues as to how the victims are chosen, it becomes a race against time. Each killing is conducted on a date corresponding to a prime number. Because of her affinity with the detective in charge, the protection of the chief of Police, and her tenuous attachment to the Chief's autistic son, Susan is caught in a race against time. Profiling a killer that is so diverse is a real challenge. It takes skill and cunning to catch the killer, but that is only the first step. The killer is not the mastermind behind this operation and so begins another search for the puppetmaster. With twists and turns and seemingly endless meaningless clues, it's a wonder that our heroine finally ties it altogether and apprehends both the killer and the mastermind behind the complex system involving numbers and the ancient teachings of the Kabbalah. The ending leaves room for more stories involving Susan and her savant friend Darcy. I always enjoy Bernhardt's books featuring Ben Kincaid, but Susan is more of a cutting edge, intense action character, one who seems to like making enemies everywhere she goes.

Let's face it: Las Vegas has a reputation for living loose and fast. A bright-light big city with a sinister underbelly and notoriety for crime, Vegas is no stranger to high crimes and soulless individuals. It is with this in mind that Strip Search is written. The story revolves around Susan Pulaski, unsettled in her life as well as her work. Her investigative sidekick, Darcy O'Bannon, proves to be a terrific foil to Pulaski's subtle intelligence and quick wit. Pulaski operates as a police behaviorist in the story. Her charge is to get to the bottom of ritual murders that appear to be specially selected by the killer. The killer, bent on those with sordid pasts, leaves a trail of grim and gruesome evidence throughout a city that is already filled with its own dirty secrets. Pulaski's partner, O'Bannon, gives Pulaski a dimension not commonly seen in thrillers. He is a highly-functioning autistic savant that provides Pulaski (and the story) with eerie depth and powerful understanding. The greater challenge to Pulaski is her own life. Her department doesn't support her, her life doesn't support her, and her family can't support her - all wrapping Pulaski into the perfect bait for a killer who leaves arbitrary mathematical formulas at the site of the scenes of the crimes. The story follows the traditional thriller fare in many respects. What makes this story unique is the unanticipated twists and turns experienced not only by Pulaski, but also the sharp edges tagged to those that work with Pulaski and those that wish her ill will, or worse yet, her own gruesome ending. Not for the faint of heart or stomach, Strip Search provides a thrill ride; at times, at a relentless pace. Armchair Interviews says: Bernhardt has captured the seediness of Las Vegas in a way that will stay with you until the end!

In Las Vegas, a serial killer leaves behind torn off body parts and mathematical formulas written with the victim's blood. LVPD is stymied so police chief Robert O'Bannon knows who he needs to assist lead homicide detective Barry Granger over the objection of the lieutenant an his own concern that she is the lesser of two evils. He rehires former police profiler behaviorist Susan Pulaski, who he once fired, to uncover the identity of this maniac. Robert warns Susan not to alienate Barry, but she knows that is impossible as he hates her. He also tells her to keep his autistic son Darcy out of the investigation as he has not forgiven her for using him in the past (see DARK EYE). Susan believes Darcy who is a numerical patterns savant can interpret the bloody messages left behind at each grisly crime scene. With Darcy on Susan's side and Granger not, the psychopath continues his numerical rampage. This exhilarating but dark and vividly violent (don't eat just before reading this novel) police procedural sequel hooks the audience with the first coded formula and never slows down even with extended cul de sac sidebars vaguely related to the prime serial killer plot. The story line flows with blood as the killer keeps rolling sevens while Granger and Pulaski shoot snake-eyes at each other. The climax will prove to be one of the year's best as advanced mathematical concepts have rarely been more fun to follow. Harriet Klausner