Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen

Summary

Once, Special Agent Smoky Barrett hunted serial killers for the FBI. She was one of the best -- until a madman terrorized her family, killed her husband and daughter, and left her face scarred and her soul brutalized. Turning the tables on the killer, Smoky shot him dead–but her life was shattered forever.

Now Smoky dreams about picking up her weapon again. She dreams about placing the cold steel between her lips and pulling the trigger one last time. Because for a woman who’s lost everything, what is there left to lose?

She’s about to find out.

In all her years at the Bureau, Smoky has never encountered anyone like him -- a new and fascinating kind of monster, a twisted genius who defies profilers’ attempts to understand him. And he’s issued Smoky a direct challenge, coaxing her back from the brink with the only thing that could convince her to live.

The killer videotaped his latest crime -- an act of horror that left a child motherless -- then sent a message addressed to Agent Smoky Barrett. The message is enough to shock Smoky back to work, back to her FBI team. And that child awakens something in Smoky she thought was gone forever.

Suddenly the stakes are raised. The game has changed. For as this deranged monster embarks on an unspeakable spree of perversion and murder, Smoky is coming alive again -- and she’s about to face her greatest fears as a cop, a woman, a mother . . . and a merciless killer’s next victim.

My Comments;

If this was the first book i read of the series I probably wouldn't of read the others. With his over use of metaphors the actual story drags on more then it's needed. Don't let this book put you off on reading the rest of the series. This book is the first and has to set the outline for the main characters, a lot of description and history. I enjoyed this book the least of all of them but I strongly urge people to go on and read the second one.