Live Bait

By P.J. Tracy

     The mother-daughter writing team of P.J. Tracy has done it again; they have written another blockbuster thriller and a powerful sequel to Monkeewrench, their first novel.

     Elderly Jewish people are being terrorized and then gunned down by a serial killer and the police have no leads and they cannot find any common threads between the victims. Leo Maggozzi turns to his "love interest," Grace MacBride, from Monkeewrench and her partners for help. The Monkeewrench team develops a highly sophisticated software program called FLEE, that sifts through large volumes of data looking for common threads. Maggozzi thinks that FLEE will help in this case, and he is desperate because the killings are continuing, and it gives him an excuse to spend time with Grace. Their courtship is moving slowly, because MacBride still has many psychological scars from the Monkeewrench case.

     Live Bait is a sensational police procedural that is action packed and riveting. The Tracy's are true masters of character development, and that permits the reader to really bond with each character in the book. Although it is not critical to read the books in order, knowing some of the background from Monkeewrench helps in sections where there are references to it in this novel. Live Bait is the best book that I have read this year and will make my "Best of 2005" list for sure. It is a must read that I most highly recommend.