Crush and Velocity: Two Karen Vail Novels

Alan Jacobson

Jul 2014 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

This thriller duology featuring FBI profiler Karen Vail “sizzles with nonstop action” (Publishers Weekly).

In FBI profiler Karen Vail’s second adventure after the standout bestseller The 7th Victim, Vail finds herself in the Napa Valley, where a serial killer has been crushing his victims’ windpipes and leaving their bodies in caves and vineyards. But when the Crush Killer learns that an FBI profiler has joined the Major Crimes Task Force, the newfound attention emboldens him, and he engages Vail in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Although a sudden break in the case helps her zero in on the identity of the killer, she senses that something isn’t right. Will she figure it out before it’s too late? In a rousing climax that has left readers breathless (and that Publishers Weekly termed “a shockeroo”), Vail must pick up the pieces—and the carnage left behind by the Crush Killer.

Velocity begins the moment Crush ends, with Vail having lost something dear to her and possessing a single-minded fixation on finding who was responsible—and making them pay. As the task force, reeling from their loss, attempts to regroup, Vail discovers that they had made vital mistakes on the Crush Killer case—errors that have had dire consequences. After being ordered to return to Washington, Vail enlists the services of a covert “black” government operative, Hector DeSantos, to assist her in tracking down those behind the evil she and her task force have been grappling with.

But what Vail and DeSantos learn places her in the crosshairs of criminals more dangerous than any she has ever faced. And along the way, startling revelations emerge that will forever change Karen Vail—as well as those close to her.

Researched meticulously with over three dozen experts in multiple disciplines and with government access that required clearance from a congressional subcommittee, Crush and Velocity take you behind closed doors into a world most people do not know exists.

Both Crush and Velocity were optioned by Hollywood, and Velocity was named one of the “Top 5 Best Books of the Year” by Library Journal.

About the author

Alan Jacobson is the national bestselling author of several critically acclaimed novels. In order to take readers behind the scenes to places they might never go, Jacobson has embedded himself in many federal agencies, including spending several years working with two senior profilers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s vaunted Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico. During that time, Jacobson edited four published FBI research papers on serial offenders, attended numerous FBI training courses, worked with the head firearms instructor at the academy, and received ongoing personalized instruction on serial killers—which continues to this day. He has also worked with high-ranking members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the US Marshals Service, the New York Police Department, SWAT teams, local bomb squads, branches of the US military, chief superintendents and detective sergeants at Scotland Yard, criminals, armorers, helicopter pilots, chief executive officers, historians, and Special Forces operators. These experiences have helped him to create gripping, realistic stories and characters. His series protagonist, FBI profiler Karen Vail, resonates with both female and male readers, and writers such as Nelson DeMille, James Patterson, and Michael Connelly have called Vail one of the most compelling heroes in suspense fiction.

Jacobson’s books have been published internationally, and several have been optioned for film and television. A number have been named to Best of the Year lists.

Jacobson has been interviewed extensively on television and radio, including on CNN, NPR, and multiple ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox network affiliates.