AT THE STROKE OF MADNESS
Alex Kava
Mira Books
Suspense
ISBN: 0778320553

AT THE STROKE OF MADNESS is Alex Kava's newest Maggie O'Dell novel. It continues Kava's quiet --- actually almost understated --- development of the semi-loner FBI agent. Kava is content at this point to slowly develop O'Dell's background and personality, while carrying the novel primarily with the introduction of interesting, dangerous and frightening antagonists.

O'Dell is starting some long overdue vacation time when she receives a call from her friend Gwen Patterson. Patterson, a psychologist, is concerned about Joan Begley, a patient of hers who left Patterson a cryptic voice mail message and then promptly went missing.

Begley's last known location was Meriden, Connecticut where she was attending her grandmother's funeral. O'Dell does not take the disappearance seriously until the body of a woman is discovered in an industrial waste drum in an abandoned quarry near Meriden, a quiet, scenic community primarily known as a tourist stop at the turning of the leaves each autumn. O'Dell, motivated by guilt, travels to Connecticut on an unofficial basis to see if the murdered woman is, in fact, Begley. By the time O'Dell arrives, more bodies are unearthed and it becomes obvious that there is a serial killer at work in the area.

Kava really does her forensic homework in AT THE STROKE OF MADNESS, and it should be noted that you don't want to be chomping down on a burger or steak while reading some of the passages. She also does an excellent job of misdirecting the reader as to the ultimate identity of the killer while providing a couple of clues as to who the fiend really is. With respect to O'Dell's personal life, Kava provides one bombshell and sets up the potential for another.

AT THE STROKE OF MADNESS continues Kava's slow but sure development of O'Dell while continuing to demonstrate her ability to create unforgettable yet realistic monsters for her to apprehend. The conclusion of AT THE STROKE OF MADNESS is particularly unforgettable and may set the stage for a future O'Dell novel.

   --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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