The Revenge, Unhinged Series

FIRST TWO BOOKS OF THE SERIES POINTLESS: REVENGE IS A RATIONALIZATION, NOT A MOTIVATION. Poison-laced bottles of water are sent to three states in the U.S Southwest. A bottling plant employee is killed in a questionable traffic accident. The first illnesses – and the initial death – surface, and the FBI takes over the cases. Just as the perps planned. The agent in charge is assassinated, and Senior Special Agent Kari Dineh is put in charge. The case takes on political overtones, spurred by poems sent by the perps, opportunistic pundits rallying pro- and anti-FBI supporters, and aggressive media reporting. Violence erupts and cities burn. Dineh, a brilliant investigator, at first struggles with her new role, as memories of misogyny and Indigenous prejudice resurface. But she overcomes them, ultimately figuring out the real intentions of the criminal group behind the crimes. However, the U.S.'s 50-50 split on the rule of law is above her pay grade. _ SOULLESS: SOMETIMES THE DARKNESS OVERCOMES THE LIGHT Whit Callister, a disgraced, former high-profile sports agent, is found dead in his Santa Monica pool – ankles zip tied, hands cuffed behind his back, and gagged. Across town, Dr. April Gilpin, his ex-wife, is informed by the police that her daughter and son disappeared from school during lunch. She receives a "ransom note" – insults and threats, but no real solutions – warning that the children had just seventy-two hours of air before they die, and nine have already been used. The Santa Monica PD jump on the case, which is complicated by the fact that Callister previously testified, and Gilpin provided evidence, in a huge sports gambling scandal involving Georgian organized crime. Meanwhile, Mitch Hutton, April's first husband and the children's biological father, is visiting from London and inquiring about seeing the kids. The Santa Monica PD's Homicide team – Lieutenant Greg Nichols, Sergeant Mollie Granger, and Detective Nour El Masry – is working nonstop, but the Georgians, law-enforcement rivalries, and personal tragedies push them up against the impending deadline.