Level 26: Dark Origins

Law enforcement categorizes killers on a scale of one to 25, with 25 being the sadistic psychopath. However, one brutal serial killer, code-named “Sqweegel,” has earned his own special designation of Level 26. Only one man—federal agent Steve Dark—has ever gotten close to catching him, but the effort cost Dark the lives of his foster family and drove him into self-imposed retirement. Now the agency wants him back on the case and, it would seem, so does Sqweegel. John Glover has a wonderful time narrating Zuiker's debut thriller; his committed delivery runs the gambit from serious to lighthearted, maniacal to deadly serious. Even if the story leans toward the cliché and the breaks directing listeners to webisodes are intrusive and irritating, the delivery is engrossing. It should be noted that some sections of the book are disturbing, and Glover's performance only makes them doubly so. Not for the fainthearted. A Dutton hardcover. (Sept.)