Two Nights

Sunday Night, the star of this fast-paced series launch from bestseller Reichs (Speaking in Bones and 17 other Temperance Brennan forensic thrillers), retreats to isolated Goat Island near Charleston, S.C., after an injury ends her police career. As a child, she barely escaped from a cult that claimed her mother’s life. Concerned about her well-being, her former foster father, cop Perry “Beau” Beaumonde, entices her out of seclusion by asking her to look for a teenage girl whose wealthy grandmother believes she was kidnapped by a cult. Sunday enlists her twin brother, August (“Gus”), in a search that leads to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., in pursuit of homegrown terrorists. Reichs sacrifices character development for unrelenting action, but Brennan fans should appreciate Sunday—a self-sufficient, tough-talking, scarred heroine—and the unquestioningly loyal, quietly lethal Gus. An explosive finale at the Kentucky Derby seems designed for the big screen. Agent: Jennifer Rudolph-Walsh, William Morris Endeavor. (July)