Thicker than Blood

In Omer’s workmanlike third thriller featuring FBI forensic psychologist Zoe Bentley (after 2019’s In the Darkness), Rod Glover, the serial rapist and murderer Zoe has been chasing her entire career, may be killing again. Zoe and her partner FBI agent, Tatum Gray, team with Det. Holly O’Donnell of the Chicago PD to figure out whether a young woman’s murder can be tied to Glover. Evidence at the crime scene fits Glover’s m.o., including his licking the victim’s blood, but something is off. Zoe concludes that Glover probably has an accomplice, and if so then she must quickly come up with a profile of that person. Three more similar murders follow, but these offer no new revelations or anything pertinent to the investigation, just more gruesome details. Little sense of urgency fuels the efforts of Zoe and her colleagues to catch Glover and his possible accomplice. Even fans of serial killer fiction may wish this one had ended a hundred pages sooner. Agent: Sarah Hershman, Hershman Rights Management. (June)