Lesa's Book Critiques: Inside Man by John McMahon

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Inside Man by John McMahon

Review: Inside Man: A Head Case Novel by John McMahon

 

Inside Man: A Head Cases Novel by John McMahon is the very enjoyable sequel to Head Cases. As always in any good series, it is best to have read the first book before the sequel. Agent Gardner Camden leads an FBI unit named PAR. The Patterns and Recognition team exists to find peculiarities in cases that have stalled or gone cold. When they find something, the case goes back to the field office that sent in the case or to a team in Quantico. Led by Agent Garnder, the team consists of Joanne “Shooter” Harris, Richie Brancato, and Cassie Pardo. They solve cases by way of their unique mental skill set each member brings to the table. They look at things differently than most.

 

As Dick Wolfe would now say, “These are their stories…”

 

They have been working a Florida fraud case where a handful of people have been filing false unemployment claims and getting paid. They have identified clusters of where the bogus claims where being filed and the ATMs where, literally, thousands and thousands of dollars have been withdrawn each month for many months now. A person of interest, Freddie Pecos, was identified during the last three months they have been working the case.

 

Their big break came when Pecos got himself arrested for assault. Guilty as heck, he made a deal not to go to jail. He agreed to be an undercover informant. He also explained that what they were seeing is just the tip of the iceberg. The scam is being done to support a militia group that is led by an arms dealer, J. P. Sandoval.

PAR has stumbled across possible domestic terrorism. Sandoval is using the cash from the unemployment scam to accrue a cache of unmarked weapons. Weapons to be used again law enforcement.  They don’t know the specifics of the target or targets and they don’t know where the guns are located. They do know, according to their informant, the high-powered guns are free of serial numbers and therefore don’t exist in the manufacturing system. They can’t be traced and there are, at least, several hundred of them. But, where?

 

As the book begins, Camden and Harris have discovered the very dead body of their informant in his mobile home. He has been shot at very close range. From various indications in the trailer, the agents don’t think his cover was blown. They also soon realize that his cell will be there in minutes. As it is close to four in the morning, their options are limited to protect the case and to be able to continue the investigation with the targets unaware. They need to know where the guns are and where they are headed.

 

Camden makes the decision to do something that solves all the issues. It also might get him fired. The act makes logical sense. It is the only angle they have got to keep the suspects unaware of the presence of the FBI as well as the fact that some evidence is now in their possession. Camden’s decision and their actions at the crime scene keep the case going. And it is one heck of a ride.

 

This second book in the series is another good one from author John McMahon. Character development of the various main characters continues here as does the action and the complexity of the cases.

 

Regardless of the series, and author John McMahon has several now, he always delivers a great read. Such is the case here with Inside Man: A Head Cases Novel.

 

One hopes that the series continues as they are very good.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/44Ehx82

 

My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Publication Day Review: Head Cases: A Novel by John McMahon

 

I have long been a fan of author John McMahon’s work. See his three-book series that starts with The Good Detective. So, when Head Cases came up on NetGalley, I quickly put in for it. Even though I had quite a few already assigned to me, Minotaur Books quickly approved my request. Very glad they did that. Especially since the book is so very good.

 

FBI Agent Gardner Camden has skills. Not social skills as he has a hard time reading people and situations and, as a result, he is awkward. After a recent event, he does not venture out of the field office in Jacksonville, Florida. He prefers it that way as his skills are aimed at solving riddles and enigmas, and has an incredible wealth of knowledge. His ability to solve things is why he and his partner, Agent Cassie Pardo were put on a plane and sent to DFW airport.

 

How does a dead man die twice, years apart?

 

Ross Tignon, identified as being dead years ago, is very much dead again. This time he is dead on his kitchen floor, next to the kitchen island that borders the living room. The blood pool under the body trails over to and under the refrigerator.

 

Back in 2013, Ross Tignon was the suspect in a series of murders in Florida. Agent Camden was on the hunt, chasing him down while he built the case, and then a fire occurred in Tignon’s home. While his wife was brought out, injured but alive, a male was not so lucky. Dental records indicated that the body was Ross Tignon. At, least what was left of him one the fire was out.

 

The man on the floor, known to the locals as Bob Breckinridge, is Ross Tignon. Clearly, he did not die easy as he was cut open wide in the stomach area. He was cut again in his chest. The killer cut the numbers “5” and “0” into his chest. Agent Camden has no idea what the number could mean though, Agent Pardo thinks it might represent the police, aka 5-0.

 

Agent Camden, Cassie, and three other folks work in a specialized unit of the F.B.I. known as PAR for Patterns and Recognition. Their job is to consider cases that are stalled. Review them, identify peculiarities in them, and offer new theories of investigation. PAR then gives the case back to the relevant field office or sends it to headquarters. They don’t go into the field because everyone in the unit has a particular quirky skill that is useful and a history of screwing up in some way.

 

Being sent out in the field never happens. Yet it has this time. The reason was that it was supposed to be because the boss wanted Agent Camden to see the body and verify it really was Ross Tignon. With that being done, they should be soon on their way back to the home base in Florida.

 

Instead, and just after they turn the scene over to agents out of Dallas office, they are sent to Rawlings, New Mexico. After serving thirty-one years for multiple murders back in the 90s, Barry Fisher was just released days earlier. Every agent studies his case in the FBI Academy. He is a legend in bad way. He is now dead and Camden and Pardo are headed to New Mexico.

 

Not only that, but in a first, Agent Camden will lead the investigation. A serial killer is killing serial killers.

 

What follows is a fast moving and complex police procedural. While the focus is on Camden, the rest of the team and several other characters are fully developed and multifaceted. So too is the killer who the reader gets to know through the working of the case. Not by the usual mind of the killer POV technique in dedicated chapters that so many authors use. The absence of that predictable and utterly boring author technique was a major relief to this reader.

 

We learn everything from Agent Camden’s perspective. A man that has special skills, a different way of looking at the world, and a very hard time fitting in with people. A character that very much spoke to this reader.

 

According to the author’s acknowledgment at the end of the read, this is the first book of a two-book contract. The second in the series will come out early in 2026. I was thrilled to read this news. Head Cases was/is a great read and very much worth your time.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4a4ObRI

 

My digital ARC reading copy came from Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

Murder Books: Regional Flavor by Isabella Maldonado

 Murder Books: Regional Flavor by Isabella Maldonado

Lesa's Book Critiques: Dreaming Death by Heather Graham

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Lesa's Book Critiques: Shadows in Time by Julie McElwain

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FFB Review: "THE SINATRA FILES: THE SECRET FBI DOSSIER" Edited by Tom Kuntz & Phil Kuntz --Reviewed by Barry Ergang

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THE SINATRA FILES: THE SECRET FBI DOSSIER (2000)

Edited by Tom Kuntz & Phil Kuntz

Reviewed by Barry Ergang

In 1943, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began what over five decades became a 1,275-page dossier described by the editors as “a trove of insights into Sinatra’s life, his turbulent times, and, perhaps most important, the Hoover-era FBI’s invasive and at times almost voyeuristic ways.” 

The primary issues the dossier dealt with were whether the youthful Frank Sinatra dodged the draft during World War II, whether he was affiliated with and/or a member of the Communist Party, and how deep his associations went with organized crime and a fair number of notorious and powerful mobsters including Lucky Luciano and, especially, Sam Giancana. The Bureau also kept a watchful eye on his political connections, which included the Kennedys, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, and Ronald Reagan. 

 Politically very much a liberal for many years, Sinatra was also the target of several conservative columnists, some of whom “informed” on him to the FBI, probably not altogether from patriotic motives. In any event, they and others engendered his lifelong distaste for the press.

The editors have reduced the dossier to its essence, which resulted in a 320-page paperback (I read the Kindle edition). This, I hasten to add, is a good thing because so much of the text, some of which is redacted, is repetitive, and not just within chapters, but from one chapter to another. The Sinatra Files is a book for those of us who are fans, and even many fans, unless completists when it comes to material about him, will find it too monotonously dry and repetitious to plod through. 

© 2014 Barry Ergang

Derringer Award-winner Barry Ergang’s website is http://www.writetrack.yolasite.com/. You can find some of his written work at Amazon, Smashwords, and Scribd.