Fourth in the chess-themed series featuring RBI agent, Pat Bowers, The Bishop continues the author’s exploration of evil, morality and what it means to be human. Slightly less gory than its predecessors, this episode fleshes out the characters of some of the supporting cast, making them less stereotypical and more interesting. It also manages to consider deep issues while still maintaining the requisite pace and action. It is not absolutely necessary to have read the preceding three; the book stands alone and will appeal to any devotees of the genre. The villains are still appallingly fiendish and unnaturally clever, the maverick cop is still hampered by his antagonistic superiors and distracted by his personal life, and things are never quite resolved at the end – leading the reader neatly into the next sequel. This reader found the abrupt changes of viewpoint shifting from the first to the third person irritating, but others consider it inspired! Well-written, intelligent, but not for the faint-hearted.

In the fourth Patrick Bowers thriller?after The Pawn (2007), The Rook (2008), and The Knight (2009)?the FBI criminologist is called to the scene of a gruesome murder. At a primate research facility, a woman was attacked by two chimpanzees, but this was no accident: someone had tied the victim, a congressman?s daughter, to a tree and set the animals on her. Patrick, who?s faced his share of twisted killers, might be encountering his most clever foe. This is a fine thriller, featuring a strong, compassionate protagonist and a couple of pretty scary villains (imagine if Bonnie and Clyde were serial killers, and if they were completely mad). James, an accomplished writer who seems equally at home writing hard-edged thrillers and books about spirituality for adults and younger readers, clearly knows how to spin a yarn; and?despite its thematic similarities to the television series Criminal Minds?this novel is fresh and exciting.

James, critically acclaimed author of the series the Bowers Files, sends new chills down the spine in his newest suspense thriller, told from various points of view and centering on FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers's criminology and geospatial tracking of serial killers. When a prominent congressman's daughter is murdered, seemingly unconnected crimes become evidence of a heinous game played by two people who have the same things coursing through their veins as their victims and the cops trying to catch them: love and hate. James packs the narrative with ethical dilemmas and subplots involving abortion and medical research (It would have saved us all a lot of trouble if your mother had just gone ahead with the abortion). The novel moves swiftly, with punchy dialogue but gruesome scenes. Readers must be ready to stomach the darkest side of humanity and get into the minds of serial killers to enjoy this master storyteller at the peak of his game.