City of Fire (Lena Gamble Series #1) » (Reprint)

Robert Ellis began his career as a writer, producer, and director in film and TV, winning the New York Film Festival for his work with National Geographic. He is the author of two previous novels, Access to Power and The Dead Room. Born and raised in southeastern Pennsylvania, Ellis lived in Los Angeles for sixteen years and now spends his time between Los Angeles and Connecticut. Visit him online at www.robertellis.net.

“CITY OF FIRE is my kind of crime novel. Gritty, tight, and assured.”—Michael Connelly

When a beautiful young woman named Nikki Brant is found dead in her bed, the elite Robbery-Homicide division of the Los Angeles responds in full force. Is Nikki another victim of the infamous “Romeo” serial killer? LAPD Detective Lena Gamble will make it her business—in the most high-profile, make-or-break case of her career—to find out.

“A scorcher.”—Baltimore Sun

As the investigation plays out and a massive forest fire blankets the city with acrid smoke, a cloud of conspiracy descends on Lena’s investigation, and she knows she’ll have to grind this one out…because Nikki Brant’s death just breathed new life into more than one closed case…because she’s suddenly stuck in a web of conspiracy and corruption…and because if there’s one thing Lena knows about murder in L.A. it’s this: The bigger the spectacle, the deeper the horror.

“I just discovered Robert Ellis. This book is terrific.”—Janet Evanovich, People

Teresa L. Jacobsen - Library Journal

Los Angeles's infamous Santa Ana winds, or "Devil Winds," provide fuel for the fire in Ellis's (The Dead Room) serial killer-cum-police procedural. LAPD Det. Lena Gamble, haunted by her musician brother's murder, figures out that Nikki Brant's horrific rape and murder are just one small piece of a madman's desire to seek revenge against all those who have made his life miserable. Opening with Brant's death, this potboiler dishes it out: pornographic web sites, the plight of orphan siblings, the Hollywood music industry, and drug abuse. Needless to say, a brush fire seems superfluous. But pressing on, Gamble and her partner work both forward and backward as they delve into musical and handwriting clues left on the victims' nightstands, gradually teasing out the slayer's identity. If that weren't enough, the unsolved murder of Gamble's brother becomes personally threatening when she realizes that one of her colleagues probably killed him. Totally plot driven, with plenty of stereotypical characters, this book is fast, gruesome, and twisted, like a scary Jodie Foster movie. Ellis makes it easy to be terrified. Recommended for popular collections. [See Mystery Prepub, LJ2/1/07.]