Review: Night Fall (The Quantico Files #1) by Nancy Mehl

About the Book

For any little boy or girl who hears the Train Man speak,
Who feels his rancid breath caress their pretty cheek,
Must close their eyes, pretend to sleep, and very softly pray,
Or else the evil Train Man may carry them away.

Finally free of her troubled upbringing, Alex Donovan is able to live out her childhood dream of working for the FBI. But soon after she becomes a member of the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, authorities in Missouri contact them about bodies found on freight trains--all killed in the same way.

Alex never expected to be forced to confront her past in this new job, but she immediately recognizes the graffiti messages the killer is leaving on the train cars. When the BAU sends her to gather information about the messages from her aunt in Wichita, Kansas, Alex is haunted by the struggles she thought she'd left behind forever.

In a race against time to solve the case and recover a deadly virus sample the killer intends to spread, Alex must face how far she'll go--and what she's willing to risk--to put a stop to the Train Man.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY THOUGHTS

I really enjoyed this fast-paced read. It was dark, even disturbing, at times, but held my full attention until the very last word. There's a serial killer, a cult, a prophecy of destruction, and a race against time to stop the release of a devastating virus. It does briefly mention Covid a few times since the story takes place after the pandemic ends.

It was very interesting to see the dichotomy between Alex and Adam, who had similar upbringings but chose vastly different paths. One for good, the other for evil.

There was a sense of urgency that had me clicking through the pages as quick as possible. When I'd have to set it down to do other things, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It even invaded my dreams, which wasn't necessarily a good thing, lol, but that explains just how compelling of a story it was. I did guess the twists pretty early on, but that didn't hinder my enjoyment one bit. I'm very much looking forward to checking out the next book in this series.

FOUR STARS