Velocity

Karen Vail #3

by Adam Jacobson

Renowned FBI profiler Karen Vail returns in Velocity , national bestselling author Alan Jacobson’s most explosive thriller to date. Detective Robby Hernandez, Vail’s boyfriend, has vanished into the dense air of a Napa Valley evening. There are no clues to his whereabouts, other than blood stain and tenuous connections to a vicious serial killer operating it the wine country. As the task force struggles with Robby’s disappearance, the killer challenges Vail by boldly leaving his high profile victims in public places. Is this offender somehow responsible for Robby’s disappearance? Evidence suggests that he is-but just when Vail and the task force begin to make progress, the FBI orders Vail to return to Quantico to handle a case of vital importance. Back in Washington, Vail engages convert government operative Hector DeSantos to determine what happened to Robby. It’s a move that backfires when DeSantos’s confidential informants lead them into unforeseen dangers, forcing Vail to face off against powerful foes unlike any she’s ever encountered, threatening her life, her career…all that she holds dear. In a frantic race against time that takes them from the monuments of Washington D.C. to the wealthy beach enclaves of San Diego and the bright excesses of Las Vegas, shocking truths emerge-truths that will forever change Karen Vail.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Thriller Suspense

388 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2010

Reviews

[Terri Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Velocity” by Alan Jacobson:

Being a Alan Jacobson virgin, I didn’t know what to expect from his novel “Velocity”. From the first sentence I knew this book would intrigue and entertain me like nothing else. I wasn’t wrong.
FBI Agent Karen Vail has a problem. The man she’s involved with, Robby Hernandez went missing on their “vacation”. John Mayfield—a suspect they have in custody—could be the answer to Vail’s biggest question. However, fellow agent Ray Lugo—whose wife and child were kidnapped by Mayfield—decides to burst in to the interrogation room and shoot him. Lugo is killed instantly when one of his rogue bullets ricochets and hits him in the neck. He leaves behind a CD with sketchy information which leads them deeper into a drug cartel that’s knotted within the grape vines of the Napa Valley region where people drop like flies and things are a tangled mess.
Vail enlists the help of another agent Roxxann Dixon to help her find Robby. Among other things, the two agents break the law—all in the name of the greater good of course. The longer Robby’s missing, the harder it is for Vail to keep her wits about her. She canvases Napa Valley looking for him and ends up blowing his cover in a way I never saw coming!
With the one exception of the countless acronyms, this book was a fantastic read! There were many moments where Jacobson took me on a ride I thought I was prepared for. He kept me guessing at every turn and made me need to know the truth. What a magnificent book! Read it!

Reviewed by Terri Ann Armstrong, author of “Morning Menace” for Suspense Magazine

[Clare · Rating 2 out of 5]

Velocity’s crippling flaw is its main character, Karen Vail, a brash, rude, and immature FBI agent so obsessed with rescuing her kidnapped boyfriend that she neglects her job, breaks into houses, and insults nearly everyone she encounters–and we’re supposed to sympathize with her. It’s also an installment in a series that can’t stand on its own; you have to have read Crush, the previous novel in the series, to understand the first half. It’s not worth your time.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot going on in this book. I can’t honestly decide if I like Karen Vail. She seems to think that no rules apply to her. She frustrates me. But on the other hand, I don’t know if I would react differently if I were in the same situation. Overall this was a whirlwind of a book with many sharp turns that left me feeling a little dizzy. I don’t know why it took me so long to finish this, other than I work 2 jobs and every time I start to read I end up asleep. 😂😂

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Velocity is the latest in a series that revolves around Karen Vail, an FBI profiler, and in this case she’s in Napa Valley trying to catch a serial killer. Jacobson captures wine country perfectly, with the descriptions of winery operations, the rural countryside, and the personalities of the nouveau riche jumping into the wine industry. He clearly knows the region. Vail is not a ‘chick’ cop, and fortunately, there are no descriptions of her designer purse or what fashions she may be wearing. She’s a clever detective and works well as a consultant with the jurisdictional police; she doesn’t pull rank or play mind games.

As the story begins, several key events have already taken place. Vail’s boyfriend is missing, a suspect has been shot and is critically injured, and the police are trying to solve a string of murders and abductions. Vail is called away just as things start to look promising. But the search continues and leads across the country and creates a compelling mystery to be solved.

I hated it. No. "Hate" is too strong a word. In fact, I didn't really dislike it either. I was annoyed by it. I might have actually liked it a lot if it weren't for some distractions in the narrative. These made the story very hard to become fully involved in, despite the clever plot twists.

“Got a laptop,” Vail said. “It’s unplugged.” As Dixon joined her, she lifted the lid. The screen remained black. “Looks like it’s off.” Brilliant deduction!

This happens more than once. “She plucked the disc from the plastic spindle, then placed the DVD in the laptop tray and watched as Windows Media Player loaded.” Seriously, I am too wordy, I know it. But I’m also not a published author! Why does the reader have to plod through all that detail? A page later we read that “Windows Media Player closed.” Hardly exciting, and it detracted from the pace. Additionally, maybe because my mind was already distracted, there seemed to be a lot of product placement-the brand name of just about everything was noted. Instead of making it more true-to-life, it felt like filler. It occurred to me that fifty years from now-when a reader wouldn't care about a Blackberry-that the book would either feel dated or campy.

The most annoying thing of all, however, was the inclusion of two rather boring characters: “the SIG” and “the Glock”. Vail and her partner Dixon carry guns, no surprise. But every time they enter a building, chase a suspect, or sit in their car, we are told the status of their gun. In virtually any scene Dixon appears in, we are told “her SIG drawn” or “SIG in hand”. Vail's Glock is similarly noted. Having read other detective stories and seen countless episodes of Law & Order, I don’t think I need to be told that as they chase a suspected killer that they’ll have their guns out. It’s a given. And in this novel, it becomes a huge distraction. Maybe if I had read the previous books in the series I would know the characters better and not be inclined to notice these things. I do think if someone was familiar with the character of Karen Vail, they’d be pleased with this newest novel.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great continuation from Crush. A very good look at human smuggling, drug smuggling and cartels makes you appreciate our law enforcement officers and the dangers that await them. Karen Vail is a very likable, at times careless (regarding herself, not the ones she cares for), and determined woman. The extremes that Karen goes to find her man - to hell with procedure (not always), humans have to come first.

This is one great series of books - a must read for anyone that likes murder mysteries and crime in particular. I highly recommend this book (and series) - 2 thumbs up and 5 stars.

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am disappointed at how strong this series started in the first book and then went downhill in the second book and then hit rock bottom in this third book. It seemed that all Karen did was search for Robbie and bitch and moan. I was so annoyed with her that by the end of the book I was glad it was over. I didn't like the ending of the book but I guess that since this book was so blah it was a "perfect" ending.

[Tulay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrust me you won't put this thriller down.

While reading this story, you'll be thinking about the first chapter. There's lots of twists and turns, it's so very hard to go through days like Karen Vail lived for two weeks. I will be reading more about her.

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the first book I read in the Karen Vail series and I’m going to be hard pressed to read another. Though well written with good transitions, I found the main character unbelievable.

Karen Vail’s boyfriend, a fellow cop, was kidnapped. She ignored law enforcement protocol to save him. Her main mission was to save her boyfriend no matter how many other law enforcement personal who could or would be hurt or killed.

I’ve read other books narrated by Deanna Hurst and enjoyed her narration but, to me, she was out of her element on this one.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Begins in total chaos after the arrest of a serial killer they had been hunting and the likely kidnapping of Vail's boyfriend. Complex story involving the worst of the worst of drug cartels, deep undercover and violence. I have to say, that although I licked the drama, it is very hard to believe she could get away with some of the things she does. Overall, liked it, but not my favorite of her stories

[Gmr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished this one off in the wee hours of the morning...and honestly, can't say that I'm sorry it's over. The writing was good, but the story didn't live up to what I sampled of the book from the start. You see, I read the excerpt...which is almost a full chapter if not a full chapter and what a wicked rush that was. Seriously...the lead bad guy had issues and they manifested in the usual way...death and mayhem. Needless to say I was quite surprised when the book turned the focus to a missing persons case...and drug cartels. Now the missing person aspect was edge of your seat stuff...from time to time. The drug cartel angle while thoroughly researched (which is clear from the information included), for me...was rather dry.

End result...a good read for those that like thriller/fiction based in reality (which I do) with a large dose of educational information on the crime (not particularly for me).

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the first book so much I recommended it for my book club and the second was interesting and I enjoyed it. BUT this one was completely a let down. I had to skim a lot to find the story. Jacobson obviously is not being edited any longer. There were pages of extra descriptions of places which bogged down the pace. EG: when he introduced a new electronic gadget to Vail he then had her ooohhhing and awwwing and showing it off to other agents more than once. Another EG: pages of description on how to approach and how to park and what vehicles are involved and what gadgets and equipment to raid a drug king's multimillion dollar home. 4 pages of this. So please listen to your editor and eliminate these time costing, plot draining elements.

[Di · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me forever to get through. I find that the more books I read in this series, the more I don't enjoy our main character. Unfortunately, I think this is where I will stop reading this series. I really enjoyed the first book, but my experience with this installment was not nearly as enjoyable.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm parting ways with Karen Vail. She's highly irritating and I am not convinced that real people actually behave the way she does. This finished off the storyline from the last book, but I see no need to continue.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary defines "velocity" as "The speed and direction of motion of a moving body." FBI Profiler Karen Vail is that moving body and she is running to beat the clock with a fiery momentum to find her missing boyfriend who has disappeared into thin air with no clues but a possible connection with a serial killer. Unusual in the mystery/thriller series genre, Velocity picks up right where Crush ended. Literally starting with the next chapter. The plot starts off highly connected with book 2, followed by a resolution, then continues on with book 3's unique plot which always centres on the missing boyfriend, police detective Roberto Hernandez.

I loved this book! Jacobson keeps getting better and better. Velocity takes off in different directions, plot-wise, than either of his previous books making it more than just a serial killer case (not that there's anything wrong with that.) These new directions are surprising and unexpected reveals create a story that is much more than one at first assumes they are reading. Certainly plot is the mainstay of Velocity but, as often happens in mysteries, it has *not* been done so at the expense of characterization. Book 2 took us away from Karen's Quantico colleagues and Velocity continues with the now familiar California characters for whom we've grown fond (or not). But Karen gets sent back to Quantico where we are reintroduced to the characters from Book 1 and Jacobson has done a good job bringing these folks back to the reader's mind, especially giving significant development to Vail's boss, Gifford.

The book ends with the completion of the plot; the unique experience of a two-parter within a series is over but the personal lives of the main characters continue on, ending with a new trajectory for one of said characters and an interesting reveal which we can expect to be explored in the next book. I'm very much looking forward to the next book, which one can only hope is "in the works".

[Maureen Rice · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far this whole series is a 2.5, not terrible but not quite good enough to recommend.

[VLynch · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is with a sad face I write this review. I really enjoyed Crush, and looked forward to this book. I wanted to know what happened to Robby, and was very interested in the wrap up of the story Crush started. But... half way through Velocity, the book took a left turn I did not expect nor liked. I felt it was unbelievable that Karen Vail would be left out and left to damage a case accidently. Karen Vail is so well know for her aggressive actions; her actions should have been predicted not a surprise. I just felt this book was too much, and to be honest dragged on. It was like "toss around the hostage" for a bit. I will definately read the next Karen Vail book, but I hope its more like Crush.

[Rho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring and not realistic. An FBI agent or any law enforcement officer would never behave like Karen Vail. First and last try at this series

[Deb Poole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, Mr. Jacobson, where to begin? I enjoyed Karen Vail #1 a great deal, enjoyed #2 less so, and #3 I honestly only read it because it was the end of the happenings in the second book of the series.

You've turned Karen Vail into a character that is more caricature than actual character. She is now a know it all, annoying, aggressive jerk and I will be reading no further. Every move she makes, every line of dialogue makes her more and more obnoxious, and I can't imagine anyone in a real world FBI scenario would even keep her around. She constantly makes the wrong move, and seriously, for all the times people (in the book) tell her 'she's the only one who can....' fill in the blanks, she shows no real talent or aptitude for what she's doing.

You've turned her into an unreadable, intolerable farce of a character. I suggest you read Dean Koontz's Jane Hawk series to learn how to create a likable, really brave character. I'm surprised I'm even giving this schlock two stars.

[Jessica O'Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so bad that I was rooting for the bad guys.

First off if you didn't read the previous book you will be extremely confused at the beginning. There ARE ways to handle a book where you readers might not have read the first one, but evidently Mr. Jacobson couldn't be bothered.

Nevertheless, don't worry too much because this plot has it all. Serial killers and the other serial killers who emulate them (I think), drug cartels, law enforcement corruption, product placement plugs for Microsoft products as well as the Bellagio, a main premise that is pretty much completely implausible and a lead character who is so rude and annoying that you just want to slap her silly.

I actually listened to the audio book and I must add that Deanna Hurst is probably the worst reader I've ever listened to. She is sincere, and with another book she might be better, but in this case she seems to have 10 or 12 accents that she uses for any reason or no reason at all. Why a Nappa Valley Cop (who is also a vintner!) sounds like he comes from the Bronx is the real mystery of this story. Her Mexican criminals all have awful "stinking badges" accents and the therapist with the Jewish last name sounds like a Brit.

I listened to almost the whole book (I skipped some stuff at the end because it needed to be over) and it was like biting on a toothache the whole way through. Michael Connelly blurbed this and it was on Brilliance Audio, and I took both of those things to be a sign of quality. Sadly, in this case, that was a mistake.

I'm sorry to say negative things, but both the story and the reading were dreadful.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really did enjoy this book, but I feel like the author should have broken up this one and the one before it, Crush, into a trilogy. Crush ended on a cliffhanger, and this book picks right up where the other ended. You deal with that issue in the first third to half of this book. After that, it moves in a completely different direction to end the whole mystery. I feel like Crush and the first third of this book could have been broken into two, and then the last two thirds of this one, which deals with operation Velocity, could have been its own book. I still don’t know if I like Karen Vail very much; she may be growing on me. I do like the fact that the author has stopped preaching on the ins and outs of behavioral analysis. Makes the story more fluid and enjoyable. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

[Karen Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

After helping to capture a sophisticated serial killer in the Napa Valley, FBI profiler Karen Vail launches a frantic search for her missing boyfriend. His disappearance may be linked to an accomplice of the killer she just caught, who now lies in a coma after being shot by a fellow officer. I

This novel starts strong and doesn't let up, taking Vail.on a wild ride and down several rabbit holes as she searches for Robbie. There is a rather large cast, sometimes hard to remember who is who, but the scenes with Vail and her new friend, Napa detective Roxanne Dixon, are a great example of cop show buddy dialogue.

I had to force myself at times not to look pages ahead, not because I was bored, but the story is intriguing and I almost couldn't wait to see what happens. Very highly recommended and looking forward to the next installment of the series.

[Candace · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book......facepalm......I started the book back in 2016 but didn't get to finish because well life. The story starts out with a man who is missing. Vail is that man's girlfriend. She is a FBI agent......well she's stupid and flighty instead of accepting that maybe he is gone for a reason......if she knew him she would know he wanted to be DEA ......anyway so he's actually undercover.....granted they went on a weekend getaway where he was whisked away to go undercover. So she jumps hard to conclusions and ends up jeopardizing his work. She is the kind of woman I hate. It might be because instead of making her a strong woman the author has really just made her more annoying than anything. She is not a strong woman at all. Anyway this book is really not worth it. Sorry not sorry

[Lou Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Home Run! After finishing Crush there was no way I could stop myself from devouring the next Karen Vail tale. Another amazing & thrilling read - on stop action at a breakneck speed. Gobbled this goody up in two delicious helpings. I’m completely hooked and will continue seeking out her further whirlwind adventures.

Thank You Alan Jacobson for these marvelous tales!! I can’t wait for your next book. I might even have to read one of your books not featuring Kate. Vail

[Guanxi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the only book in the series that I read & regretfully at that. It fails on many fronts: dialogue, behavior, situational awareness...ugghh. There's no believable plausibility in the very contrived plot lines. Balloons in buttholes? Go knock on the drug lord's front door?
I don't think there's any sensical accurate behavior by the characters: DEA, FBI, CPB, local law...every other chapter screams 'that would never happen', or 'that's not how that would go down'. This whole story was painful to read - I encourage you to skip.

[Rob Leininger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unreadable. It feels like a continuation of a previous novel, or more than one previous novel. It takes off as if you know what happened in those novels, a blizzard of people you know nothing about who had major bad things happen to them you didn't see and have no context to care about or understand, all of which locks the reader out and makes this one of the most BORING 15 pages I've ever read. I had to give up when this incomprehensible onslaught showed no signs of slowing down. Might be good for readers who read the previous novels, but it's deadly for those who haven't.

[Leslie Barrett Garel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok....I have really enjoyed the first 3 books and the story lines with this character, but in this one? Yeah, she's a little over the top. No way her bosses would let her continue with the way she was acting!! I can always suspend my beliefs and allow a little "cheat" now and then to forward a story, but this one went a little far for me to believe all those around her just kept looking the other way. Hoping the next books have her acting normally again.

[Earlene B Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Velocity

This book drags on like a soap opera that has two weeks until production break. The story line is good, but by the end I could barely remember where it all started. The beginnng of this story happens in a believable murder mystery. The ending in this book is far removed and seems unrelated.

[Vivien Tsang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good episode especially when it was time for op time. San Diego & Vegas was great scenes. But Karen Vail freaking out scenes weren't go great; she needs to calm down if she is going to help save Robby.
Karen Vail meets Hector DeSantos for the 1st time.
DEA Agent Turino is a bit of an asshole, willing to sacrifice a human being for an op.

[Sandy Gotham · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a outstanding writer, You will never get bored. His plots are action packed. The story is about a female FBI agent. She is trying to find the guy she is crazy about. They went on vacation and he disappeared. From then on the story is a real page turner!! I highly recommend this book and the whole series.

[Patricia StClair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long

I enjoyed Crush and because Mr Jacobson left that book with a lot of loose ends, I had to immediately read the next book, Velocity. It started out ok but this book went in way too long! And for me, drug cartels don't interest me. Even so I thought with half the length, it still would have been good. I didn't like any of the characters by the end. Very disappointed.