Karen Vail

Karen Vail is no ordinary FBI agent. She's a profiler, brought to life by national bestselling author Alan Jacobson's seven years of unprecedented access to the FBI's vaunted profiling unit. The Karen Vail Series has been raved about by reviewers, readers, law enforcement officers of all stripes, real FBI profilers... even one of the legendary founding fathers of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. And it all started with The 7th Victim. With a dry sense of humor and a closet full of skeletons, Karen Vail leads the Dead Eyes Task Force in its search for a serial killer who is not only murdering young women but who has an intimate knowledge of their cases - and their plan for catching him. When the task force is unable to decipher a string of cryptic clues left behind at the crime scenes, Vail leans on a controversial profile she has drawn up - which leads her to believe that the seventh victim holds the key to finding the killer. But there's no way she could be prepared for what she discovers as the story builds to a powerful ending no reader will see coming. Named one of the top five books of the year by Library Journal, The 7th Victim gets the critically acclaimed, bestselling Karen Vail Series off to a groundbreaking start.

In this follow-up to the standout bestseller The 7th Victim, Karen Vail ventures to Napa Valley, where a serial killer has been crushing his victims' windpipes and leaving their bodies in caves. But when the Crush Killer learns that an FBI profiler has joined the Major Crimes Task Force, the newfound attention emboldens him, and he sets in motion a plan that wreaks havoc on the town-as well as the task force. Although a sudden break in the case helps Vail zero in on the identity of the killer, she senses that something isn't right. If she doesn't figure it out in time, the consequences will be dire. In a rousing climax that leaves readers breathless, and which Publishers Weekly termed a "shockeroo ending," Vail must pick up the pieces-and clean up the carnage left behind by the Crush Killer. Meticulously researched during years of work with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, this high-velocity thriller from national bestselling author Alan Jacobson features the kind of edge-of-your-seat ending that inspired Nelson DeMille to call Jacobson "a hell of a writer."   Crush is the first installment of a two-part story that concludes with Velocity, book three in the Karen Vail Series.

A missing detective. A bold serial killer. Evidence that makes FBI profiler Karen Vail question the loyalty of those she has entrusted with her life. After a colleague connects Vail with covert Department of Defense operative Hector DeSantos, who has a knack for uncovering difficult-to-locate information, the pair pries loose long-buried secrets and deceptions that reveal a much-larger criminal enterprise at work. As Vail squares off against foes more dangerous than any she has yet encountered, shocking personal and professional truths emerge-truths that may be more than she can handle. In keeping with Alan Jacobson's page-turning style, Velocity is a high-octane thriller, a memorable work rich in believable characters and an intricately plotted story that's well-researched and ripped from today's headlines. Velocity was named one of the Strand Magazine's top ten books for 2010, Suspense Magazine's top five thrillers of 2010, Library Journal's top five thrillers of the year, and the Los Angeles Times' top picks of the year.   Velocity is the second installment of a two-part story that begins with Crush, book two of the Karen Vail Series.

National-bestselling author Alan Jacobson brings back renowned FBI profiler Karen Vail in an intelligent thriller that bridges time and space When an elderly woman is found raped and brutally murdered in San Francisco, Vail heads west to team up with SFPD Inspector Lance Burden and her former task force colleague Detective Roxxann Dixon. As Vail, Burden, and Dixon follow the killer's trail in and around San Francisco, the offender continues his rampage, leaving behind clues that ultimately lead them to the most unlikely of places: a mysterious island ripped from city lore whose long-buried, decades-old secrets hold the key to their case. Alcatraz. The Rock.  It's a case that has more twists and turns than the famed Lombard Street . . . and a novel that Clive Cussler calls "a powerful thriller, brilliantly conceived and written."

The Park Rapist has murdered his first victim-and FBI profiler Karen Vail is on the case. As Vail races through the streets of Washington, DC, to chase down a promising lead that may help her catch the killer, a military-trained sniper takes aim at his target, a wealthy businessman's son. But what brings these two unrelated offenders together is something the nation's capital has never before experienced. Alan Jacobson received several years of personalized training from two senior FBI profilers at the behavioral analysis unit in Quantico. Fatal Twist, like Jacobson's Karen Vail novels The 7th Victim, Crush, Velocity, and Inmate 1577, brings real characters to the page-and in the process takes readers on a thrilling ride that culminates in an ending that leaves them satisfied . . . and wanting more.

When a potent firebomb destroys part of an art gallery in an exclusive London district, FBI profiler Karen Vail is dispatched to England to work with Scotland Yard on drafting a threat assessment to head off future attacks. But Vail soon discovers that at the heart of the bombing lies a four-hundred-forty-year-old manuscript that holds clues to England's past-with dramatic political and social implications. The manuscript's content is so explosive that a group of political radicals is bent on destroying it at all costs. Or is it the work of someone else? The trail leads Vail to a notorious fugitive who has escaped law enforcement for decades, and who appears to be planning a major attack on London and the United States. When Hector DeSantos, banished from the US Department of Defense and now a rogue covert operative, turns up in England and takes actions that threaten Vail's life, she finds herself on the run from the British security service, Scotland Yard, and a group of internationally trained assassins-all determined to silence her . . . all tightening the net to ensure that she's got no way out. With his trademark spirited dialogue, page-turning scenes, and well-drawn characters, national bestselling author Alan Jacobson ("My kind of writer," says Michael Connelly) has once again crafted an intelligent, twisting thriller destined to be talked about long after the last page has been turned.

New York City: home to world-renowned museums, theater, restaurants, iconic sports franchises. Central Park. Wall Street. And an infamous serial killer who's terrorized the Big Apple for decades. The year is 1995 and the NYPD has just graduated a promising new patrol officer named Karen Vail. The rookie's first day on the job is anything but easy when she finds herself at the crime scene of a young woman murdered in an unusual manner. Vail is unsure of what she's looking at or what it means-but it's a case that will weigh on her mind for nearly twenty years. As the years pass, Vail's career takes unexpected twists and turns-as does the case that's come to be known as Hades. Now a skilled FBI profiler, will Vail be in a better position to catch the killer? Or will Hades prove to be Karen Vail's hell on earth? The character who has captivated readers worldwide-and who won the praise of literary giants Michael Connelly, James Patterson, and Nelson DeMille-returns in a story that captures the experiences that shaped the revered profiler and made her the top cop she is today.

FBI profiler Karen Vail is on the hunt for an escaped serial killer in the latest jaw-dropping thriller from USA Today-bestselling author Alan Jacobson. Jasmine Marcks was a teenager when she discovered her father was a killer. First, there was the strip of bloody duct tape; then, the bloodstain on his shirt; and finally, the long nights away from home that always coincided with gruesome deaths. Roscoe Lee Marcks killed fourteen people before he was finally put behind bars. But as renowned FBI agent Karen Vail soon learns, Marcks's reign of terror isn't over yet. After writing a book about growing up as the child of a serial killer, Jasmine receives a letter-a single sheet of paper mailed from the maximum-security prison Marcks now calls home. The page hides a threatening message from a father who wants vengeance against the daughter who turned him in to the police. So when Marcks breaks out of prison, Agent Vail calls on a legendary retired profiler to help her find the escaped convict-and keep him from making Jasmine his fifteenth victim. Alan Jacobson created Karen Vail-one of the most compelling heroes in suspense fiction, earning acclaim from James Patterson, Nelson DeMille, and Michael Connelly-after seven years of working with two senior profilers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation's legendary Behavioral Analysis Unit. Over the years, Vail has tangled with the worst serial killers America has to offer. But none compares to Roscoe Lee Marcks.

In Hawaii, FBI agent Karen Vail pursues a killer without a profile, in this thriller by the USA Today—bestselling author of The Darkness of Evil. When Det. Adam Russell of the Honolulu PD encounters the body of a woman in her sixties-the second in recent days to inexplicably die of what seem like natural causes-he reaches out to Karen Vail, the renowned FBI profiler, who hops on the next plane. But even for someone as fluent in the language of murder as Vail, this case is hard to read. How were these women asphyxiated with no signs of trauma? How can she gather clues or collect evidence when the killer seems to strike during the briefest casual encounters? Is this the behavior of a male or a female perpetrator? And perhaps most terrifying of all, if the deaths appear so natural at first glance, how many victims have already been overlooked? Now, as something cold and dark lurks under the sunny warmth of this island paradise, Vail must stop a serial killer as elusive as the breeze

The survivor of abusive marriage, Special Agent Karen Vail has become hard and uncompromising in her work as the FBI's lead profiler. Follow her now as she trails brutal killers across the country and then across the pond… Inmate 1577: When an elderly woman is found raped and murdered in San Francisco, Vail heads west to team up with SFPD inspector Lance Burden and her former task force colleague Det. Roxxann Dixon. As they chase the killer around the city, his rampage continues, leaving behind clues that lead them to Alcatraz Island, whose long-buried, decades-old secrets hold the key to their case… No Way Out: After a massive bombing in London, Karen Vail is dispatched to England to work with the Scotland Yard on drafting a threat assessment to head off future attacks. Only, their work uncovers a trail leading to a centuries-old manuscript, the radicals bent on destroying it, and a rogue covert operative with explosive plans. Soon both assassins and British authorities are chasing the beleaguered FBI agent in a race for her life, and there's no telling who will come out on top…

Crush and Velocity, two books originally intended to be one (very long) novel, are now reunited, as national bestselling author Alan Jacobson originally intended when he conceived of the groundbreaking story In FBI profiler Karen Vail’s second adventure after the standout bestseller The 7th Victim, Vail finds herself in the Napa Valley, where a serial killer has been crushing his victims’ windpipes and leaving their bodies in caves and vineyards. But when the Crush Killer learns that an FBI profiler has joined the Major Crimes Task Force, the newfound attention emboldens him, and he engages Vail in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Although a sudden break in the case helps her zero in on the identity of the killer, she senses that something isn’t right. Will she figure it out before it’s too late? In a rousing climax that has left readers breathless (and that Publishers Weekly termed “a shockeroo”), Vail must pick up the pieces—and the carnage left behind by the Crush Killer. Velocity begins the moment Crush ends, with Vail having lost something dear to her and possessing a single-minded fixation on finding who was responsible—and making them pay. As the task force, reeling from their loss, attempts to regroup, Vail discovers that they had made vital mistakes on the Crush Killer case—errors that have had dire consequences. After being ordered to return to Washington, Vail enlists the services of a covert “black” government operative, Hector DeSantos, to assist her in tracking down those behind the evil she and her task force have been grappling with. But what Vail and DeSantos learn places her in the crosshairs of criminals more dangerous than any she has ever faced. And along the way, startling revelations emerge that will forever change Karen Vail—as well as those close to her. Researched meticulously with over three dozen experts in multiple disciplines and with government access that required clearance from a congressional subcommittee, Crush and Velocity take you behind closed doors into a world most people do not know exists.