Pitch Black

Pitch Black by Leslie Parrish is the second book in her phenomenal Black CATs series. From the back cover.~

A group of elite FBI special agents has been brought together to form the Cyber Action Team, aka CAT – and they have one mission: to solve Internet-related murders.

Former profiler Alec Lambert would give anything to catch the Professor, a serial killer who lures his victims with Internet scams. Now working with the Black CATs, Alec finally has his chance.

When two teen boys are lured to a cruel, icy death, Alec teams up with reclusive scam expert Samantha Dalton, who may be able to find out where the madman will strike next. Despite Alec’s intense attraction to Sam, he’s fiercely determined to keep their relationship professional. As they draw ever closer to discovering the Professor’s identity and stopping his murderous rampage, they realize Sam is the psychotic killer’s new obsession. And possibly his next target…

As I said when I read Fade to Black, the first book in the Black CATs series, Leslie has found her true voice with romantic suspense. Pitch Black is filled with mystery, romance and suspense.  Alec Lambert is new to the Black CATs and immediately starts to investigate the Professor, who he had investigated in the past as a member of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. When two teen boys are killed, the email correspondence between one of the boys and Samantha Dalton sends Alec and his partner to Sam’s door for help. Alec is attracted to Sam from the very first, but she is still recovering from her divorce and fights her attraction in the beginning. Unknown to Alec or any of the other agents in the Black CATs, the Professor has set his sights on Sam.  I thought I had who the Professor was figured out several times throughout Pitch Black, but Leslie kept me in the dark until almost the very end. I really liked the build- up of tension between Alec and Sam. Alec wants to keep their relationship strictly professional until the case is solved, but Sam doesn’t want to let another day go by without being with him. The passion between them is so true to life that it leaps off the pages.

I think the Black CATs series gets better with each book. I have really loved both Fade to Black and Pitch Black.  The release date for Pitch Black  is August 4, 2009 and everyone should pre-order it today! I've also already read Black at Heart, the third and currently final book in this series and will blog about it soon. As much as I loved Fade to Black and Pitch Black, Black at Heart is my favorite book in the series!