From Publishers Weekly
A mother-daughter writing team pens a soundly plotted thriller that fires on all cylinders. Tracy (the authors' pseudonym) seamlessly weaves together three distinct subplots converging on a Minneapolis software company, Monkeewrench, run by eclectic misfits and founded by the beautiful, bitchy, haunted Grace MacBride, an enigmatic recluse. The slaying of an elderly couple in a Wisconsin church draws Sheriff Michael Halloran and his amorous deputy, Sharon Mueller, into an investigation that brings unprecedented scrutiny to their conservative rural town. At the same time, a string of baffling murders in Minneapolis are driving homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth bonkers. Then the folks at Monkeewrench figure out what's going on: a killer is staging a series of exotic murders that duplicate those in their grisly new video game, Serial Killer Detective. Desperate to prevent additional murders (the game has 20), the programmers study the victims to figure out who might be next. Meanwhile, Magozzi's investigation reveals that MacBride and her colleagues created entirely new identities for themselves years earlier, for reasons the FBI won't reveal, but which, Magozzi slowly finds, are connected to another series of murders a decade earlier in Atlanta. Tracy covers all the bases in this debut thriller: an accelerating, unpredictable plot that combines police procedural with techno-geek-speak, an array of well-drawn characters and, most importantly, witty repartee.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
A series of murders is being modeled after the gruesome deaths depicted in a popular video game. Things move quickly as law enforcement and the video game's creators--who harbor a few secrets of their own--work together to predict where the killers will strike next. The usually capable Buck Schirner is somewhat miscast as narrator. His friendly drawl doesn't mesh with this novel's fast pace and up-to-the-minute techno-jargon. While his warm voice doesn't ruin the production, one wonders why a narrator with an edgier style wasn't chosen. J.P.M. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
When people start dying in strange ways in Minneapolis, everyone wonders what the murderer will do next--everyone except the employees of Monkeewrench Software, who are all too aware that their new serial-killer computer game is the model for the crimes. They go to the police with the what, where, and when of the next murders and quickly become suspects themselves as the killer strikes again exactly as they predict. Does the closely knit group of coworkers know something they're not telling about the all-important who and why? The missing pieces come eventually from an unlikely source as a rural Wisconsin sheriff links his own chilling case to the Minneapolis murders. The two teams of detectives--one from the big city and one from the small town but both with their own quirks, love interests, and insights--provide the sparkle in this engaging debut thriller by a mother-daughter writing team who lace their suspense with humor a la Harlan Coben. Carrie Bissey
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Harlan Coben
Fast, fresh, funny and outrageously suspenseful... The debut thriller of the year.

People
Sizzling... A killer read.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
An intricately plotted, edge-of-your-seat page-turner with memorable characters and dialogue so sharp it makes you want to read it aloud, this remarkable debut thriller is the story of two sets of murders connected by unimaginable secrets. In a small town in Wisconsin, a narrow-minded elderly couple is murdered execution-style in a local church. Evidence is scarce—and what little there is raises even more questions. Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, the software design company Monkeewrench has just introduced a new game that's nothing like the educational software and children's games it's produced in the past. "Serial Killer Detective" is bigger, bolder...and bloodier—and, the design team soon realizes, someone's inspiration for a series of very real murders based on the game. With a menu of 20 death scenarios already programmed into the game for the killer to emulate—and public fears mounting even faster than the bodies -- the police must work fast to stop the software's real-life replication. Mother-daughter writing team P. J. Tracy have crafted a wild, enthralling first novel that will leave you eager for their next endeavor. Sue Stone

ANNOTATION

Winner of the 2004 Anthony Award for First Novel

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Haunted by a series of horrifying and violent episodes in their past, Grace McBride and the oddball crew of her software company, Monkeewrench, create a computer game where the killer is always caught, where the good guys always win. But their game becomes a nightmare when someone starts duplicating the fictional murders in real life, down to the last detail.

By the time the police realize what's happening, three people are dead, and with seventeen more murder scenarios available online, there are seventeen more potential victims. While the authorities scramble to find the killer in a city paralyzed by fear, the Monkeewrench staff are playing their own game, analyzing victim profiles in a frantic attempt to discover the murderer's next target.

In a thriller populated by characters both hilarious and heartbreaking, a rural Wisconsin sheriff, two Minneapolis police detectives, and Grace's gang are caught in a web of decades-old secrets that could get them all killed.

FROM THE CRITICS

USA Today

The Minneapolis setting of Monkeewrench and the expertly rendered search for a serial killer are reminiscent of the fine work of best-selling author John Sandford, whose fans definitely will want to pick this one up. — David Montgomery

Harlan Coben

Fast, fresh, funny and outrageously suspenseful... The debut thriller of the year.

People

Sizzling... A killer read.

Publishers Weekly

A mother-daughter writing team pens a soundly plotted thriller that fires on all cylinders. Tracy (the authors' pseudonym) seamlessly weaves together three distinct subplots converging on a Minneapolis software company, Monkeewrench, run by eclectic misfits and founded by the beautiful, bitchy, haunted Grace MacBride, an enigmatic recluse. The slaying of an elderly couple in a Wisconsin church draws Sheriff Michael Halloran and his amorous deputy, Sharon Mueller, into an investigation that brings unprecedented scrutiny to their conservative rural town. At the same time, a string of baffling murders in Minneapolis are driving homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth bonkers. Then the folks at Monkeewrench figure out what's going on: a killer is staging a series of exotic murders that duplicate those in their grisly new video game, Serial Killer Detective. Desperate to prevent additional murders (the game has 20), the programmers study the victims to figure out who might be next. Meanwhile, Magozzi's investigation reveals that MacBride and her colleagues created entirely new identities for themselves years earlier, for reasons the FBI won't reveal, but which, Magozzi slowly finds, are connected to another series of murders a decade earlier in Atlanta. Tracy covers all the bases in this debut thriller: an accelerating, unpredictable plot that combines police procedural with techno-geek-speak, an array of well-drawn characters and, most importantly, witty repartee. Audio rights to Brilliance; foreign rights sold in France, Germany and the U.K. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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