The Fifth Victim

FBI Task Force S.W.O.R.D., Book 1

By: D.D. Black

Narrated by: Amber Dekkers, Joe Hempel

Across the Pacific Northwest, a twisted killer stalks victims representing ancient archetypes: The Ruler. The Warrior. The Scholar. The Priest. Four are dead, leaving FBI investigators puzzled by the macabre, color-coded shrines the killer left behind.

And clues now point to a fifth victim.

With only two weeks until retirement, seasoned FBI Agent Claire Anderson is desperately trying to balance her work and complex home life when she's called in for one last job: lead a special task force to hunt down the enigmatic "Color Killer."

That task force is the FBI's Special-Washington-Oregon-Regional-Detachment—nicknamed S.W.O.R.D. Now, Claire must marshal the talents of an eclectic crew of agents, including a brilliant criminal psychologist, a street-savvy undercover prodigy, a rugged covert-ops specialist, and a quirky tech savant.

Pursuing the killer through the rain-soaked streets and deep forests of the Pacific Northwest, the men and women of S.W.O.R.D. must delve into an ancient lost religion, its shocking view of life and death, and the dark mind of a cunning psychopath. But when clues start intertwining with Claire's own life, she realizes she’s up against a predator who's always one step ahead.

The fifth victim is closer than she ever imagined.

Dive into Book 1 of the blockbuster new FBI Task Force S.W.O.R.D Series by D.D. Black, author of the #1 international bestselling series, The Thomas Austin Crime Thrillers.

©2024 D.D. Black (P)2024 D.D. Black

Excellent team work

Gripping from start to finish, I thoroughly enjoyed this work by by a great writer and narrators.

Jumped around

Did not hold my attention. Jumped around it was more about people then story. Some parts did not fit with the story

Great start to the series

FBI SAIC, Claire is ready to retire and spend more time with her special needs son; except, a serial killer is on the loose. Claire and her young team must locate the person next on the killer’s list before it’s too late. Lots of action, quirky personalities, including Claire’s son.
Looking forward to the next book.

New D.D. Black series

Once again D.D. Black entertains with his writing prowess. He is able to imagine different reasons for people to do what they do and the FBI group assigned to catch them. Amber Sellers and Joe Temple bring life to these characters. I can't wait to see/hear what case the FBI group does next.

A good story with interesting characters.

I like how we get enough information to form a picture of the characters, and enough description of the landscape to “see” that as well.
The dialog taking place seems real too.

Good

Mispronounced names of cities. Overall very good book. Narrators were flat for the most part. More emotion would help.

The Fifth

This was a good book. On to the next one. I can’t wait to enjoy it

PNW mystery

I enjoyed the beginning of the SWORD series. I just wish that the narrator would ask someone how to pronounce the names of cities in the Pacific Northwest.

I Wanted to Like it...

Not my cup of tea. I found the story a little incredulous. The main character was given an assignment to catch a serial killer 2 weeks before she planned to retire. And what do you know -- the day before her last day at work, she manages to resolve the case. The FBI team consists of a forensic psychologist who reeks of alcohol; a computer geek, an actress, and a muscle bound agent. Oh, did I mention the dog?

Aside from the story, I wasn't a fan of the narration. Having a guy come in solely to put in to read the words of the Male character, made it seem weird and out of place.

So so plot

I wasn’t blown away by the story or by the narrators and didn’t understand why there needed to be two narrators