I’m currently halfway through the most recent novel in Kylie Brant‘s Mindhunters series, and I thought I should spout a bit of praise for her books this week, since I enjoy them so much. If you enjoy the series “Bones” or “Criminal Minds” or any similar television shows and you like your romance novels with substance, you’ll probably like these books. My friend and I share these books (she’s chomping at the bit right now for me to finish the latest one so she can read it, too).
The Mindhunters series are suspense novels, all involving Raiker Forensics, a renowned private company known as the Mindhunters, started by Adam Raiker, who was a profiler for the FBI. Raiker hires only the best for this firm, who then help investigations across the country.
Book 1 – Waking Nightmare (Amazon / Barnes and Noble)
“With a serial rapist loose on the streets of Savannah, hotshot detective Ryne Robel needs answers, not the psycho-babble head games of forensic profiler Abbie Phillips. Abbie must convince him that head games are exactly what this elusive suspect is all about.”
A serial rapist targets victims and tortures them based on their biggest fears. Ryne and Abbie have some instant chemistry. Abbie’s sister, who is bipolar – one of the best written bipolar characters I’ve ever read – complicates things.
Book #2 – Waking Evil (Amazon / Barnes and Noble)
“Buffalo Springs, Tennessee, is a neighborly kind of place where folks leave their doors unlocked and crime is unheard of. But once every generation, a strange red mist settles over the town, and with it comes omens of death…
When the body of a young woman is found, forensic investigator Ramsey Clark is called in. She knows about the legend of the mist and about the curse that has the entire town afraid of the dark. But Ramsey believes in evidence, not superstition, despite what she’s told by the parapsychologist who’s been dogging her every step. Then another murder rocks Buffalo Springs, and Ramsey begins to wonder if a killer is playing on everyone’s fears or if a prophecy is indeed being fulfilled – one victim at a time.”
Clark and the male lead, Devlin Stryker, who is the parapsychologist (a.k.a. ghost hunter), make an interesting pair in this book. It’s more a mystery novel, versus a true romantic suspense, but I still enjoyed it.
Book #3 – Waking The Dead (Amazon / Barnes and Noble)
“Forensic anthropologist Caitlin Fleming knows bones. So she is the first one called when seven sets of skeletal remains are found dumped in a makeshift graveyard in the Oregon wilderness. The skeletons bear the same distinctive marks – and each is minus a skull.
Cait needs outdoor guide Zach Sharper for one reason only — to help her find her way through the Willamette Forest as she pieces together clues. Despite the attraction that burns between them, Cait will let nothing shake her focus. Until the killer closes in to terminate the search – and the investigators on the verge of unmasking him…”
I found it a little hard to like Sharper right at first in this novel, but he grew on me. He is former special forces, while she is a former model. It makes for interesting chemistry.
Book #4 – Deadly Intent (Amazon / Barnes and Noble)
“No one knows the patterns and nuances of communication like forensic linguist Macy Reid. She is also an expert on kidnapping, having experienced firsthand the stark terror of being abducted when she was a child. So she is the perfect investigator to be called in when a Denver tycoon’s eleven-year-old daughter is abducted – for the second time.
The biggest stumbling block for Macy may be a member of her own team: Kellan Burke, the wisecracking, rule-breaking investigator who relishes getting under Macy’s skin. Their styles couldn’t be more different; the attraction between them, more explosive. And when it becomes apparent that Macy can’t solve this case without confronting the demons from her past, Kell is just the man to take her there – and back…”
This might be my favorite of this series.
Book #5 – Deadly Dreams (Amazon / Barnes and Noble)
“Risa Chandler’s prescient dreams of death and murder haunted her nights. They also proved invaluable for Adam Raiker’s brilliant team of forensic criminologists, the Mindhunters—until a tragic end to one case shattered Risa’s confidence, and drove her into seclusion. But for Risa, there’s no hiding from death—or from her dreams.
Though skeptical, Philadelphia homicide detective Nate McGuire enlists Risa’s help in finding a serial killer who has claimed three victims. Reluctantly, she agrees. Because she’s been dreaming again—rituals by fire, charred horrors, tortured screams. But Risa’s feeling something else: the heat of a stranger who’s watching her just as closely, a madman with dreams of his own—to make Risa his ultimate fiery sacrifice.”
This one combines an interesting mix of a psychic and a police detective working together. Not an unheard of story plot, but the suspense throughout was good to read.
Book #6 – Deadly Sins (Amazon / Barnes and Noble)
“An unknown assassin has appointed himself judge, jury, and executioner, brutally taking out high-level human targets citywide. It’s just the kind of case that will test the resolve of a tough FBI agent like Jaid Marlowe. Especially when her new partner is Adam Raiker, Jaid’s former colleague-and ex-lover.”
Finally, the book that tells you more about Raiker. I was never that sure about him, and I think I thought he was older at the start of the series than he actually is. There’s a bit more of the suspense/criminal aspect of it, though Jaid and Raiker’s chemistry is still there, even after almost a decade.
I'm a lover of writing and books. I graduated from South Dakota State with a master's degree in communications in 2011, the same year I was first published. I'm a wife and mom, and I work in content and digital marketing in South Dakota.
Me and my writing life 
[…] that launched the TV series. I am also a fan of criminal forensics genre books (read this blog post from April to see one of my favorite series), along with other similar television shows (Criminal Minds, […]