Hotwire by Alex Kava
Published: 2011
Hotwire by Alex Kava is the 9th in the FBI Special Agent Maggie O’Dell series.
Maggie’s boss sends her to teach a weekend conference in Nebraska, but she gets detoured to investigate some dead cattle that have had their blood drained and organs removed. Then she suddenly finds herself investigating some teenagers who were experimenting with a new drug and hoping to film the results for You-Tube. Unfortunately, three of them died, and the stories the remaining kids are telling don’t add up. Between the electric barbed wire, the bite mark on the girls arm, and the tales of strange lights in the skies, Maggie doesn’t know what to think. She meets some interesting characters, including a journalist who is fairly certain that the problems in Nebraska are due to UFOs. The other popular theory is that the US Government is staging war games in the middle of the Nebraska forest. Either way, Maggie is a little out of her element.
Meanwhile, Maggie’s friend Colonel Benjamin Platt is working with Roger Bix from the CDC to investigate two schools that seem to have been the target of food poisoning.
Both Maggie and Ben are uncovering secrets.
This one seemed like a really fast read, and as much as I enjoyed the book, there were a couple of things that seemed off. I expected the two story-lines to connect, and they did not (yes that’s a bit of a spoiler, but nothing major). The other thing is the fact that Maggie’s partner Tully was supposed to be working with Platt and Bix, but he was not involved at all.
I did like the fact that Julia’s role in the story was expanded, and I liked the addition of Lucy Coy, who would be a great addition to Maggie’s future stories.
Overall, it was a good, easy read, with enough action to keep things interesting.
Read: October 2017
Favorite Quotes from Hotwire:
“She understood it wasn’t an actual fear of flying so much as a fear of being without control, which was often the crux of most fears. If you had control over a situation, there was nothing to fear.”
“You should never deny who you are to please someone else. If that’s the choice, then it’s not meant to be.”
About the Author: Alex Kava (June 1960 – ) is the NY Times best-selling author of this Maggie O’Dell Series. She has also written a new Ryder Creed series, as well as stand-alone novels. Before devoting her time to writing, she held a variety of jobs, mostly in marketing and advertising. She started her own graphic design company, designing food packages and logos for various national companies. Kava currently divides her time between Omaha, Nebraska and Pensacola, Florida. She has a pack of Westies (or more likely, they have her.)
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