Strip Search

by: William Bernhardt

Published by: Ballantine Books

Reviewed by Edith Knehans

Let’s face it: Las Vegas has a reputation for living loose and fast. A bright-light big city with a sinister underbelly and notoriety for crime, Vegas is no stranger to high crimes and soulless individuals. It is with this in mind that Strip Search is written. The story revolves around Susan Pulaski, unsettled in her life as well as her work. Her investigative sidekick, Darcy O’Bannon, proves to be a terrific foil to Pulaski’s subtle intelligence and quick wit.

Pulaski operates as a police behaviorist in the story. Her charge is to get to the bottom of ritual murders that appear to be specially selected by the killer. The killer, bent on those with sordid pasts, leaves a trail of grim and gruesome evidence throughout a city that is already filled with its own dirty secrets. Pulaski’s partner, O’Bannon, gives Pulaski a dimension not commonly seen in thrillers. He is a highly-functioning autistic savant that provides Pulaski (and the story) with eerie depth and powerful understanding.
The greater challenge to Pulaski is her own life. Her department doesn’t support her, her life doesn’t support her, and her family can’t support her – all wrapping Pulaski into the perfect bait for a killer who leaves arbitrary mathematical formulas at the site of the scenes of the crimes.

The story follows the traditional thriller fare in many respects. What makes this story unique is the unanticipated twists and turns experienced not only by Pulaski, but also the sharp edges tagged to those that work with Pulaski and those that wish her ill will, or worse yet, her own gruesome ending.

Not for the faint of heart or stomach, Strip Search provides a thrill ride; at times, at a relentless pace.

Armchair Interviews says: Bernhardt has captured the seediness of Las Vegas in a way that will stay with you until the end!

Author’s Web site: http://www.WilliamBernhardt.com