City of Windows (Lucas Page, Volume 1)
Minotaur Books, 2019
Agent: Jill Marr
In the tradition of Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme and David Baldacci’s Amos Decker, City of Windows introduces Lucas Page, a brilliant, reluctant investigator, matching wits with a skilled, invisible killer
During the worst blizzard in memory, an FBI agent in a moving SUV in New York City is killed by a nearly impossible sniper shot. Unable to pinpoint where the shot came from, as the storm rapidly wipes out evidence, the agent-in-charge Brett Kehoe turns to the one man who might be able to help them—former FBI agent Lucas Page.
Page, a university professor and bestselling author, left the FBI years ago after a tragic event robbed him of a leg, an arm, an eye, and the willingness to continue. But he has an amazing ability to read a crime scene, figure out angles and trajectories in his head, and he might be the only one to be able to find the sniper’s nest. With a new wife and family, Lucas Page has no interest in helping the FBI—except for the fact that the victim was his former partner.
Agreeing to help for his partner’s sake, Page finds himself hunting a killer with an unknown agenda and amazing sniper skills in the worst of conditions. And his partner’s murder is only the first in a series of meticulously planned murders carried out with all-but-impossible sniper shots. The only thing connecting the deaths is that the victims are all with law enforcement—that is until Page’s own family becomes a target.
To identify and hunt down this ruthless, seemingly unstoppable killer, Page must discover what hidden past connects the victims before he himself loses all that is dear to him.
Accolades:
• Selected as one of SunSentinel's "Best Mystery Books of 2019"
• Featured in the book highlights section of the London Times
• Publishers Weekly Picks: Books of the Week, August 5, 2019
Reviews:
"A high-voltage thriller with a plot that terrifies and grips—and in which not a single character can be dismissed as a cardboard creation—“City of Windows” also offers a penetrating look at America and the dangers within that threaten the republic."
—Fredricksburg Freelance Star review
"Mr. Pobi’s novel features a cast of colorful characters and an assortment of astonishing events, as Page wrangles with the constraints of time and space. City of Windows is a moving, breathtaking—a great entertainment!”
—Wall Street Journal
"A fast-paced, topical thriller that checks the boxes in the genre, perhaps a little automatically. Will appeal to fans of John Sandford, Lee Child, and Brian Freeman."
—Library Journal Review
"The tense plot is balanced by the prickly Lucas’s cerebral investigating skills. This promises to be Pobi’s breakout thriller."
—Publisher's Weekly (starred)
"Investing in Dr. Lucas Page and his extraordinary family is ridiculously easy, and, crankiness aside, he has a solid core of decency that shines through. Lucas is surrounded by genuinely interesting supporting characters, such as his de facto partner Agent Whitaker, who has a preternatural talent for anticipating what Lucas is thinking, and Dingo, a fellow amputee and former BBC combat photographer who lives over the Pages' garage...Relentless pacing, tight plotting, and a brainy, idiosyncratic new hero make this one a winner."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Pobi’s rocket-fueled plot and strong voice make this a can’t-miss hit."
—Library Journal
"City of Windows is that rarest of gems—a page-turner painted with soaring prose that makes you want to read every sentence twice. In Dr. Lucas Page, Robert Pobi has created a unique and modern protagonist, as irascible as he is brilliant. He’ll be back and so will I.”
—Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times bestselling author of Orphan X
“A tough, wise, knowing narrative voice, a great plot, a great setting, and even better characters — I loved this.”
—Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author
“A stunner. One of the most impressive, compelling thrillers I’ve read in a long while. The plot moves at bullet velocity. The writing has an electric surge. Robert Pobi delivers a fresh, exciting new voice to thriller fiction.”
—David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of Murder As a Fine Art
"Robert Pobi has written a winner with City of Windows, a novel that should establish him as an authentic, distinctive and entertaining new voice in crime fiction."
—John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author
"I don't have space to list the many things that are done expertly in City of Windows. Just read it and start watching for Robert Pobi's next book."
—Thomas Perry, Edgar award-winning and New York Times bestselling author