unravels into a deadly web of secrets.”
Sometimes, Wilford DeBeer’s high-risk, high-reward financial plans worked, and when they did, the clients of DeBeer Wealth Management lauded his brilliance. Unfortunately, sometimes they didn’t, and people lost their businesses, their retirements, and sometimes their lives. So, when Henry Jansen, who was caddying a round of golf for DeBeer, pulled a gun and killed him, the reason seemed obvious.
It wasn’t. Jansen had never been a DeBeer client.
Four days later, Jansen was identified as the shooter. But before the police could locate and arrest him, he was found dead in an alley near downtown Denver. At that point, suspicion pivoted to DeBeer’s many disgruntled clients. One of them must have hired Jansen as their instrument of retaliation, then killed him to cover their involvement.
This theory, too, led nowhere as the investigation stalled after three months.
Frustrated by the apparent lack of progress on the case, Lauren Beckwith, Jansen’s cousin, hired Private Investigator Rebecca Marte to continue the hunt. And while Rebecca apparently retrod much of the same ground as the police detectives, she must have done something different, because before she knew it, she was fighting for her life in a diabolical trap set by Jansen’s killer.
Available at These Retailers
Editorial Reviews
A Weaponized Mind by Bruce M. Perrin is a tightly wound thriller that wastes little time pulling the reader into its central mystery. The premise, at first, feels familiar—a wealthy, controversial financial strategist is assassinated by someone who seems to have a clear motive—but Perrin soon subverts expectations. The early twist that the killer had no known connection to the victim sets the tone for a story that thrives on misdirection and layered intrigue. The pacing is brisk, with just enough detail to ground the narrative without slowing its momentum.
One of the novel’s strengths lies in its shifting perspectives on motive and culpability. Perrin explores the ripple effects of high-stakes financial decisions, hinting at the human cost behind wealth management gone wrong. As suspicion cycles through disgruntled clients and dead ends, the introduction of private investigator Rebecca Marte injects fresh energy into the investigation. Her character brings a welcome mix of determination and vulnerability, and her outsider status allows the story to re-examine earlier assumptions in a way that feels organic rather than forced.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable read for murder/mystery readers. Fans of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides or the wonderful Eye Collector by Sebastian Fitzek will find it particularly enjoyable.
A ‘Wishing Shelf’ Book Review
www.thewsa.co.uk
A Weaponized Mind is the ninth book in the Mind Sleuth series and will delight prior fans who have enjoyed stories of the interaction between modern-day technology and human thought, reasoning, and behavior. Unfortunately, sometimes that interplay turns toxic.
Rebecca Marte, of Marte Investigative Services, tackles a case brought by new young client Lauren Beckwith involving the murder of Wilford DeBeer, the president of DeBeer Wealth Management, and his killer, her cousin Henry Jansen.
But while the question of Jansen’s role in the killing of DeBeer is open and shut, Lauren is baffled by her cousin’s motive for murder. What drove him to kill a man he had never even met? But before she could ask, he, too, was found dead.
Were Jansen’s services bought by someone who profited from DeBeer’s death, and then the assassin was killed to keep his employer in the shadows? Or was Jansen somehow coerced by one of DeBeer’s detractors, then murdered? Or, as the police speculated, was Jansen simply the victim of a random mugging gone wrong?
Rebecca’s slate of possible suspects is vast, but the case against any of them is convoluted and constantly shifting. No one is who they first seem.
Against the backdrop of this baffling case, Rebecca realizes that it’s time to make some difficult decisions about the rest of her life; her long-time boyfriend won’t keep proposing forever. But will these questions become a fatal distraction?
Bruce M. Perrin’s juxtaposition of science and technology, PI investigative processes, and psychological discovery creates a thriller exquisite in its survey not just of murder, but of hidden human motives and how they are shaped by technology.
Libraries selecting A Weaponized Mind can highly recommend it to thriller/mystery readers as well as those interested in our ever-growing understanding of technology’s effects on human behavior. It will spark book club debates about subjects as varied as personal validation by a virtual community to doom scrolling on social media.
D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
No comments :
Post a Comment