The choice is proved apt when a second prize winning bull is found dead with a symbol painted on his side. Though the symbols are different, the other aspects of the slaughter are eerily alike. The bulls’ deaths are taken seriously as they represented championship bloodlines known for the quality of their beef.

Concurrently it seems that Mother Nature is expressing her displeasure with the situation. Hurricane Juanita is approaching the Texas coast and is predicted to gain landfall in only a couple of days. Although Sarah operates out of Houston which is not right on the coast, rain and wind damage could be severe. Her family has encountered other storms of like magnitude and know the preparations drill. Securing the house and outbuildings on their ranch, laying in food supplies and checking on the health and well being of their generator, they are ready for whatever the storm will bring.

Sarah’s latest love interest, David Garrity is an FBI agent. David has problems of his own. A four-year-old boy has been reported missing from a park in Houston. Fortunately for Sarah who has been recently called in to provide expertise on the identification of the skeletal remains of two young children, this child is thought to still be alive so she will not be involved in this case, or so she hopes. David is concerned that the mother does not display the usual reaction of a distraught mother. He fears she might somehow be involved in the abduction.

With the impending hurricane providing an added dimension to Sarah’s and David’s already hectic race to solve their respective cases, clues emerge indicating the cases may be related. Usually when a hurricane threatens, residents leave for higher ground, industry comes to a halt, and only emergency personnel on a strictly as needed basis brave the ravages of the weather. With a child’s life at stake, all of David and Sarah’s normal procedures are modified and they subject themselves to personal harm from both the weather and those who feel that laws are not meant for them to follow.

The action heavy portion of The Killing Storm is enhanced by the ravages of the hurricane, making Mother Nature a key player in the plot. The author is obviously quite familiar with the realities of such storms. Her descriptions of the preparations that residents must make for an approaching storm to protect their property and their lives has a realism that comes only from experience. Likewise her account of the fury of the storm itself rings true to the reader.

The interaction of David and Sarah gives depth to the story as does Sarah’s relationship with her daughter. These threads provide continuity from previous novels in the series and invite the reader to develop empathy and concern for Sarah, her coworkers and her family. The characters specific to this novel provide some classic examples of family relationships gone bad.

Though the interplay between Sarah and the perpetrator is similar to many other mystery novels in which the evil doer develops a personal vendetta against the heroine (or hero as the case may be), it does provide the author fodder for future encounters. The fact that Sarah proves to sometimes make the wrong decision makes her more likeable and human. The author’s experience in writing true crime novels gives her fictional character a more realistic demeanor. Hopefully, we will be treated to more Sarah Armstrong adventures in the future.

--Andy Plonka