cover image Mind over Monsters: A F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad Investigation

Mind over Monsters: A F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad Investigation

Jennifer Harlow. Midnight Ink (www.midnightinkbooks.com), $14.95 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-7387-2667-0

With a wackiness level approaching Saturday morning cartoon territory, Harlow’s police procedural debut introduces the F.R.E.A.K.S. (Federal Response to Extra-Sensory and Kindred Supernaturals) squad. Psychokinetic schoolteacher Beatrice Alexander must settle in to the social dynamics of this top-secret, monster-fighting branch of the FBI alongside a preppy psychometrist; a teleporting bank-robbing teenager; a short-tempered firestarter; a friendly medium; a shy, sexy werewolf; and a dramatically obnoxious vampire. Beatrice holds her own as the team tracks down a smalltown, big-power necromancer through a mix of psychic powers and good old detective work. The lighthearted if slightly gory tale moves quickly, ties up cleanly, and leaves the reader with a strong sense of this motley group as a tight working team. The amusingly stereotyped characterization probably won’t support a lot of character growth, but readers can look forward to plenty of high-energy chases after odd supernatural baddies in future installments. (Oct.)