Carmen Sanchez’s sister, who narrowly escapes death at her assailant’s hands. An angry Sanchez makes the Spider case a personal quest, and, with the clout she has as a Homeland Security agent, she’s able to work across multiple jurisdictions.

However, the killer isn’t a lone wolf (or spider, in this case). He’s got a powerful hacker helping him evade the authorities. So, Sanchez recruits her own expert, Jacoby Heron. He’s a former Robin Hood hacker, whom Sanchez busted in her last case as an FBI agent. Having served his sentence, Heron teaches a graduate class on intrusions, which he defines as: “someone or something deliberately entering into a place or situation where they’re unwelcome or uninvited.” He also moonlights as a penetration testing expert, someone hired by major companies to test their security devices. He becomes Sanchez’s consultant on what is, in essence, her two-person task force.

Sanchez and Heron have a prickly, combative chemistry that works very well in Fatal Intrusion. The book takes place over only four days, so both the cops and the killer move rapidly (at times implausibly rapidly) over a sizable amount of California real estate. Heron uses the internet and his computer skills to get ahead in the investigation, often to Sanchez’s consternation. However, she’s no Inspector Lestrade left befuddled by Sherlock Holmes’s skills. Instead, she’s a pretty shrewd investigator on her own and a deadly force when the inevitable showdowns occur. The Spider is a worthy foe, resourceful and daring. (In one chapter, he literally walks past Sanchez and Heron on a stakeout of a suspect’s location, posing as a neighbor walking his dog.) The authors shift the point-of-view between protagonists and villains from chapter to chapter so readers will be ahead of the characters in seeing how successful the various efforts are.

Anyone who has ever read a Jeffery Deaver novel knows to expect plot twists, and Fatal Intrusion has its share. That’s one reason I haven’t described the plot in more detail, although I will note that the storyline is far more complex than it first appears. The book has fewer twists and surprises than the Lincoln Rhyme novels I’ve read, but most readers will probably hit themselves on the side of the head for not spotting some of them. I would advise readers to keep the principle of Chekov’s gun in mind when reading Fatal Intrusion. The book has no throwaway details or characters.

This plot complexity is one of the book’s strengths but also its major weakness. I’ve never enjoyed cop shows and movies in which the investigators have an omniscient computer whiz at their disposal. This genius can, within seconds, figure out any missing piece of evidence that would have required days of legwork for investigators in the past. Heron serves that function here. His deductive leaps are needed to allow the authors to wrap up the book in four days. But they sometimes feel overly convenient. Similarly, the Spider’s hacker can take over traffic signal networks and erase surveillance footage as needed to allow the Spider to evade capture.

Fortunately, Heron is more than the stereotypical nerd. He’s the most complex character in the book, and his efforts to stay at the forefront of the investigation despite his “consultant” status provide an entertaining storyline. He and Sanchez form the best type of team, one in which each member contributes their own highly trained skills in a way that complements the other. The book ends with a major showdown and shootout that should satisfy all action fans.

The authors have another Sanchez and Heron novel planned, and this duo forms an offbeat and likable investigative team that could easily anchor a long-running series. Fatal Intrusion incorporates the best of the authors’ writing strengths in a thriller that combines high-tech computer wizardry with some good old-fashioned detective work. Genre fans will want Fatal Intrusion to intrude on their reading lists.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.