138 Main Street – An Address To Die For In This Absolute Pageturner!

When I originally picked up 138 Main Street, I assumed, incorrectly as it turned out, that this was more of a cozy mystery rather than the page-turning thriller it turned out to be.

Believe me when I say that I wasn’t disappointed because from the first page I was hooked!

I’ll get straight into the synopsis, and it goes like this…

Meet FBI Agent Ben Walker

FBI Agent Ben Walker is at a crime scene three days after the events that took place there. Yes, it’s awful, but more importantly, there’s a connection to two previous crime scenes that, until now, had no common pattern.

The crimes involved different types of victims and used different methods, even across different states. And then, as he stands there, he’s told there’s been a fourth.

We switch to Officer Zoe Hill, relatively new on the job in her hometown of Granton, who has just been called to check on a resident, only to find him murdered.

Shocked to her core, she manages to retain some composure and spots a symbol she believes was left behind by the killer.

Before she has even begun gathering evidence, she gets a call from the FBI, advising them that they are on their way.

Puzzled as to why the FBI would be interested in a random killing in her town, it all becomes clear when Agent Walker arrives.

Four crimes, eight victims, and nothing in common except for one thing. They all live at 138 Main Street.

Let The Chase Begin

The FBI knows it has a serial killer on the loose, but with nothing more to go on than an address, they set up a task force to get ahead of what will undoubtedly cause widespread panic across America.

After all, there are more than 7,000 addresses that begin with 138 Main Street.

Walker requests that Zoe Hill be seconded to the task force, and along with analyst Brodie, the trio tries to determine which home will be the next target, which, by any stretch of the imagination, is an almost impossible task.

As the bodies pile up and mass panic ensues, the team is at a loss until the killer’s manifesto is released to the public.

Will this help, or will it cause even more headaches? And will Walker, Hill, and Brodie be able to figure out the killer’s next move and finally get one step ahead?

Brilliantly Structured Book

What made 138 Main Street such a gripping read was the layout of the book. The chapters move back and forth between perspectives. So in one, it will be from Agent Walker’s perspective, and in another, it will be from Zoe Hill’s.

But the genius was then sprinkling the story with the views of different residents who all live at that address across the country. Why don’t they just leave? Because they can’t.

One woman lives in an apartment, and her sister is missing, and she’s terrified to leave in case her sister returns. Another gentleman is a disabled veteran.

Others simply don’t have the means or support to simply uproot their lives for what could be weeks or months until the killer is caught.

And then there’s the killer himself. The Professor. We don’t know who he is or where he is, but we do know he’s planning something big.

No Spoilers

here are plenty of twists and turns in 138 Main Street, and you can sort of guess where it is going as more and more of the story is revealed, but thankfully not so much that it ruins the tension.

If I had one teeny-weeny criticism, it would be that for 99% of the book, Officer Zoe Hill is written by Gavin Bell as a smart, very capable younger woman with her head in the game.

Then there’s a bit of a 180, and she starts to make some out-of-character and very foolish decisions – you know the kind – decides to investigate on her own without telling anyone.

Or worse, and my personal pet hate, she is on the phone about to give some pertinent info (like her location) when she hears a noise and says, ‘let me call you back’.

It’s those little things that can frustrate a reader, and it does happen here, but not so much that I couldn’t get over it.

As a standalone book, this is a treat, but there’s also a bit of scope for a second book if author Gavin Bell decides to continue it as a series.

Whether all three will be back is debatable, as I think the focus was very much on Zoe Hill, and she could easily be on her way to solving the next case as I write.