City of Fire

When a vibrant young woman is found brutally murdered in her own bed, the victim of a ritualized killing in a quiet neighborhood overlooking the Pacific Ocean, LAPD’s elite Robbery-Homicide Division rushes to the crime scene. Who killed Nikki Brant? And why does the murder match another bizarre killing that occurred exactly one month ago? That’s what rookie Detective Lena Gamble must find out before it’s too late. Before the infamous serial killer “Romeo” strikes again.With panic sweeping across Los Angeles and wildfires burying the streets in clouds of smoke, Lena rips through the evidence and uncovers Romeo’s twisted secret. But now no one is safe. Not even her, as the hunter becomes the hunted, and Romeo believes only Lena Gamble can satisfy his every desire.The case goes radioactive. Romeo is getting closer. Time’s running out. Yet Lena keeps pushing forward and learns something new that cuts to the bone. Something personal still haunting her from the past. The killings are intimately connected to the death of her brother, a rock musician gunned down on a dark street in Hollywood five years ago. Out of answers and out of hope, Lena decides that there’s only one way left to end Romeo’s savage rampage. Face the terror head-on, and enter the madman’s world…on her own.

Praise for CITY OF FIRE

“CITY OF FIRE is my kind of crime novel. Gritty, tight and assured. Riding with Detective Lena Gamble through the hills of Los Angeles is something I could get used to. She’s tough, smart, and most of all, she’s real.”

—Michael Connelly

“Los Angeles under a cloud of acrid smoke . . . Robert Ellis’s CITY OF FIRE is a gripping, spooky crime novel.”

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The New York Times

“Hot List” Pick

“CITY OF FIRE features a tough but deeply flawed protagonist, a tantalizingly complex plot, fully realized—and realistic—characters, and most of all, a palpable intensity. And if that weren’t enough, the bombshell plot twist at the novel’s conclusion makes this an absolute must read for thriller aficionados.”

—Chicago Tribune

“I just discovered Robert Ellis. This book is terrific.”

—Janet Evanovich,

People

magazine

“This book is fast, gruesome, and twisted, like a scary Jodie Foster movie. Ellis makes it easy to be terrified.”

—Library Journal

“A complex portrait of the flawed but righteous Lena by Ellis makes this sure-footed police procedural something special.”

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Kirkus Reviews

“Ellis vividly evokes Hollywood as a place of burning desires, where the boundaries between good and evil are blurred beyond distinction. Ellis’s prose is crisp, and his plot moves at a good clip.”

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Booklist

“Robert Ellis’s brisk, complex CITY OF FIRE is hot stuff. Ellis excels at vivid writing and the expert plotting keeps the reader off-kilter … L.A., which is written about so often, seems fresh in the hands of an original storyteller such as Ellis.”

—South Florida

Sun-Sentinel

“The story is tight, the characters alive.”

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Publishers Weekly

“CITY OF FIRE begins like a roller coaster, building tension, anxiety, and fear. Then it plunges at full speed, spiraling and twisting through scenes that will have hearts pounding and fingers flying through the pages.”

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Mystery Scene

magazine