In ‘Blackout,’ Alex Segura Captures Readers Within His Sticky Web of Secrets [REVIEW]

Fifteen years after his high school crush disappears and her ex-boyfriend is found murdered, Pete Fernandez reopens a cold case he just can’t shake in Alex Segura’s latest novel, Blackout. (Photo by Elias de Carvalho on Pexels.com)

A private investigator with plenty of personal demons. A cold case that has haunted him since high school. When new evidence comes to light, will it lead him to the truth he’s so desperately sought or will the trail go cold once again? Find out in Alex Segura’s fourth Pete Fernandez novel, Blackout.

Polis Books

Back in 1998, Patty Morales was a rising star at Southwest Miami Senior High School. She was determined to get into an Ivy League college, ran in the right social circles, and was the editor-in-chief of her school paper, The Lancer.

She had everything going for her until the day she disappeared and her ex-boyfriend, star quarterback Danny Castillo, was found dead, shot twice in the chest at the bottom of a school stairwell.

Ever since that tragic day, Patty’s family has never stopped looking for their daughter, and PI Pete Fernandez hasn’t stopped thinking about the beautiful girl he had wanted to take to prom. What happened to her? What involvement did she have in Danny’s death? And is it possible that she is still out there… somewhere… and still alive?

When a new clue surfaces, it lures Pete and his partner, Kathy Bentley, back to Miami to reopen the case. But the investigation leads them in unexpected directions, and suddenly they are caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous cult with a terrifying following and an ambitious Florida politician determined to reach the top by any means necessary. Can Pete unravel the mystery and get at the truth before he becomes another casualty in a deadly game he doesn’t know how to play?

Blackout is one of those brilliant novels that lures us into its sticky web of secrets, and readers quickly find themselves tangled within the silvery threads of treachery and deceit Segura spins with apparent ease. The result is a trap we enter willingly, because this book isn’t just about the mystery at hand, but it is a tale which also teaches us much about PI Pete Fernandez, a troubled character we’ve come to care about during the first three volumes in the series. By pulling the curtain farther back than he ever has before, Segura delivers a tour de force that we just can’t put down.

With its hard-boiled PI, colorful characters, rich back story, and rippling suspense, this is much more than just another potboiler. It is a complex novel about the traumas that shape us, the people who color the lens through which we see the world, and the places which mold us into the people we are destined to become. As vibrant and treacherous as Miami itself, Blackout is a story that proves once again why Alex Segura is more than a mystery writer, he is a deft chronicler of the human condition.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alex Segura
(Photo by Robert Kidd)

Alex Segura is a novelist and comic book writer. He is the author of the Miami crime novels featuring Pete Fernandez, including Silent City, Down the Darkest Street, Dangerous Ends, and Blackout, all via Polis Books.

He has also written a number of comic books, including the bestselling and critically acclaimed Archie Meets Kiss storyline, the “Occupy Riverdale” story, Archie Meets Ramones, and the upcoming The Archies one-shot.

His work has appeared in the anthologies Protectors 2, Waiting to be Forgotten: Stories of Crime and Heartbreak Inspired by the Replacements, and Apollo’s Daughters and in publications including the Daily Beast, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, the Strand, Mental Floss, LitReactor, and more.

A Miami native, Alex now lives in New York with his wife and son. Visit his home on the Web at AlexSegura.com, like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

BLACKOUT
By Alex Segura
320 pgs. Polis Books. $25.99

Purchase Blackout at one of these fine online retailers: IndieBound, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Blackout is brought to you in association with TLC Book Tours.