The Abby Mullen Thriller Series by Mike Omer

From Amazon:

Deadly influence

Lieutenant Abby Mullen is no stranger to crisis. As the hostage negotiation instructor for the NYPD, she deals with worst-case scenarios every day. Nothing fazes her anymore.

That all changes when she gets a call from Eden Fletcher, a fellow survivor of the infamous Wilcox cult. The two haven’t spoken since the night of a tragic, fiery massacre, when their paths diverged. But now Eden needs Abby’s help: someone has kidnapped her son and is demanding a $5 million ransom. As Abby throws herself into the case, she can’t help but wonder why the kidnapper has targeted Eden. But Eden refuses to talk. She’s silent about the relics of their shared past hanging on her walls. About the kidnapper’s possible motives. About what’s happened in the years since she and Abby parted ways.

As the truth closes in, Abby realizes that her past may not be as far behind as she thought…and it’s come home to collect.

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Damaged Intentions

As a child, Abby Mullen escaped the insidious Wilcox cult when it literally went down in flames. Years later, she’s the NYPD’s best hostage negotiator and a mother. She thought the worst part of her life was behind her. Until now. Armed conspiracy theorists called the Watchers have attacked the local high school—and taken her daughter hostage.

With the delusional Watchers holding her child at gunpoint, the unflappable Abby might be at her breaking point. But the clock is ticking on her daughter’s life, and she has no choice but to negotiate with the paranoid group and discover their leader’s secret before it’s too late.

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A Burning Obsession

When a series of suspicious fires leaves multiple victims dead in their homes, NYPD hostage negotiator Abby Mullen knows in her bones that the terrors of her childhood have returned. As a young girl, she narrowly escaped a fire set by Moses Wilcox, a fanatical cult leader who’s been presumed dead for thirty years. These murders have his fingerprints all over them.

Meanwhile, razor-sharp criminal profiler Zoe Bentley is investigating the arsons—but she’s never seen an offender like this. Zoe needs insight from someone who understands the mind of a cult leader. Someone like Abby Mullen.

As the unlikely duo teams up on the case, it’s time for Abby to face the memories she’s always wanted to forget: the cult that defined her childhood, the fire that killed her family, and the man who engineered it all. The race is on to catch a killer—even if it means braving the fiery wreckage of Abby’s past.

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This is one series that I have had on my shelf for a while. I usually try to wait until they are all out before I tackle them.

This series follows NYPD Abby Mullen who is a crisis negotiator. She's the one they call to talk someone off a ledge. Be that ledge metaphorical or literal.

Things change for Abby one day when she hears from someone from her past. Abby grew up in a fanatical religious cult where all the members burned to death one day. That is all but three children. She wants no part of that past but when one of the surviving children comes to her because her son has been kidnapped she has to help.

The first book leaves you with a cliffhanger but quickly picks back up in book two.

In book two Abby's own daughter is held hostage in her school by armed people known as the watchers. They are a group of delusional conspiracy theorist.

In the second book you get the point of view of the watchers that made me feel a little paranoid myself. It's crazy to see how one small idea can make people spiral down the rabbit hole.

In the final book Abby gets sucked into an investigation of arson with death involved.

All the books tie together wonderfully. You really get to know the main character Abby and her world. The end is perfect so as a whole I'll give the series 4/5 stars 🤩