I received a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley. I liked the cover and I like serial killers. I got more than I bargained for. I had never read anything by Erin Young. I didn't realize this was book 2 of a series, and other than not knowing details of Riley's background, which there were enough of here to get the gist of it, this book was fine as a standalone. It is a good FBI procedural with a complicated plot, and a realistic portrait of America post-pandemic. There were a lot of characters that I frequently got confused when listening to in small snatches. Once I listened for a long period this resolved. Narrator Kate Handford did an excellent job bringing Riley to life and was easy to listen to. Riley is a smart feisty heroine. Having been a police sergeant she left the force and joined the FBI. Assigned to a position with an unfriendly partner she's not sure she can trust and a boss that doesn't like her, she wades right into two cases she believes are connected- a threat against the Iowa's governor and her family and the case of a serial killer named the Sin Eater. It involves violent homegrown terrorists, religious fanatics, con men, and women haters, the things we are reading about in the news daily. It demonstrates how easily some people can fall under the influence of these people. I think it will haunt me for awhile.

Original Sins is an excellent audiobook, I loved it! For fans of Hannah Morrisey, Tana French, and for me classic 90s procedurals/serial killer books such as Silence of the Lambs.

Erin Young offers a solid, if not better, follow up to The Fields and is perfect for fans of in depth, dark and winding, propulsive police procedural. This is a procedural that never felt slow or bogged down in details despite the high level of detail, the description, and the many layers to how the plot came together. All of the plot points converge in an effective and believable way and the narration and style of the audiobook kept me engaged on a long road trip.

Now just let me rave a bit... I got the details of why this is a good story but heck this is all 100% just my kind of mystery. Serial killers, a strong messy female lead, a complicated mystery, solid plot development that never felt overly twisty or hard to follow, themes on problematic self righteous use of interpretations of religious texts, it all worked for me. I loved this book.

content notes: it's a serial killer police procedural so well themes on violence against women and as noted problematic "use" of religious texts to justify said violence. themes on stalking, misogyny, abuse are part of the mystery as well.

*Read as a standalone*

Riley Fisher, a former small-town sergeant, has taken on a new role as an FBI agent, embarking on her very first assignment. The task at hand: apprehending the notorious Sin Eater, a serial attacker preying on unsuspecting women with his brutal methods. Despite a long period of inactivity, this malicious man has resurfaced, posing the question of how is this aging perpetrator still able to carry out these heinous acts. Is he receiving assistance from an accomplice? The responsibility now falls upon Agent Riley and her new boss to track down the Sin Eater before he strikes again.

Despite containing all the elements that would typically captivate my attention, I found myself unable to fully immerse myself in the narrative. Don't get me wrong, it was still a decent read. I enjoyed how everything came together at the end. However, it didn't wow me.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Erin Young, and Macmillan Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

While this is the second book about Riley Fisher, it can be read as a standalone (I have the first book on my TBR, but I haven't read it yet!). Riley Fisher is a newly appointed FBI agent, though she has several years of law enforcement experience under her belt. Assigned to a small office in Des Moines, she gets caught up in a plot against the female governor and an investigation into a serial killer while dealing with a stand-offish boss and a secretive fellow agent. Great suspense and drama that kept me hooked until the end!

Thanks to Flatiron Books for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

All my reviews can be found at damppebbles.com

Since The Fields, the first book in the Riley Fisher series, a lot has changed for our lead protagonist. She’s still as strong, determined and out for justice as ever. She still has a hell of a lot on her plate. But Riley has left the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office and moved to the big city. Having undergone rigorous training, Riley is now a Rookie FBI Agent based in Des Moines, the last place any new agent wants to be stationed. But it’s close enough – and far away enough – from her difficult family to just about work. But there’s no time for worrying about her family when there’s a serial attacker at large. Someone is terrorising the women of Des Moines, brutally attacking them and leaving them close to death’s door. The Press call him the Sin Eater and if Riley’s colleagues are correct, he’s been destroying the lives of local women for many years. Stuck with a colleague she doesn’t trust and tasked to ensure the safety of the Governor on top of everything else, can Riley put an end to the Sin Eater’s reign of terror…

Original Sins is a highly compelling, tense, literary crime thriller full of atmosphere and intrigue. Riley is back with a vengeance and I loved every minute I spent with this multi-layered character. But life has changed for Riley. Before, she was stuck in the small town where she grew up. I won’t say investigating small-town crimes because if you’ve read The Fields you’ll know that what plays out cannot be described as small-town in any way, shape or form! But her family, with all of their flaws and their relentless demands, were a stone’s throw away, sapping Riley’s energy. Piling on the pressure, distracting her in the middle of a case and adding to her worries. That’s not so much the case in this latest book. I loved how Riley’s attitude towards her family had changed. I felt she had come to terms with putting herself first. That it was okay to focus on herself and her career and leave her hopeless adult brother to make his own decisions. She didn’t seem to carry the burden of being the only responsible adult anymore. I liked the change in her.

Riley’s move to the FBI has clearly not been an easy one. The reader is given a glimpse into the training she’s undertaken in the last two years since we left Riley in book one. It sounds intense, to say the least! But she’s made it through and requested one of the least attractive field offices for her posting – Des Moines, Iowa. Partnered with an experienced agent, she is instructed to provide a security detail to the first female Governor of Iowa. But Riley is quickly pushed aside and told by her new partner that he works alone. However, similarities between the threat received by the Governor and the Sin Eater case cannot be ignored.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Original Sins is a superb thriller. Full of menace, anger and malevolence. The threat builds as the story unfolds revealing the dark, shocking reason behind the horrific attacks. The author has done a masterful job delivering the next instalment in Riley’s tale, building on the characters we got to know in the first book and lifting the bar even higher. I loved the setting, I could feel the chill in the air as the weather worsened, adding to the overall feel of mounting pressure. I thought the characters were superb. I’ve only really mentioned Riley but alongside her is a well-drawn cast of supporting characters. Riley’s niece, now two years older but still closer to her aunt than she is to her wayward father. Detective Julius ‘Fogg’ Verne of the DCI who I hope we get to see again in future books. Agent Peter Altman who is partnered with Riley to protect the Governor. But he’s having none of that! Noah Case, a young FBI agent and the only one in the Des Moines field office who seems to be on Riley’s side. All in all, Original Sins is a tense, thrilling, dark read with lots of beautifully penned suspense and lashings of well-written intrigue. I thoroughly enjoyed Young’s writing style, her characters and the way she tells a story. Highly recommended.