A Deadly Influence

Written by Mike Omer

Narrated by Jesse Vilinsky and Fajer Al-Kaisi

From bestselling author Mike Omer comes the first in a new series full of the psychological twists and police procedural turns that his fans have come to know and love.

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Apr 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781713552260

Mike Omer

Mike Omer has been a journalist, a game developer, and the CEO of Loadingames, but he can currently be found penning his next thriller. Omer loves to write about two things: real people who could be the perpetrators or victims of crimes—and funny stuff. He mixes these two loves quite passionately into his suspenseful and often macabre mysteries. Omer is married to a woman who diligently forces him to live his dream, and he is father to an angel, a pixie, and a gremlin. He has two voracious hounds that wag their tails quite menacingly at anyone who dares approach his home.

Reviews for A Deadly Influence

[Lara Pretorius · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliant!!! Loved every second!!! Narrators are amazing! The story is so well written and engrossing-I highly recommend a listen! I love this author and really hope the other audiobooks part of this series are added to Scrib soon!

[PenguinmoonstudiosGM · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thought this book was excellent. Very suspenseful, and good job by the actors. I've read everything by Omer, he has the unique talent of blending suspense, back-stories, and humor. I only wish Scribd had the second in this series released earlier this year. There's a third coming out in the fall!

[ibkennedy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Overly wordy and long...unecessary.

[cathygeha · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Deadly Influence by Mike OmerAbby Mullen Thriller #1Cults are creepy things, and this book has people that seem to have cults woven into their very beings. Some seem to have been able to leave the cult behind but others…not so much. Often, cults scare the bejeebers out of me because, in my opinion, they are scary controlling and never lead to anything good for those that join them. This book will probably continue to deal with cults as the series progresses but it is my hope that it will also deal with other issues a police negotiator has to contend with. What I liked: * Abby Mullen: police hostage negotiator, mother, divorced, adopted, cult survivor, good work partner, dealing with issues from her past, human, interesting and intriguing. * Will Vereen: Abby’s partner at work, married, supportive, good listener, will enjoy learning more about him. * Sam & Ben: Abby’s children, complete opposites, care for one another, typical, add texture to the story, look forward to getting to know them better. * Steve: Abby’s ex is not the most admirable husband but seems to be a good father. He adds dimension.* Detective Jonathan Carver: police academy classmate of Abby, divorced, from a large family, good at his job, potential love interest for Abby, interested in seeing what trajectory his character will take in the series.* Abby’s adoptive parents: good people that worked together to ground and love Abby. I can see them featuring in future books of the series.* The cult-stalker-kidnapping-police procedural plot and how it was presented and eventually resolved. The plot forwarded the relationships of the past and helped tell of Abby’s past. * Learning a bit more about social media influencers…kind of on the fence about them. * Ben’s menagerie…remember my brother coming home with a snake and it disappearing…made me wonder if the snake was released into the wild or killed by my parents…don’t think they were as accepting/tolerant as Abby was of Ben’s collection. * That I wasn’t sure who the stalker-kidnapper was till near the end…good job of hiding it even though I often read the end before I get there. * Wondering who the “Isaac” is that has been in touch with Abby. * Reading a new-to-me author that I hope to read again. I felt he had done in-depth research on cults and it showed through in the story. * Getting to the end and having the bad guys, at least most of them, dealt with and the hope that one or more cult member will rearrange their brain(s) to be free of the cult indoctrination.What I didn’t like: * Thinking about how real this story could actually be…stalker, kidnapper, cults, and all the rest.* Having to say goodbye to the cast of characters until the next book in the series is ready to read. Did I enjoy this book? YesWould I read more in the series? YesThank you to NetGallley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC – This is my honest review. 4-5 Stars

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“Sometimes your children’s nightmares were your own shameful fantasies.”That thought is from a mom upon hearing about her 8 year old’s nightmare about his pet tarantula dying! The mom is Abby Mullen, a hostage negotiation instructor for the NYPD and the main character of this book. She is also a survivor, one of only three, of “the infamous Wilcox cult”. Those worlds collide when one of the fellow survivors from her childhood cult has her own child kidnapped, with a whole new cult suspected! It's a race against time to save the boy, and maybe Abby herself! This is a hard book to put down! Really entertaining and well written! This is the sixth book I've read by this author, and I've gotta say - I'm a fan! I hope that there are at least two more books in this series, and if so, I'm going to read them all! Especially with the way this book ends! Put in my order for Abby Mullen Thrillers #2 right now!

[jenniferrobb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I do not know if I've read any other books by this author. The suspense did build to the point where I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened and who did it, but there were parts where I felt like the plot dragged too.Abby Mullen is a negotiator with an interest in cults. Perhaps not too surprising since she was raised in a cult during her early years. She's contacted by another cult survivor when that survivor's son is kidnapped. Thus starts the story of trying to figure out who took the boy and get him back.There is a bit of a twist at the end which I haven't decided yet if it will be a long story arc spanning several books or if it is just the set up for the next book in the series.