Girl One: Murder (A Maya Gray FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1)

Written by Molly Black

Narrated by Talon David

12 cold cases. 12 kidnapped women. One diabolical serial killer. In this riveting suspense thriller, a brilliant FBI agent faces a deadly challenge: decipher the mystery before each one is murdered.

FBI Special Agent Maya Gray, 39, has seen it all. She’s one of BAU’s rising stars and the go-to agent for hard-to-crack serial cases. When she receives a handwritten postcard promising to release 12 kidnapped women if she will solve 12 cold cases, she assumes it’s a hoax.

Until the note mentions that, among the captives, is her missing sister.

Maya, shaken, is forced to take it seriously. The cases she’s up against are some of the most difficult the FBI has ever seen. But the terms of his game are simple: If Maya solves a case, he will release one of the girls.

And if she fails, he will end a life.

Maya embarks with an urgency unlike any she’s ever felt. In a race against time, and with her sister’s life hanging in the balance, she must unravel the link between the 12 captives and end the killer’s dark game once and for all. Is this killer toying with her? Does he truly have her sister? Will he ever give her back?

Or will Maya end up sucked too deep into this killer’s twisted cat-and-mouse game to notice that she, herself, is the prey?

A complex psychological crime thriller full of twists and turns and packed with heart-pounding suspense, the MAYA GRAY mystery series will make you fall in love with a brilliant new female protagonist and keep you turning pages late into the night. It is a perfect addition for fans of Robert Dugoni, Rachel Caine, Melinda Leigh or Mary Burton.

Books #2 and #3 in the series—GIRL TWO: TAKEN and GIRL THREE: TRAPPED—are now also available.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lukeman Literary Management
• Release date: Nov 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781094319926

Reviews for Girl One

[Teacher · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not sure how this has an average of over 4 stars, given how poorly edited it is. The audio has numerous errors where the narrator misspeaks and then re-starts sentences, and both the misspoken errors AND the retakes are left in the final product. The story itself starts with a cartoonish premise and the protagonist’s inner monologue is too on the nose most of the time. Lots of telling instead of showing. The reader barely has a moment to notice a little detail might be important before the text spells it out in Maya’s thoughts, like “Hmm, I had a feeling that was going to be an important detail later.” It’s a shame because this series is designed for multiple books. You’d think the publishers would have put more effort into making the first book better. (Or that they’d at least re-issue the audiobook after fixing the careless errors!)

[Temperance Taylor · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Is it just me or were mistakes left in this audio. Annoying.

[Jeff Stutz · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I gave it a try. There's no possible way I could make it through that series. Way too predictable and unexciting

[Cilica · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The author hasn't based the storyline on the actual FBI procedures, and rational detective work or realistic police. The police chief and FBI boss are quite cartoonish daft characters. Quite sensational dumbness.

[tricia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Got to chapter two. Story is not taking off and main character is weird in the wrong way.

[Brenda Throckmorton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good solid mystery,liked the characters.Narration was great.Ready to read book 2

[Nancy Vieth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good story and interesting characters. The narrator was great too!

[Cathy Cook · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Glad to have a strong, intelligent female protagonist. A little too cliche when it came to law enforcement, but a good read. Kept moving quickly giving the necessary sense of urgency.

[Laurel Girard · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I would expect that an FBI agent must have an education in law enforcement or experience as a police officer. The main character sounds like it’s her first job in law enforcement. She is naive about criminals and their propensity for violence. She also has difficulty following proper procedure. The writing is immature and lacks the meaty details of the best mystery/suspense stories. I couldn’t get past the second chapter. Such a disappointment.

[Susan Leipsner · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Couldn't get past the second chapter: The main character, to be an FBI agent, is way too immature. This is not an FBI mystery or thriller. If I'm not mistaken this was supposed to be a "cold case" and yet in chapter 2 the stereotyped gay guy, the only guy in this big dance academy, is angry and petulant toward women (erggh), was in a gay bar on the night of the murder "2 years ago". None of the story line makes any sense. It's hard to tell if the woman is more interested in finding a man who is holding 12 women (bunnies, another errgh) hostage and is going to kill them..and one is her sister...but she can't keep her thoughts of this police officer from making her gah gah? She sees women in their 30's as old.. Is this author 14? She writes like she's 13-14 years old. The narration is sped up too fast. It's read with a "voice" of the character that makes her sound immature and catty. 12 cold cases, 12 possible victims and one brilliant FBI agent? Not in this book.