THE WOLVES COME AT NIGHT opens with a legend called “The Tale of Two Wolves.” It is worth sharing here as it is quite a foretelling of what’s to come in this story:

One evening, an elderly Cherokee brave told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. “My dear one, the battle between two ‘wolves’ is inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a moment and then asked his grandfather: “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee replied: “The One you feed.”

"J.T. Ellison, who lives in Nashville, knows the territory well and puts that knowledge to good use in THE WOLVES COME AT NIGHT.... Ellison is a top-notch thriller writer, and this may be the best entry in her series to date."

J.T. Ellison’s latest book marks the return of Lt. Taylor Jackson, who has been promoted to captain. She is being strongly pursued by Macallan, a private security company that even agrees to take on her fiancée, FBI profiler John Baldwin, to sweeten the deal. More important to the plot is the revelation that an enemy from Taylor’s past, one who is seeking revenge against her, is back in the middle of the action, which keeps the suspense bubbling the entire way.

Taylor and her detectives first must deal with the high-profile murder of country music star Georgia Wray. Carson Conway, who was running in the woods with her roommate Izzy, may have overheard the argument that the killer had with Georgia before shooting her to death. When Carson eventually calls the police and leads them to the spot in the forest, the body of a young female is found there, which turns out to be Georgia.

Georgia’s manager, Travis Bloom, says that her ex-boyfriend, Justin Osborne, was having a hard time with their breakup and openly threatened her. Running with this lead, the Nashville P.D. goes to Justin’s place but finds him dead, an apparent suicide victim. A piece of paper that reads “I’m sorry” is found nearby. Taylor’s first case as captain seems to have wrapped up quite neatly…a bit too neatly for her liking. She does not believe that Justin took his own life and wants to push a little further.

Directly on the heels of Taylor’s suspicions, we are taken to the New Haven, Connecticut residence of Dr. Avery Conway, Carson’s mother, where she receives a note that says: “We have your daughter. Two million. No cops.” Avery cannot deal with this, especially following the recent murder of her husband, Richard. Her first call is to Santiago Diaz-Rooney, the man to whom she and Richard sold their bakery business. He may be a baker now, but his background was much more nefarious prior to getting involved in the food industry. Santiago takes charge and phones Angelie Delacroix, an assassin in France. When she hears that Taylor is involved in the case, she becomes highly interested as she was the same adversary who Taylor plugged in the shoulder in a previous novel.

Angelie and Santiago approach Avery with some startling information: the same people who kidnapped her daughter are the ones who killed Richard. For Taylor, her initial problem is to find out how the murders of Georgia and Justin are connected with Carson and eventually tying that to Richard’s murder. Once Angelie hits ground in Nashville, things really get interesting. The twists and turns to come will have readers riveted all the way to the conclusion.

J.T. Ellison, who lives in Nashville, knows the territory well and puts that knowledge to good use in THE WOLVES COME AT NIGHT. The connections to the area’s history, which may have some Native American lore mixed in, really spices up the story. Ellison is a top-notch thriller writer, and this may be the best entry in her series to date.