Texas Ranger Sarah Armstrong is long overdue to return to work after the horrifying events related in Singularity, her first adventure. The governor asks for her help in protecting a 16-year-old superstar singer from a stalker. Then the sister of a dead oil CEO drags her into taking a fresh look at a case determined a suicide. Sarah must balance both cases with problems at home and the return of FBI Agent David Garrity into her life. Verdict Engrossing and well written, Casey's thriller only missteps at the end when the stalking case is resolved in an unsatisfying and implausible way. Still, readers who enjoyed the first book as well as Jon Land's Strong Enough To Die (also about a female Texas Ranger) may want to try this. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Billie Cox was an oil-company executive. She was young, rich, and living large, but she put a gun to her head and ended it all. Her sister, Faith, approaches Texas Ranger Sarah Armstrong and insists it wasn't suicide. Both the women were New Age dabblers, and Faith believes her sister is contacting her. Despite her admittedly suspect rationale, Armstrong, ever the pragmatist, agrees to take a cursory look. Meanwhile, Armstrong, just returning to work after the harrowing events related in Singularity (2008), is assigned the case of Cassidy Collins, a teen pop star being intimidated by an unknown stalker who threatens to kill her during one of her shows. Despite high-tech security, the stalker hacks into the sound system and delivers his threat to a packed house. The second entry in the Armstrong case file is a strong sequel to Singularity. Both plotlines are clever and carefully scripted. But it's the evolving backstory of Armstrong and her daughter coping with the death of Armstrong's husband that gives this series extra depth and offers the promise of something special.--Lukowsky, Wes Copyright 2009 Booklist

Texas Ranger Sarah Armstrong must hogtie a passel of varmints in two fraught and media-friendly murder cases. All available evidence, including a heartfelt suicide note, indicates that Billie Cox killed herself. But Sarah's infallible gut gurgles a warning: not so fast. It's all too perfect, too staged, she tells colleagues with less insistent innards, as if some inveterate watcher of cop TV has arranged things according to a favorite script. Besides, Billie's sister Faith is passionate in her portrayal of Billie as too much in love with life ever to consider cutting it short. Sarah decides on a hard-eyed second look, but while she's taking it, another case clamors for her attention. Sixteen-year-old pop star Cassidy Collins is clearly out of love with her life. For some time now there's been a stalker in it, someone clever, persistent, endlessly creepy and driving her to distraction. Tabbed by Cassidy as her best line of defense, Sarah finds herself stuck in the middle between a bratty teenage idol and her obsessed, slippery menace. Meanwhile, back on the ranch, there's a cherished horse near death; people she loves still feeling the effects of trauma suffered in the series debut (Singularity, 2008); and an inexplicably fractured romance. As usual, Sarah has a lot to lasso. By-the-numbers plotting, labored pace and an icky love affair. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Cassidy Collins, a 16-year-old superstar who's one part Miley Cyrus and one part Britney Spears, fears for her life in Casey's enjoyable if uneven second mystery to feature Lt. Sarah Armstrong, one of only two female Texas Rangers (after 2008's Singularity). When Argus, a creepy cyberstalker, gets way too personal before Cassidy's upcoming Texas concert tour, Sarah investigates, along with her estranged FBI profiler sweetie, David Garrity. Meanwhile, 36-year-old Elizabeth Cox, a Houston oil heiress, appears to have committed suicide. Elizabeth's sister, Faith, becomes convinced someone shot Elizabeth to death after Faith receives "messages" from her dead sister. Back home on the ranch, Sarah's daughter, Maggie, worries about her ill horse, who delivers a fragile foal. While Casey successfully taps into celebrity-obsessed culture as Sarah uncovers Cassidy's tragic roots, the less than compelling murder case dilutes the book's overall impact. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved