Probably the best in this series to date. The only boyhood friend of High Noon Enterprises reclusive genius, Stuart Ramey, is the man overboard. The decade's Aunt begs for help, and initiates the hunt for Odin and Frigg. Like Ramey, Odin is a computer whiz, living off the grid, with a morbid fascination regarding suicide. He has stolen the files of a psychiatrist specializing in treating the troubled children of suicide victims, and is pushing them to the brink. Taut, well-done, with the usual amount of family drama for Ali Reynolds. ( )

How could I have never read an Ali Reynolds book. J.A. Jance is an author I am definitely going to catch up. I really enjoyed this book.

Ali Reynolds and her husband own High Noon Cyber Security. Their employee, Stuart Raney, is contacted by the aunt of Roger McGeary, a former high school friend and fellow computer geek. Stuart and Roger were really the only friends they each had and when Roger and his mother moved away, Stuart basically became alone. His aunt asks him for help to find Roger’s murderer. Apparently, Roger fell or was pushed off a luxury cruise ship. The authorities call it a death by misadventure but his aunt insists he was murdered. B and Ali agree to help the aunt, but it is really helping Stuart. B is out of town so Ali, Stuart and Cami are pretty much on their own. A twisted serial killer is targeting the grown children of people who have committed suicide. Owen Hansen has hacked into a psychiatrist's patient files and is now targeting these individuals. Using information he has gained, he is bullying and tormenting them until they decide to end things. With Stuart tracking online information, will they find the serial killer before he is successful with another victim?

The book is well written. The plot contains information about artificial intelligence which was interesting. The suspense builds throughout the story and the pace is steady. The topics in the book; suicide, artificial intelligence, cyber bullying and tracking people using their electronic footprint all added realistic and scary story lines. Because of the Cyber Security involved here, this was a wonderful way to showcase the talents of High Noon. I am looking forward to more stories about Ali Reynolds. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

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Man Overboard is a 2017 Touchstone Publication.

This twelfth installment in the Ali Reynolds series centers more around Ali’s colleagues, like Stu Ramey, an introverted, socially awkward, computer whiz who gets a chance to show off his skills when he is assigned the job of proving his old schoolmate’s death was murder, not suicide.

In my opinion, the Ali Reynolds series gives Jance more room to explore and experiment with modern topics or even dabble in the possibilities of future advancements, more so than her Beaumont and Brady series do.

I’m a little bit of a tech nerd, so I found most of the, obviously well researched, details in this novel to be very interesting. The subject of suicide, which plays a prominent role in the story, makes me squirm, but it is handled well, without becoming bogged down in over analysis.

I thought I had been keeping up with the series fairly well, but I’m wondering if I’ve missed something somewhere because Ali’s husband was just flat out missing in this chapter. Ali, herself, was barely present, but I did enjoy the stand out development of Stu.

This case is personal for Stu, which gives him a softer tone, on occasion, proving he's not always such a cold fish. The great technological strides we have taken also raise concerns at times, especially when it comes to the possibility of Artificial Intelligence, which is yet another interesting and though provoking element the author adeptly pursued. Jance's AI plot line may throw a damp blanket over some of the excitement we feel about such advances, by introducing some hair raising possibilities, but despite that cautionary warning, I couldn't help but feel intrigued.

I had a couple of issues, one I’ve mentioned already. Ali played a very small role in the book, and the mystery wasn’t so much of a mystery because we knew from the start who the bad guy was. Sometimes, this tactic works great because the reader knows things the characters do not, which creates a giddy type of suspense that makes me want to help the good guys along.

Unfortunately, I never felt that sense of urgency, and I’m wondering if all those technological details I found so fascinating, may have had an unintentional side effect, hindering the suspenseful build up for the grand finale.

However, despite the lack of intense build up, there is still a taut ‘race against time’ climax, and a few bittersweet moments to deal with along the way, as well.

Overall, this one is slightly offbeat, a little unusual, perhaps, but was still a solid addition to the series. I do hope to see our core players return with more of a starring role the next time around, but wouldn’t mind if Stu gets a large supporting role from time to time, or maybe even get a series of his own someday. ( )

Stu Ramey a ”brilliant software guy with the social skills of an onion” works for High Noon Enterprises, a cybersecurity firm owned by Ali and B. Simpson. When the aunt of his boyhood friend, Roger McGeary, approaches him to inform him of Roger’s death on a cruise ship, he is devastated. Roger, the son of a suicide, has tried to kill himself in the past and his death has been declared death by misadventure suggesting another attempt, this time successful. But his aunt is convinced that there is something not right about this finding and she asks Stuart to try to discover what really happened.

Owen Hanson aka Odin, wealthy self-taught IT genius, has a fascination with the suicide of others. His father killed himself when Owen was a child and he is now targeting the children of suicides who are suicidal themselves. He is aided by Frigg, an “all-knowing artificial intelligence sidekick and companion” with surprisingly human characteristics.

Man Overboard is the twelfth book in author J.A. Jance’s Ali Reynold’s series and it is one heck of a page-turner. The plot is tight with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader invested. The characters are interesting with Stuart and Owen, the two tech geniuses squaring off online but even more so when they decide to take their battle off-line. But it is Frigg who is the real star of this book as she begins to analyze Asimov’s three rules of robotics and applies them to her relationship with Owen. Great fun to read and I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Touchstone for the opportunity o read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )

Odin and Frigg, a psycopath and his mAI are driving children of suicides into suicidal states by cyber-bullying. Odin is willing to assist those that cannot do the job by themselves. Neat SciFi twist and connection as Frigg discovers Asimov' s Laws of Robotics and applies them to confound Odin. Much about cybertracking and others internet foibles but a solid entry in this very good series.. ( )