Dr. Daniel Rinaldi was called to a local Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania bank where a hostage situation was taking place following a botched bank robbery. One person was released, but she was too traumatized to be of much help. Therefore local authorities brought in the esteemed psychologist and trauma expert for help.

A young woman named Treva Williams, an employee of the bank, was let go by the robbers, but was unable to provide needed information regarding the other hostages and the bank robbers. Dr. Rinaldi was just beginning to reach her when everything started going wrong. Although another person was able to get away, an unexpected accident ended up killing the only other eye-witness. Now it was more important than ever that Treva become able to communicate.

Sergeant Harry Polk and Detective Eleanor Lowrey were the investigative officers on the scene. Having worked with Rinaldi in the past, they knew he could help them put the pieces together in order to find out who planned the bank robbery, and how and why everything went awry.

During the investigation, a series of leads point police toward District Attorney Leland Sinclair who is in the midst of a close gubernatorial campaign. Lowrey and Polk are also involved in heading up Sinclair’s security detail. As the campaign heats up, a number of incidents take place that puts Sinclair, as well as the rest of the team, in grave danger.

As Dr. Rinaldi increases his efforts in search of the truth as to who was at the bottom of the bank robbery, who wanted Sinclair out of the race, and who was trying to kill Treva and those around her, what he finds threatens to end his search for the truth forever.

Fever Dream is the second Daniel Rinaldi Mystery written by Dennis Palumbo. The former Hollywood screenwriter, now a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, first wrote the well-received Mirror Image. His extensive experience in both writing and psychotherapy not only give Palumbo the background to write these two books, but allows him to dig deep into the psyche of the characters giving them a greater depth than most authors are able to provide.

Fever Dream is a non-stop series of events that will have readers turning pages and proverbially sitting on the edge of their seat from scene to scene. The author neatly ties together the bank robbery and Sinclair’s quest for the position of governor. Red herrings abound and the climax will take all but the most discerning readers by surprise.

Daniel Rinaldi comes across as a strong character, but with some flaws that allow him to get drawn into situations most of the rest of us would avoid. At times it seems he takes chances that suspend belief and will only appear in a novel, but they add to the depth and suspense of the mystery.

Old and new fans to Dennis Palumbo’s series will undoubtedly look forward to the next installment. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too long.

A special thank you goes to Poisoned Pen Press for providing a complimentary copy of this book for review. If you would like your own copy, it is available on Amazon.com.