Velocity by Alan Jacobson starts out in the Napa Valley in the search for a serial killer. FBI profiler Karen Vail is vacationing there with her boyfriend when the Napa police force contacts her for her assistance. Her boyfriend, Detective Robby Hernandez, fails to return home to their hotel at night and Vail and the Napa police are worried that the same serial killer is involved. The search for the serial killer leads to many twists and turns, but he is eventually injured in a gun battle and is comatose in the hospital, so he is out of the story. He did, however have associates that are still on the loose, and Robby has not returned.

The investigation leads them to a wine bottling business that is also suspected of drug trafficking. The investigation runs dry and, with Robby still missing, Vail is forced to return to the job in Washington, DC, but the search for Robby continues. Eventually the plot turns to chasing the drug traffickers and Vail, the Napa Police and the DEA all become involved.

Velocity has some interesting plot twists that impressed me. The drug traffickers have some very innovative ways of smuggling, including storing cocaine inside the rubber corks used to cork wine bottles. Nobody expects a truck full of corks to contain cocaine and it is perfectly normal for a winery to be ordering corks for their bottles.

The story has a bit of drama, but not too much. Vail often whines that, "I've got to find Robby." Plus Vail just had surgery on her knee but is still able to run around the hills of the Napa Valley chasing bad guys. I have read other books where the drama got in the way of the story, but this one does not.

The mystery is great and travels all over the US with the various chases. The characters are great and well developed. My only complaint is that the book is a little too long. By the end I just wanted to read the conclusion to the various plotlines.

I recommend Velocity by Alan Jacobson. It is a light read, but not mindless. Great story, good for travel but not so overly complicated that you cannot read it in spurts and still be able to remember where you left off.