Review: Wings of Madness by R. John Dingle

July 23, 2026

Synopsis:

Serial killers, like madness and gravity, just need a small push…

The body of a third young woman is discovered in a field outside Pawtucket Falls in New England the day FBI agent and profiler Gus Wheeler and his partner arrive to investigate a string of murders. The killings seem random, yet each victim was last seen in a club in the city’s Music Row, a scene Gus is uniquely qualified to navigate.

Camera footage shows the most recent victim flirting with the moody bassist of a popular cover band. Gus knows the former prodigy from his time in the New Orleans jazz scene, but the suspect’s memory is hazy, likely due to his rock star lifestyle. Complicating their inquiry, there’s no record of any of the victims leaving the clubs—with the bassist or alone. So where were they taken and how?

A serial killer’s at work, but as they circle their suspect, the killer strikes first making it personal for Gus. And with time running out, Gus is forced to play a madman’s game.

Review:

I was looking forward to continuing the series, with book one leaving me wanting more. We start out with a woman being found dead, and when a second one goes missing, everyone becomes instantly concerned. Gus, who is on tour and focusing on his passion for music, isn’t too happy to cut his time off short, but he is immediately convinced when he learns that the case has a connection to the music world, making him the perfect choice to find the person responsible.

If you like your thrillers with a darker plot, this is the perfect series for you. Having enjoyed the first instalment so much, I can gladly report that the second one did an amazing job of keeping me engaged from beginning to end. The partnership between Gus and Vanessa was once again one of my highlights, and their connection, trust, and interactions reminded me of what I liked about them in the first book.
The first book started out by giving us an obvious suspect and a lot of reasons to focus on him, so I felt like I was being misled again. It is never the obvious choice, right? But everything fit together so nicely that it was clear it was done on purpose, and bit by bit it became clear to me that there had to be more to the story. I had a suspicion about someone, and I appreciated having it confirmed in the end 🙂 But getting there was very entertaining.
With the overall story being very intense, I appreciated the lighter moments between Vanessa and Gus. Someone is obviously very creative and has a devious mind 🙂
Off to the third book now. I am looking forward to it.

🌙 Recension: Wings of Madness (Gus Wheeler FBI Thriller #2) by R. John Dingle
📚 Genre: Mystery Thriller
📅 Release Date: November 12, 2025
📖 Publisher: ‎Tule Publishing
📗 available in various formats
📱 Read as: Kindle
💸 Bought
📆 Pages: 402
⭐️ 4.5/5