Apparently, this is a prequel to the Thomas Prescott series. The protagonist is likeable and seems to fall into troubling circumstances with little effort......like murder. It's an entertaining read from a well-known author.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the banter between Prescott and his colleagues. The history behind the lottery was really interesting and I thought it was a unique storyline. I felt like there were parts where the story dragged on a bit but not enough to DNF. It did make it hard to focus so I took breaks lol. Overall a 4 star read for me!

This was my first Thomas Prescott book, and it certainly was different! Thomas is absolutely the most irreverent character I have ever come across, but very good at what he does. The story twisted and turned and I certainly didn't figure the mystery out. There was a really diverse cast of characters and I loved Baxter! 4 Stars.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the Publisher, which in no way affected my honest opinion.

Oh, I liked this book. I have never read any of the Thomas Prescott books before, but I am going to make up for it. I enjoyed "The Numbers" thoroughly, and highly recommend it.

I was hooked by the blurb (I won’t repeat the blurb, I assume you read it before checking out reviews); the actual book was so much more complex and utterly absorbing. So many plotlines, and character intricacies and secrets, than I could possibly have expected. I barely started it the first evening, and read the rest of it straight through on day 2.

The writing was straightforward but not stark nor staccato. The characters were well drawn and well characterized, so I had no trouble keeping them straight even while the cast continued to grow. Everyone’s actions were consistent and, as ultimately revealed, their motives true to character and circumstance.

I don’t know what else to say, except this was exceptional and I recommend it to everyone.

While I enjoyed the personality of the wisecracking, rule breaking ex homicide detective who insinuates himself into two FBI investigations, I found his antics a bit over the top and it made the storyline too unbelievable for me to get invested in it. It wasn't a bad read but I wasn't on the edge of my seat either. Recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an advanced reader copy.

The book summary lays out the premise of the two storylines: the death of an activist (Brooke Wexley), who was hiding her wealthy and privileged upbringing and the investigation of a serial killer who was carving numbers in the victims based on some lottery system back in the 50’s and 60’s that was popular with low-income black communities. The MC, Thomas, is a bit of a wise@$$ and certainly has an issue with authority, so it’s no surprise he got kicked off one police force and denied entrance to another as well as an FBI task force (temporarily). This doesn’t stop him though; he just investigates the cases by himself. Lol😊 Yeah, I like Thomas, plus he’s a great big brother to his sister Lacy, especially after his parents died years earlier and Lacy was still in high school.

Not having any legal authority, initially, to investigate the case, Thomas starts digging into the numbers killer and the clues and leads he leaves with each victim. However, when Thomas gets caught digging up a grave (the numbers from the previous victims led him to the grave), the local Boston FBI gets involved and Thomas and a Boston agent, Wade Gleason, begin to investigate the leads for the next potential victim(s) from the numbers they found in the grave site along with additional leads they get from each of the victims in the grave. Shortly thereafter, he finally gets added to the FBI task force. None of this is a spoiler since this all happened early the story.

As the story progresses, Thomas, along with Wade, find themselves on the other side of a couple of warnings from their superiors because of Thomas’s rebellious pranks and shenanigans. Their prank on Hufflepuff, the ruckus at the nursing home they caused (that went viral), as well as the frat party dressed like a kangaroo had me laughing hysterically. I like it when a writer can inject some humor in an otherwise serious story. I think it’s a sign of a good writer and storyteller that can instill those kinds of emotions and reactions out of a reader. While some readers may not like Thomas’s wise@$$ attitude and demeanor or Perog’s sense of humor, I happen to like it and I find it entertaining😊

The second half of the story has Thomas and Wade investigating the numbers case and leads that they get from every new victims. Thomas also continues to work with a contact on the Philadelphia PD with the leads that Thomas and his contact collect on the Wexley case. As to be expected, Thomas eventually gets kicked off the task force because of one of his shenanigans. The ending for the primary storylines were basically a couple of Thomas’s stunts (one was a really good one with his psycho-ex) and made for a very satisfying ending.

This prequel was published nearly 15yrs after installment #1 of the series, Unforseen. Not sure why a writer would wait so long to put out a prequel, I strongly suspect it was the publishers idea. Additionally, Unforseen, published back in June 2008, appears to take place after The Numbers prequel, that takes place in the fall of 2011 and winter of 2012. It has me wondering if the Unforseen story takes place in the fall of 2012, especially since the last sentence references the Unforseen book.

“There was only one thing I knew for certain. Our future was unforeseen.”

Thomas was making a reference to his and Lacy's futures. I wonder if there was a lot of feedback by readers about background history on Thomas and Lacy. That would have been the time to do a prequel. This seems like stuff a good editor/publisher would have cleaned up. What do I know though? I’m neither a writer, editor nor a publisher; I’m just an avid reader. Whatever the reason is, it doesn’t affect my decision to continue with the series😊

I want to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

@NetGalley @BlackstonePublishing @TheNumbers

This was a thoroughly engaging mystery with two heavy duty cases under investigation. — one involving the murder of the college student daughter of a billionaire financier, the other a serial killer with bodies dating back to the ‘70’s.
This is a prequel to the popular Thomas Prescott series, which I have not read, but after being introduced to the former police detective, now acting as a consultant, I will definitely want to read more. He is smart, fearless, irreverent and loyal to a fault, and making the story even better is the self-deprecating humor woven throughout. Some aspects of the trail Prescott followed were a little too tidy to be believed, but if you are looking for suspense and entertainment, you can’t go wrong.

This is a Prequel to the Thomas Prescott series. I have not read any of the series so this was a new experience for me. Thomas is in Philadelphia visiting his sister Lacey who swims on her college’s swim team.
It is not long until Thomas stumbles upon a murder at the occupy Philadelphia site. He joins the task force to try and solve the murder.
The main character is very sarcastic, and it took a while to get into the book because of this. I did enjoy the story. He helped with the murders. He also showed his humane side by helping his sister through a health scare.
This book gives back story to the series. Those who have read the series will enjoy it and those who have not will get a good foundation on the Main character. I recommend the book.

suspense, thriller, series, serial-murder, sly-humor, snarky, unputdownable, verbal-humor, Philadelphia, illness, law-enforcement, ex-cop, Black-African-American-history, mafia, FBI, friendship, family, family-dynamics, entitled-attitude, mutilation, rule-breaker, prequel, anger-issues, siblings, due-diligence, crime-fiction*****

Set in Philadelphia in 2011, this is the prequel to a series that I've GOT to read!
At the beginning of the OCCUPY protests, there are two separate murder investigations going on. One is the daughter of a zillionaire and one becomes a diabolical case of serial murder. And then there's whatever is happening to Prescott's ambitious younger sister. Plus a bat-guano-crazy ex-girlfriend who is a world class hacker making his life even more complicated. Essential to the serial case is a history of Numbers Running and Lotteries worldwide. There are antics, humor, both good and not so good policing, insane plot twists, and glow in the dark red herrings. Great unputdownable read!
I requested and received an EARC from Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!

4.25 Stars 🌟

This is actually a hard review to write. Why you ask? Well, I went back and read my review from the first book in this series and remember that it took a little while to get used to Mr. Pirog's writing style. Especially in his very first book. (it was not one of my favorites) With that being said, I got to see a DRAMATIC elevation in the writing style and content as the series progressed and I think if I remember it right, I went through several books in the series one after the other. and...I really begin to enjoy the craziness. So, at the end of that, I was "used" to the wise cracking antics of the male MC Thomas Prescott. Then, it was a fairly long while between books - not to mention that this is a "prequel" to the entire series, so it took me a while to get back in the right headspace. I know, I know....I'm not sure that makes sense - I just know that was what was going on in my head as I was reading this.

First of all, I was trying to remember what exactly happened in the first book of the series. I remembered Thomas and Lacy, but I was having trouble remembering the specifics and I was thinking - wasn't there some past situation in Maine? Why are they in Philadelphia? Anyway, that's all on me. This book got to show us more on the beginnings of the relationship between brother and sister (and why they were so close) and it also cemented the fact that Thomas Prescott is NOT a rule follower and tends to get in trouble as easy as breathing. I'm actually surprised he didn't find himself in jail.....

The case was interesting - well, actually there were two cases. The easiness with which he figured out some of the clues in the beginning did stretch the limits of believability and there was way too much of an info dump on the history of the whole Numbers betting system. But, to be fair, I had no clue at all what that entailed when I started the book, so it was an interesting history lesson. In the end, I was invested and ended up just deciding to go along for the ride. It did not disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone.

Super book! Fun to read with great humor, good character depth and several intriguing mysteries.. Thomas Prescott solves the various murders with logic, common sense and luck. Additional storylines about his sister and his romantic (?) affairs lend more intrigue and interest.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the opportunity to read this super book.

Fantastic book by Nick Pirog! I really laughed at different parts of the book- his sarcasm really shines through, even in a book that has two different cases to solve. I really loved that we got to have a peek at Thomas's early life (right after he was fired from detective job, when he and his sister Lacy move to Philly) and see what Lacy was like before the diagnosis and right after. This book is before the Unforseen book, but written after. It makes me want to read the whole series again! I love all the books by this author and can't wait to read more.

Excellent story with murders from the past and present linked by numbers. An additional murder is also key to the plot development as wise-cracking former Seattle Detective Prescott applies his unique gifts to “help” Philadelphia’s best and the FBI solve the murders.

Good book! This book had suspense, intrigue, action, murder, serial killers, and great detective work! The storyline was very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!