Motherland by GD Abson

Modern day St. Petersburg, Russia. A Swedish student, Zena, is reported missing after a night of drinking. The case goes to police Captain Natalya Ivanova, an honest cop caught in the middle of a society ripe with bribes. Normally, she gets domestic cases so this one has the potential to be big. Both for her and for her police colonel husband who is in line to be head of the force.

The investigation goes slowly until they learn her Swedish father’s identity. He is a rich industrialist. And as might be expected, he has a few secrets he is not terribly excited to divulge about himself, Zena, their history, and a connection with Russian organized crime.

When the FSB enters the game, political pressures enter the arena that attempt to protect the city’s economic impact if the whole story becomes public. Despite external pressures, all Captain Ivanova wants is to do right by Zena, politics be damned.

This is the first in a series following Captain Ivnaova and it is a series to be reckoned with. Anyone who loves those dark mysteries set in Scandinavia will be quite taken by Abson’s heroine. The pacing is excellent and the mood is elegantly nuanced. Only bad thing is the wait for the next episode.

One of my favorite procedurals with a female lead set overseas was the Saudi trilogy by Zoe Ferraris. If the next two are as unique and satisfying as this, Abson place beside Ferraris will be well earned.

The Consultant by TJ O'Connor

Businesses are outsourcing all kinds of tasks these days. So why not the CIA? They’ve had Jonathan Hunter (or is it Jonathon Mallory?) under contract for maybe 15 years. He and his older brother Kevin had to make do as high schoolers when their parents died in a car wreck. But after a year in college, Jonathon dropped out and joined the Marines, much to Kevin’s objections. After a few tours in the middle east, Jonathon got recruited to join the Agency, but after one assignment went bad and the press was all over it, he was let go. But almost as soon as he was dumped, he was hauled back to consult for the Agency.

For those 15 years, he and Kevin had no contact. A letter from Kevin arrives from out of the blue asking him to come home so he abandons his current assignment, grabs a half dozen passports and money on his way home.

Home is the hunt country of western Virginia. Winchester to be specific. He gets a text from Kevin with a location to meet. He arrives only to be in the middle of a shootout. Kevin gets shot just as Jonathon arrives and dies in his arms. In his police uniform.

A whole bunch of surprises await Jonathon. After 15 years on no contact, even to the point that most of Winchester had no idea of his existence, Jonathon has a lot to catch up on. Like Kevin’s Iranian wife. An adopted Iranian boy. A decrepit outlying town nicknamed Sand Town. A growing population of middle east immigrants. Some wanting to fit in. Others? Not so much. And they are being helped by a Russian and their own Consultant. All Jonathon wants to know is why Kevin was killed. But circumstances swirl around Jonathon forcing multiple stumbles.

The day after Kevin's death, a shopping mall is attacked. Next day, a school. Next day, Union Station in Washington, DC. Jonathon latches on to a clue each day and ends up in the middle of a slaughter. The cops are curious about Jonathon’s motives. Those attacks are just a distraction for the big assault coming. An attack so heinous that the American public will rise up to take out their vengeance on anyone who appears to be from the Middle East.

Hop on O’Connor’s back and enjoy this ride. Helluva fun tale full of action, layers, deceptions, twists, and surprises. Well worth finding this one, folks. Put the publication date on your calendar. It rocks.

Available 15 May 2018.

ECD

Hangman by Jack Heath

Timothy Blake didn’t have the best childhood. Orphaned as an infant. In and out of foster and group homes until he aged out. Lived on the streets. Survived by his wits. Has an online business where he solves puzzles and makes a little money at it, but not even enough for his rent. Now in his mid 30s, he consults with the Houston field office of the FBI mostly on kidnapping cases. Doesn’t get paid per se, but he does get a reward.

Blake has an almost supernatural ability to take seemingly minor clues and piece together the who, the what, and the why of a kidnapping. The local SAC knows Blake from way back and makes good use of Blake’s skill and then arranges the reward. Agent Reese Thistle, like most agents, is skeptical of Blake, but as she watches him at work, starts to gain some respect. And interest.

Cameron Hall has been kidnapped. Lives with his mom in a gated community. Money. Communication with the bad guy is strangely mechanical. Almost pre-recorded. When Blake finally finds the kid, he’s had a kidney removed. A few days later, Blake sees a ‘Have you seen this boy’ poster and the kid looks nearly identical to Hall. Is there a serial kidnapper in Houston?

Here’s the deal. Blake has a secret only he and the SAC know about. Almost all of Blake's actions are connected to keeping his secret. Has to do with his reward for finding the abducted kid alive. Imagine a character who is one part Dexter and one part Hannibal Lector. Yuck.

I have to say that when his particular affliction became apparent, I considered closing the book. But I stuck with it. Yes, there were some graphic passages that I skimmed, but the investigation into the multiple kidnappings was fascinating and worth staying focused on the developments of the case. As a procedural, this is first rate, but it is one creepy psychological study.

Publication date 12 Jan 2018.

ECD

Bandwidth

Bandwidth takes place in the near future at a time when the Internet has become even more integrated into the lives of all humans, and as a result, the corporations that control the digital feed control much of the world. Commonwealth is the company that has become the dominate provider of the feed and as a result has become the most powerful of companies. The company guarantees it’s feed to be totally secure. In order to maintain order as Commonwealth sees fit, they hired Apex which is the premier Washington lobbying firm. Apex sells it’s nearly always successful lobbying activities to the highest bidder, and their best agent is Dag Calhoun, a talented, athletic, charismatic man who has a combination of talents akin to such characters as James Bond, Dirk Pitt, Harry Bosch, and perhaps Jack Taylor.

In the course of doing his work for Apex, Calhoun has assisted powerful corporations to achieve their own selfish profit-motivated goals even if it is clearly to the detriment of the environment where severe weather conditions have dramatically increased. And what if the “feed” is not really so secure, so that the information that is provided to individuals is really manipulated by people with hidden agendas. So, there is a clear dystopian quality to this story – there are very clear good guys and bad guys, and I think you’ll enjoy the resolution.

Mostly, I want to comment about the quality of Peper’s writing – which is brilliant. Emily Kim was the character who challenged Dag to consider the negative impact his work was having on the world, and in a conversation with Emily, Dag says, “’Everything we do, everything we believe, everything we are, we think it’s ours to choose.’ His voice quickened, words rushing to get out. ‘But even something as inconsequential as wanting a lawn in front of our homes isn’t a true choice. It’s the product of a never-ending series of historical accidents. We take the world we’re bon into for granted. We imagine that we control our thoughts and dreams. We think we’re free to be who we want to be. But there’s this vast hidden architecture that shapes us, and we don’t even know it. It’s like we’re actors in a play who don’t realize we’re working off a script.’”

I don’t know anyone else who writes like this. Peper fills out his story with a great cast of characters who are believable. This is an intense and captivating story. Eliot Peper is my newest favorite author, so I invite you to check out his other five novels, a well as Bandwidth.

The Disappeared by C.J. Box

It’s January in Wyoming, Joe Pickett’s least favorite month of the year.  Twenty below zero temperatures and strong winds keep away the hunters and restrict the locals, including the game warden, to mostly indoor activities.  For Joe it’s a time to catch up on all the paperwork that goes with his bureaucratic job.  He also is monitoring the progress of rebuilding his state-owned home which was burned to the ground last fall by a family foe.  He suspects the state is moving deliberately slow on replacing his home, because his boss believes Joe’s reputation for destroying state owned pickup trucks has spread to his state supplied house.  So, Joe, his wife, and younger daughter Lucy are living in a rented condo and Joe has been issued a small temporary office in the Wyoming Department of Transportation building just outside Saddlestring.

Joe has mixed feelings when the governor calls and asks to meet in the state-owned jet on the tarmac of the nearly abandon airport near Saddlestring.  Joe had done special projects for former Governor Rulon and the new governor, Coulter Allen likes the idea of a “range rider” to clean up problems around the state.  Allen’s problems, however, tend to be political in nature, and Joe, when presented those opportunities, just tells the governor, “I don’t do political.”  This time, however, Governor Allen asks Joe to get involved in the investigation of the disappearance of a British celebrity, Kate Shelford-Longden.  Kate had spent a week vacationing the previous August at a Wyoming dude ranch/ resort and then disappeared before leaving the country.  Governor Allen is tired of the bad press this is causing and has decided some fresh eyes, Joe’s, could help solve the case.  Coincidently, Joe’s oldest daughter Sheridan, is working at the Silver Creek Ranch in Saratoga, Wyoming, the very ranch from where Kate has gone missing.  Also, coincidently, the game warden for that district has mysteriously abandoned his post, so Joe can sleuth the area undercover as a temporary game warden.  So Joe, even though he doesn’t like the new governor, and even though he doesn’t see his skills as a game warden fitting a missing persons investigation, looks forward to escaping the boring bureaucratic paperwork storm he is facing at home.  Plus, he misses his daughter and welcomes the opportunity to visit her.

Meanwhile, Nate Romanowski calls and asks a favor of Joe.  A friend of Nate’s and fellow falconer is having trouble getting Federal permission to use the endangered golden eagle for hunting overpopulated wildlife.  Nate suggests he meet Joe in Saratoga to explore alternatives.  After learning the scope of Joe’s investigation, Nate, naturally prone to conspiracy theories, becomes convinced that the mysterious departure of the local game warden, the disappearance of British celebrity, and the Federal government’s reluctance to allow golden eagles to be trained to hunt are all related.  He decides to join Joe in his investigation.  Nate soon discovers two possible sources that may explain all of the strange goings on in Saratoga.  One, a power company has invested billions to install hundreds of wind turbines throughout the valley and may somehow be protecting their investment and two, Joe’s mother-in-law, Missy Vankuren, who despises Joe, may be trying to end Joe’s career and marriage by getting him involved in a no win situation.  Her current husband happens to be a defense attorney known for his political support of Governor Allen.  Either way, Nate senses that Joe is in real trouble...and Nate's senses are rarely wrong.

This is my favorite C.J. Box novel to date.  I like the way Box includes all our old favorite characters, Nate, Missy, Sheridan, and even ex-Governor Rulon and gives us some insights into current issues like the fate of the golden eagle, switching from coal to wind as an energy source, unemployment in rural Wyoming, and the curious popularity of ‘romance vacation’ ranching.  I love Joe Pickett and the way C.J. Box takes this dinosaur of a character in Podunk U.S.A. and weaves modern day issues into his world.  For example, without using Donald Trump’s name, Box describes Coulter Allen, the fictional governor of Wyoming, as much the same in character as Trump, causing us to long for people beyond fiction with the morals and values of a Joe Pickett.  When did reading about honorable characters become escapism? 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance look.

The Quantum Spy by David Ignatius

The race is on between China and The United States to be first to develop the super-fast quantum computer.  A major benefit of the quantum computer is the quick deciphering of any code or encryption and therefore access to the flow of highly classified, secret information.  So, protecting and stealing any information about quantum computers is high on the priority list of both the CIA and their Chinese counterparts.

John Vandel is a long-time CIA operative who has risen to the rank of deputy director.  He recruited Harris Chang, a Chinese American and former U.S. Army Ranger, as a field agent for the CIA.  Chang, because of his heritage and his skill set, is assigned to recruit a Chinese scientist as a spy for the U.S.  Chang learns that the Chinese have a mole in the CIA but cannot identify the traitor.  It all goes wrong when the Chinese scientist kills himself and the Chinese find out that the Americans know about the mole.  The Chinese make a move to recruit Chang, revealing to him facts about his Chinese ancestors to try and turn his loyalty.  Vandel becomes suspicious of Chang but the young agent signs up for an extremely dangerous operation against the Chinese to prove his loyalty to America and Vandel.  The future of world dominance hangs on the allegiance of a fourth generation Chinese American.

I know of David Ignatius from his syndicated political newspaper column and his appearances on cable news but this is the first of his novels that I’ve read.  It is an entertaining read but I found myself not that attached to the characters.  The plot was linear with few surprises.  Maybe current politics has squelched my appetite for fictional spy thrillers.