by Noah Boyd
First published 2010
Steve Vail thought his FBI career was over. Fired for insubordination, he has settled into life as a bricklayer. Then Deputy Assistant Director Kate Bannon arrives with an impossible case. A shadowy group is blackmailing the Bureau with escalating demands. They kill targets when the FBI refuses to pay, raising the stakes each time. Someone with inside knowledge of Bureau operations orchestrates the attacks. A woman finds an intruder in her bedroom after her shower. An agent swims through dark waters to deliver ransom money to an island, facing deadly tests that seem designed to kill rather than collect payment. The extortionists know too much about FBI procedures. They want more than money. They want to destroy the Bureau's reputation. Vail must navigate a maze of clues and traps while bodies pile up. Time runs short as the group prepares its next deadly move. The case forces Vail back into a world he left behind, where his skills as an investigator matter more than his record of defiance.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
390 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow