by Mike Lawson
First published 2007
The Secretary of the Navy receives troubling news from his nephew, who suspects two colleagues at a naval base of committing fraud. Rather than launch an official probe based on family suspicions, the secretary turns to House Speaker John Mahoney. Mahoney dispatches his personal troubleshooter Joe DeMarco to quietly investigate what appears to be routine government corruption. DeMarco teams up with Emma, a retired Defense Intelligence Agency operative, expecting to uncover a simple financial scam. Instead, they discover a sophisticated espionage operation has penetrated the base. The spy ring's leader is a woman from Emma's past, someone whose career Emma destroyed during the Cold War. This former adversary has transformed into a lethal operative driven by a singular obsession with revenge against Emma. DeMarco finds himself completely out of his depth, facing dangers far beyond his usual political fixes. He has never dealt with actual spies before, and this foreign agent proves more ruthless and skilled than any opponent he has previously encountered.
Genres: mystery, action, espionage, political-thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Naval Base
Period: Contemporary
400 pages · Paperback · HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Content warnings: violence