Publisher's Weekly Review
Near the start of Holm's explosive and timely sequel to 2015's The Killing Kind, a tourist taking photos with his daughter's cell phone manages to capture not only a terrorist attack on the Golden Gate Bridge but also the image of an older man thought long dead by both the FBI and the shadowy criminal organization known as the Council. Frank Segreti gave evidence against the Council seven years earlier and-allegedly-got blown up for his troubles. Now he's back, and FBI special agent Charlie Thompson knows that the only person who can protect him and lead her to the Council is one of the Bureau's most wanted. Enter hit man Michael Hendricks, who's been gunning to take down the Council ever since it dispatched its own hit man to take him out and his best friend got caught in the crossfire. While Charlie begins investigating a Syrian group claiming responsibility for the Golden Gate attack, Michael travels to San Francisco to find Frank amid the law enforcement mayhem. Holm expertly balances weighty issues of national security with more intimate personal losses, and makes it clear that the best stories happen in the gray area between good and evil. Agent: David Gernert, Gernert Company. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Did you tick off the wrong people? Do they want you dead? The next voice you hear may belong to Michael Hendricks, an Afghan war veteran with an offer. For a fee, he'll hit the hit men for you. But Hendricks' career as the killers' killer goes sideways when a federal agent asks him to protect a potential witness. Frank Segretti knows too much, and keeping him alive means Hendricks must confront Segretti's enemies, a criminal United Nations. Chaos follows, turning uglier as we learn the U.S. has outsourced dirty work to a private company represented by a charismatic scumbag who wonders if terrorists are serious about dying for their god or secretly hoping one of their buddies volunteers for the mission. The novel brims with nice turns on genre conventions, like Hendricks' PI code similar to Sam Spade's and the wisecracking moll, here a computer whiz mocking Hendricks' efforts to sound hip. Good story, good action, some startling turns of phrase: The last thing you'll ever see, Hendricks warns a baddie, is your teeth leaving your face. --Crinklaw, Don Copyright 2016 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Years ago, FBI informant Frank Segreti was presumed to be dead when his safe house was blown up. Yet, the video of a terrorist attack in San Francisco shows Segreti to be very much alive. Determined to protect her witness until he can testify, FBI Special Agent Charlie Thompson hires Michael Hendricks, a military covert operative-turned-hit man (of bad guys). His best friend and tech guru was killed by the same mob organization that's trying to take down Segreti, and now Hendricks is determined to burn down the group. VERDICT This follow-up to the acclaimed The Killing Kind (nominated for four major mystery awards, including the Anthony) is a real thrill ride. Jeff Abbott fans and adrenaline fiction junkies will appreciate how vividly the shadowy world of military contractors comes to life in Holm's skillful hands. [See Prepub Alert, 3/28/16; see author profile on p. 80.-Ed.] © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Amador County Library.
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