GLOBAL VICE

In Rafkin’s thriller series starter, the heads of high-tech global cybersecurity firm investigate a client after an assignment goes wrong, which leads to an unexpected rescue mission.

In 2022 in the Greater Los Angeles area, Ben Alexander, who narrates much of the novel,is one of the co-owners of COMSEC Security, is approached by Alison McBride, a private investigator working for precious metal dealer GB Limited, to test its security systems. The company was recently robbed, and they want to make sure that the insurance company will honor the company’s claim. Ben meets with GB Limited executives and formulates a plan to circumvent its headquarters’ security and open a safe within it. Ben nearly does so before he’s brutally beaten by a stranger and put into a coma. Now he, COMSEC Security co-owner Nickolas Zelenko, Alison, and COMSEC’s artificial intelligence EVE set out to discover who attacked Ben and why. As the group homes in on Ben’s assailants, it becomes clear that GB Limited’s precious metal dealing was merely a front for a far more nefarious business: human trafficking and the sale of human organs. When company executives realize that Ben survived the attack and the security firm is onto them, two thugs kidnap Alison. The third-person sections describing her captivity make for a thrilling, tense read, and her abduction effectively kicks COMSEC’s motivation to bring the firm to justice into high gear. Indeed, in order to save Alison and bring down the trafficking ring, COMSEC acquires a company run by a former Navy SEAL. Intriguingly, Ben and Nickolas acquire several smaller businesses over the course of the novel to accomplish their goals, but these shifts from page-turning action scenes to business logistics sometimes slow the narrative. However, once the story gets back into the thick of the rescue, fast-paced car chases and shootouts give readers plenty to enjoy.

A globetrotting adventure that’s full of action and suspense.