In 1970s Paris, an American part-time spy finds himself caught between two revenge plots.
Brad James is aware enough of his own shortcomings to avoid stupid mistakes and confident enough in his skills to be successful both as a working musician in the Paris nightclub scene and as an undercover asset for the CIA. In that second vocation, he appears to be a magnet for violence. After the heir to the powerful Pomero family, a Honduran crime syndicate, is kidnapped, tortured, and killed, the family’s patriarch wastes no time taking vengeance on all those connected to the murder of his son. Pomero and his small army travel to Paris in search of the two remaining conspirators, known only as Cariño and Amy. Meanwhile, Brad’s enlisted to solve the murder of an American intelligence agent who was investigating a terrorist plot aiming to murder millions. Inside this geopolitical strike against capitalism lies a strand of personal vengeance that, when tugged, pulls in Pomero, his estranged daughter, and Brad as well. By the time the terrorists’ aims are understood, it’s apparent that an insider is trying to guide Brad and his Vietnam vet mentor Chuck to stop the catastrophe. The bodies pile up where these plots converge, and Brad thinks he’s in the middle of “two different movies coincidentally using some of the same actors.” He’s not too far off. When can an enemy be trusted, and when is a friend a friend in name only? Here the story knots up, holds tight, and slips loose in some ingenious twists. On the other side of those plot twists, the story takes on a new shape that becomes as much about personal identity and how it’s formed as it is about revenge—an intriguing mix that concludes with a satisfying conflagration.
Vengeance and plot surprises culminate in a masterful finale.