MIA

An NYPD lieutenant works with a sultry informant to infiltrate and take down a Colombian drug cartel in Lansing’s thriller.

Jack Bertolino leads a joint NYPD-DEA operation intended to bust a cartel that brings cocaine into New York. (Jack’s wife is thinking of leaving him and his teenage son is angry about him being an absentee father, but Jack thinks this is all reparable.) He’s introduced to informant Mia Ferrero, a former Miss Colombia, who has become rich working with law enforcement against the cartels. Their targets are Manuel Alvarez, who is holed up in a sprawling Miami mansion, and, in New York, Arturo Delgado, who has a stash house in Queens. Jack is skeptical of the alluring Mia; she is a proven asset, but can she be trusted? Jack gains confidence in her when he learns it isn’t money she’s after—she has personal reasons for dedicating her life to bringing down the cartel. (“If Mia was as good as she looked, and could deliver on promises made, Alvarez was in deep trouble.”) An operation in New York brings mixed results, so the team heads to Miami. Once there, Mia seduces Alvarez, bringing the team closer to the cartel’s leadership. As the cartel leaders learn who is after them, it is not just Mia who is in danger but also Jack and his wife and son. Lansing’s prequel to his Jack Bertolino series begins five years before the first novel in that run. This cartel-busting story focuses on developing the series’ first victim, the seductive Mia. The plot is not original (Colombian cocaine, Miami drug runners) but it is still timely, and the characters feel true-to-life. Exploring Mia’s personal motivations adds some texture to the narrative, as does the breakup of Jack’s marriage. The plotting is tight, the dialogue is convincing, and Mia is eminently capable and surprisingly upright, making this novel an entertaining read.

A fast-paced yarn about drugs, money, cartels, and the horrors they bring.