UNBRIDLED AMBITION

In Knowles’ thriller, an ambitious FBI agent leverages domestic terrorism.

When a woman named Amara Shahen attempts to end her life via a suicide vest in New York City, it is obvious she did not act alone. Who put her up to it? The answer is local Imam Mahmoud Hussein. Once the FBI pieces together Hussein’s involvement, they offer him a deal: He can work as their informant and fixer, or spend the rest of his life in jail. Hussein picks the former option. So begins his time doing dirty work for a group called the Hezbollah Brigade. Hussein takes his orders from FBI Supervisory Special Agent Michael Garde. The Hezbollah Brigade is tasked with things like the murders of five men from a country called Irastan who have relocated to the United States; it is dirty work, indeed. When Hussein turns up dead, there are some suspicious questions about why no one ever prosecuted him for past offenses. Meanwhile, the Hezbollah Brigade has more work to do, even without its former leader—Garde has his sights set on becoming FBI director, and he seems to have no qualms about what he must do to fulfill his dream. The author has created an intriguing villain in Garde; he winds up being a bad guy posing as a good guy who is ultimately worse than the bad guys he deals with. This leaves readers wondering who, if anyone, can be trusted as people are killed and terrorist attacks are attempted in quick succession. The foot soldiers Garde employs occasionally prove themselves to be oddly inept; when the Hezbollah Brigade is charged with detonating gas tanks at JFK airport, despite the impressive military resumes of the members, their efforts are useless—even as they “congratulate[d] themselves with exchanged high-fives and hugs.” The real question is not whether the terrorists will win but how far Garde will go; it’s a question that keeps everything in motion right up to the final page.

A propulsive, action-filled story of a malicious government official and his personal quest for power.