THREAT ANALYSIS

In Bruneau’s third series entry, freelance investigator Dimase Augustin undertakes a highly classified operation to root out human traffickers among high-ranking Washington elites.

Former homicide detective-turned-private contractor Dimase has a new case—this time, straight from President of the United States Jonathan Peters himself. According to credible sources, a collection of high-ranking politicians and officials have been involved in human trafficking rings—and Chinese and/or Russian operatives may be using that knowledge to blackmail them. With Russian forces occupying Ukraine and a congressional vote pending on an amendment to the Taiwan Relations Act, which would forbid U.S. military intervention in the event of a Chinese invasion, such influence could have world-changing implications. President Peters asks Dimase to run a top-secret counterintelligence operation to find and expose those who are compromised, thus negating the leverage that foreign entities have on them. As Dimase investigates, he finds that some of the people involved are closer to the president than he’d anticipated. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C.–based sex trafficker Henry Chu is thrown for a loop when his massage parlor business (a front) is burned down and his home ransacked and demolished. He’s right to worry, because he regularly records illicit encounters for officials at the Chinese embassy—and there’s one video that he’s been keeping a secret, even from his handlers. Bruneau’s latest series installment is a fast-paced and action-packed thriller with high-stakes conflicts, detailed depictions of detective work, and vivid descriptions of violent acts—as when one antagonist’s “head exploded in a misty cloud of blood and brain matter.” The plot is consistently intriguing, involving shady political dealings, espionage, and organized crime, and the characters, from the main players to the minor ones, are all well-drawn and compelling. Readers will delight in how both heroes and villains react to the rapid, sometimes-dizzying events that befall them.

A smart, well-executed, and highly entertaining spy/detective thriller.