THE SAWTOOTH JOB

A former Delta Force operator protects scientists from nefarious agencies in Milam’s thriller, the 10th in a series.

Case Lee’s latest contract from the enigmatic Swiss-based outfit Global Resolutions is simple: Find Ruth Hall. She’s a missing professor from Stanford University. But Case, who brings along fellow Delta Force retiree Bo Dickerson, quickly realizes that the gig is decidedly more complex than it seems. Ruth’s professor husband, Bart, has also disappeared. And Case and Bo keep bumping into people from other agencies from around the globe, including Mossad, Russia’s SVR, and various domestic groups. After a vague clue leads Case and Bo to Idaho, Global Resolutions suddenly and inexplicably cancels the contract. The two friends continue searching anyway only to discover other parties are gunning for the couple, for reasons that aren’t immediately clear. But Case is determined to help, a valiant decision that directs him to South America, where gunfights and high-speed pursuits await. This novel, like each of the Case Lee series’ entries, is a stand-alone story—readers can hop right into this sequel, which expeditiously (re)introduces its recurring hero and his newest job (“I seldom knew their client’s identity, and on the flip side my identity remained undisclosed. Unless spookville entered the picture, which pushed all bets off the table”). The author establishes indelible settings, particularly a mountainous region of Idaho that Case and Bo set foot in just as a winter storm hits. The story eventually illuminates what the Halls have done to pique everyone’s interest, but it’s a quintessential MacGuffin; the narrative focus is on espionage and action, as when Case and Bo stealthily comb through the Halls’ house and offices while trying to evade individuals shadowing them. The prolonged sequence in South America thrums with flying bullets, breathless chases, and the ever present tension of not knowing whom to trust. It all leads to a predictable, albeit satisfying, conclusion.

This brisk, thoroughly entertaining, action-packed thriller will surely generate new series fans.