Two thoughts when I got to the last page of this totally engrossing book: First, how much it reminded me of James Patterson's Private series - only better. Second, what a great movie it would make!The second book in a series featuring kidnap and ransom specialist Thea Paris, head of Quantum Security International's black-ops team (the first is "Freedom Broker"), this one, which stands well on its own, is full of intrigue, action, betrayal, blood and guts. From the first page on, I really didn't want to stop reading; had my husband and I not been invited to dinner with friends one evening, I'm sure I'd have polished it off in two days. Without hesitation, I'd put it on the list of 10 best novels of this kind I've ever read.
At the beginning, the story is pretty much up in the air as Thea is in an airplane (not her favorite place to be, BTW) escorting two young, war-scarred boys to London, where they'll be adopted by a loving couple. But that plan changes abruptly when the pilot begins to act strangely, then locks himself in cockpit. Yep, it's a hijacking - and the plane and its traumatized passengers are diverted to a landing spot somewhere in the Libyan desert.
A seasoned hostage negotiator, Thea immediately begins the process of bargaining with Prospero Salvatore, a man with whom she's had prior dealings (I suppose in the first novel). In exchange for the release of the plane and its passengers, he wants the Quantum Security team to head to Budapest and capture a truck full of Syrian refugees. Why he wants that is a mystery Thea would love to solve, but her primary focus must be on getting the passengers - especially the two boys - out of harm's way.
As this scenario gets underway, so does another storyline. In Austria, a young man named Johann Dietrich learns of a secret society of men intent on ridding the world of anyone of Middle-Eastern descent - a group led by his own father. In large part for personal reasons, Johann doesn't share his father's hatred - but he does love his father. So how far will he go to stop dear old dad's plan to release a deadly virus that targets only people of with that genetic composition?
Before long, it becomes clear that the storylines will converge; chapters shift from the perspectives of Thea, Prospero and Johann (meaning readers need to pay attention or chance getting a little bit lost). Everything comes together at the end in bang-up fashion - literally. Of course, I can't reveal much else except to say that since this is a series, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that the heroine will live to see another book.
Speaking of Thea, she's a bit more interesting than other action heroines in that she has type I diabetes and has an insulin pump - an issue that's happily treated matter-of-factly (yet the potential for disaster is always present). Try as I might, though, I simply can't get serious about a partner (and potential love interest) named "Rif." What's his real name? Riffle? Riffraff? Puleeze!
That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Many thanks to BookishFirst.com, from which I received an advance copy for review (and the first hardcover book I've read in probably five years).
Oh, did I mention it would make a great movie?
Skyjack by K.J. Howe (Quercus, April 2018); 407 pp.
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