I've read two of this "Brit in the FBI" series and absolutely loved them both, so when I got the chance to wade into this one as an advance review copy, I was ecstatic. And guess what? The story is a bit more "out there" than the others, but it's yet another 5-star winner in my book.
The very likable characters, in particular special agents Nicholas Drummond and his sweetie, Michaela "Mike" Caine, are back. The two are staying with friends and other regular characters Grant and Kitsune Thornton, while Mike nurses a nearly healed broken ankle that happened during a previous adventure. Mike and Nicholas head the FBI Covert Eyes Team, while Grant runs a private security company that's been hired to protect Jean-Pierre Broussard, the founder of Galactus Industries.
In the prologue, readers learn that astronaut Dr. Nevaeh Patel was drummed out of the space program after a near-death experience during a spacewalking event, after which she claimed to have heard extraterrestrial voices called the Numen. No one believed her and most think she's gone bonkers - and thus unfit for another outer space mission. Insisting she's not crazy, Nevaeh quits the program, later hooking up with Broussard. He wants someone to take over that company while he searches the seas for the "Holy Grail" - a rock believed to have healing powers.
But Nevaeh has much more on her mind than running a company that puts small satellites in space at an affordable cost. Those voices never stopped calling, you see, and they're getting louder by the day - urging her to undertake a project that will disrupt the entire world and give them, and Nevaeh, total control. Once Mike and Nicholas learn what's going on, they have other ideas - but can they find a way to stop what she's about to make happen, even if it's at the last second?
A good bit of the almost nonstop action takes place at sea, with scenes reminiscent (to me, at least) of Clive Cussler's NUMA Files books. As the two intersecting plots on land and water begin to seriously converge, all the characters get involved in ultra-dangerous situations that call for super-human feats, and the ending is worthy of an Ian Fleming 007 novel. My verdict? Thank goodness for one of the most boring Super Bowl games ever (and I haven't missed a single one since the 1967 inaugural game) that allowed me to finish the final third of the book nonstop. And speaking of thanks, I'll send some to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review it.
The Last Second by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison (Gallery Books, March 2019); 464 pp.
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