DARK ANGEL

5 stars out of 5

When Lettie Davenport, the adopted daughter of U.S. Marshal Lucas Davenport and his surgeon wife, Weather, used to make an occasional appearance in one of Lucas's books, I never warmed up to her much. Then when she got her own series with last year's The Investigator, I started to take her a bit more seriously. With this, her second book, I started to like her a lot. Seriously.

At this point in her life - she's 25 - she's an investigator for Homeland Security, at least on the surface; under it, she works for a powerful U.S. Senator. Through him, she's asked to go under cover to try to infiltrate a ransomware hacking group known as Ordinary People, ostensibly to prevent another attack; in the process, she meets another hotshot investigator and crack sharpshooter, Barbara Cartwright, and they hit it off. Their camaraderie leads to both friendship and, when Lettie needs more help on her assignment, a professional assist (just for the record, I liked her too). Lettie also picks up an undercover "partner" named Rod Baxter - another very likable dude (the repartee between the two can get quite amusing).

It doesn't take too long, though, for Letty and Rod to figure out there's more to their assignment than they were led to believe - and the difference between the assumed adversaries and the real ones can become a matter of life and death with the slightest of missteps. All in all, it's another fast-paced book with an intriguing, timely plot that kept me entertained throughout. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. Don't miss this one!

Dark Angel by John Sandford (G.P. Putnam's Sons, April 2023); 384 pp.