In Chechnya, Americans are meeting at a remote outpost with a rebel leader. In the US, the president’s top security advisor and campaign manager watch live via NSA drone as the compound is attacked by Al-Qaeda terrorist overrun the compound, doing nothing to stop the attack. When the fight is over and the two men in the US see that two Americans are taken as hostages, the men order the drone to wipe out the compound before the hostages are safe.

Of course, there is a big cover-up, plus blackmail and murder. This where the protagonist, New York DA Karp, gets involved.

This was a good read. The only problem I had with the book was long narratives explaining connections between characters from past times, apparently from previous novels in the series. I don’t think you need that much explaining if people have read the other stories, or even for those like me who haven’t.

I did enjoy the novel, staying up into the wee hours to finish it.