In this second book in the 'Porter Beck' series, the Nevada sheriff deals with espionage and smuggling on his patch. The book works fine as a standalone.
*****
Sheriff Porter Beck and his twelve officers uphold the law in Lincoln County, Nevada.
It's a difficult job for the small force, especially with 32,000 acres of woodland and high desert vegetation currently burning out of control.
Several Lincoln County cops, including brawny twins called 'The Jolly Greens', are dedicated to assisting the firefighters, leaving a small core of officers for local calls.
Sheriff Beck is further hampered by a degenerative eye disease that affects his vision. Beck can see in daylight, but his night vision is limited to a pinpoint, making it difficult to see and impossible to drive.
To prepare for his ultimate loss of sight, Beck now has a canine named Columbo (Bo), who's being trained as a seeing-eye dog.
As the story opens, two serious incidents require Sheriff Beck's attention. First, a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) belonging to the military is hacked.....
.......and its missile is shot into the Double J Ranch, where a $100,000 breeding bull is killed.
The ranch belongs to widower Jesse Roy, who's raising his spirited 17-year-old daughter Shiloah Roy alone.
In the second incident, a man called Cash Conrad dies from a drug overdose. Cash was a high school football player headed for college when a helmet hit broke his back. The lingering pain lasted for decades, leading to alcoholism and drug use. The pills that killed Cash are Mexican Blues, VERY powerful fentanyl tablets that are entering Lincoln County from Mexico.
As it happens, Beck knows both ranch owner Jesse and drug user Cash. The three men had been to elementary, middle, and high school together, and were inseparable until they embarked on different paths after graduation.
The day after the missile attack on the Double J Ranch, Special Agent Ed Maddox, from the Office of Special Investigations, shows up at Beck's house.
Maddox relates a story about a fuel tank falling off an aircraft, and recruits the sheriff to accompany him to the Double J Ranch. There Maddox (literally) pays Jesse Roy for the dead bull. Beck takes the opportunity to tell Jesse about the death of their old friend Cash Conrad, and Jesse is concerned and sympathetic.
While at the Double J Ranch, Beck seizes the chance to look around, and is surprised by the changes since Jesse inherited the property from his father. The ranch now sports a locked security gate with a guard; a huge mansion; a major cattle operation; a private plane; an airstrip; and other new amenities. In addition, Jesse's right-hand man César seems like a shady character.
When it comes to the dead bull, Beck doesn't buy Agent Maddox's story about a fallen fuel tank. Beck was an intelligence specialist in the Army, and he KNOWS someone hacked the RPA. Beck hones in on a 16-year-old girl named Mercy Vaughn, a green-eyed blonde who appears to have Chinese ancestry.
Mercy is in juvie for hacking a government site and stealing millions of dollars, so taking control of an RPA would be right up her alley. Moreover, Mercy is friends with Jesse Roy's daughter Shiloah, who has a rebellious streak.
From this point on, the story follows three threads.
► A Chinese sleeper agent named Dal Cho is planning to kidnap Mercy, for the benefit of the Chinese government;
► a Mexican cartel is smuggling weapons and drugs between Nevada and Mexico;
► and thousands of UFO enthusiasts are planning to break into Area 51, to expose the truth.
Sheriff Beck has to deal with all of the above, and he and his deputies receive help from a number of people, including:
► Beck's adopted sister Brinley, who's a weapons expert;
► Detective Charlotte (Charlie) Blue Horse, from the Department of Public Safety, who's in charge of Mercy's welfare;
► and District Manager Esther Ellingboe, from the Bureau of Land Management, who's helping deal with Nevada's wildfires.
All the story lines merge as the novel unfolds, and the tale is a page turner, full of death and destruction. I especially appreciate author Bruce Borgos's attention to the female characters, all of whom are fleshed out and integral to the story.
This is a well-written novel, recommended to fans of thrillers.
Thanks to Netgalley, Bruce Borgos, and Minotaur Books for a copy of the manuscript.
Rating: 4 stars
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