Once again, James Becker, a retired agent of some type is a small town attorney with an international reach. James Becker has retired from a terrorism fight to live a sedentary life with his wife and girls safe in a small, insular community. In his first book, The 19th Element detailed the story of a Islamic terrorists’ attack on a nearby nuclear plant. In the Covert Element Becker gets entwined with a drug cartel. In this book Becker and Beth, his wife and former CIA employee, get involved in assassination and spying.
Beth plays a greater part in this book as a major protagonist herself rather than Becker’s loyal sidekick. The obsequious, devious and arrogant nature of some of the bureaucratic government “professionals” provided a despicable counterpoint to the refreshing patriotism of Becker and friends. My only suggestion to the author would be a smidgen of backstory on Becker for those who have not read the two previous books. This book reads very well as a stand alone but I think that most first time readers would enjoy it a bit more with a better understanding of Becker’s background.
The book deals with the Arab Spring and current events in the Middle East. The interplay between Becker and friends is, once again, quite entertaining. Betcher captures the normal interplay between good friends that enjoy and respect each other but due to their manly nature avoid showing their emotions. I enjoyed interviewing John Betcher and I feel that each book he writes shows his increased experience. In trepidation over being redundant, keep up the good work Betcher!
I highly recommend this book.
Body of work of John L. Betcher
Web site: http://www.johnbetcher.com
This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.
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