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 terrorism, both international and domestic.
Once again, Becker displays a cynical attitude about bureaucracy and it’s inherent shortfalls. He does not seem quite as cynical in this book as he did in the last. I will repeat that a smidgen of back-story on Becker for those who have not read the previous books would benefit the reader. 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.
Betcher does an excellent job incorporating current fears and events as part of his plot. His premise on domestic terrorism was altogether too plausible. Equally I found his concerns about rogue states as depressing.
Betcher does a good job on his social awareness as well. The side story of Benny was a nice touch. I enjoyed interviewing John Betcher and I feel that each book he writes shows his increased experience. In redundant 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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