Saturday, June 23, 2012

Off the Grid-P.J. Tracy

Off the Grid


P.J. Tracy

Putnam, Aug 2 2012, $25.95

ISBN 9780399158049



Minneapolis Monkeewrench computer guru Grace MacBride and FBI cybercrime desk jockey John Smith met on his first field case three months ago on an internet murder investigation (see Shoot to Thrill). Out of the blue, the older Fed asked her to go sailing with him off the Florida Keys; the lone accepts his invitation. While musing over why she came, she and Charlie the dog realize there is a boat invasion. She sees them with a knife aimed at John. Grace shoots and kills both of them while John struggles with breathing. They realize John was the target of Saudi assassins though he has no idea why; she tosses the bodies into the ocean.



Minneapolis Police department homicide detectives Gino Rolseth and Leo Magozzi investigate the murder of fifteen year old Aimee Sergeant, one of five Native American children kidnapped from the Sand Lake Reservation. Not long after that in nearby Little Mogadishu, two Somali males are executed; followed by three more. The two cops believe the connection between the homicides is a Somali mob that traffics in the sex trade by kidnapping young Native American girls as their commodity. Soon on the sand lake reservation what happened off the Keys, and in Minneapolis converge with the police and the Monkeewrench consultants (Grace, Harley Davidson, Annie Belinski and Roadrunner) facing a diabolical foe who has frightened much of the Midwest.



This powerful police procedural (see Dead Run and Snow Blind) is a fabulous whodunit in which Team Tracy uses the headlines to tell a stunning rousing thriller; whose most frightening aspect is that the plot is very plausible. Action-packed from start to violent finish, fans will appreciate the super Monkeewrench drama.



Harriet Klausner



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