The Convert’s Song

Valentine Pescatore, the hero of Rotella’s excellent second thriller, left his job as a U.S. Border Patrol agent to become a PI in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There he runs into Raymond Mercer, his former best friend, whom he hasn’t heard from since they were teenagers in Chicago. A charming, failed singer, Raymond has converted to Islam, but is vague about what he does for a living. When hundreds are killed in a terrorist attack at a shopping mall near the city’s garment district, the authorities suspect that Raymond and Valentine committed the crime. To clear his name, Valentine works with French agent Fatima Belhaj to pursue Raymond across the globe, from South American jungles to Paris and Baghdad. Valentine realizes how little he knows about his former friend. Is Raymond a terrorist or an informant, a spy or a scam artist? Rotella (Triple Crossing) ratchets up the action with an absorbing look at international politics. Agent: Bonnie Nadell, Hill Nadell Literary Agency. (Dec.)