Into the Fire

The 13th exciting, if long-winded, entry in bestseller Brockmann's Troubleshooters series answers a question posed in 2004's Hot Target —what happened to former Troubleshooter op Vinh Murphy? Seven years earlier, the half-Vietnamese, half–African-American agent went MIA after his wife, Angelina, was killed during a conflict with the neo-Nazi Freedom Network. Now back in California, Vinh has been suffering alcoholic blackouts in between e-mailing death threats to FN's leader, Tim Ebersole. After Ebersole's murdered and Vinh becomes the chief suspect, a sober Vinh turns to an old friend of Angelina's, a deaf former cop, for help in remembering if he did kill Ebersole. A romantic subplot involving Izzy Zannella, a navy SEAL with Team Sixteen, and Eden Gillman, the runaway teen sister of a fellow SEAL, sweetens the mix. Readers unfamiliar with the players might need a scorecard, but Brockmann ignites sufficient sparks to keep the blaze going. A jaw-dropping “conclusion” suggests more fireworks ahead. (July 22)