cover image Justice: The Curtis Chronicles #3

Justice: The Curtis Chronicles #3

Joseph Badal. Suspense, $15.99 trade paper (372p) ISBN 978-0-578-55928-5

In Badal’s slapdash third Curtis Chronicle thriller (after 2018’s Obsessed), orthopedic surgeon Matt Curtis, a U.S. Special Forces veteran, and his wife, Renee, travel to Costa Rica with friends Esteban and Alani Maldonado to unwind after a lengthy medical lecture tour. Meanwhile, psychopath Lonnie Jackson, who ordered the murder of Matt’s sister, is plotting more revenge. He blames the Curtises for his mother and brother’s deaths, as well as the shambles left of his criminal empire. Lonnie coordinates the kidnapping of Renee and Alani, intending to sell them to a human trafficking network. With their wives’ lives hanging in the balance, Matt and Esteban enlist former Special Forces soldiers to help infiltrate Lonnie’s compound. Multiple points of view amid the political and military maneuvering add perspective and confusion as the action ramps up. Despite the high stakes, the thinly drawn characters and hard-to-fathom plot make this an emotionally vacant addition to the series. (Nov.)