cover image Betrayed: The Nicole Jones Series

Betrayed: The Nicole Jones Series

Karen E. Olson. Severn, $28.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-7278-8681-1

In Olson’s adrenaline-charged third novel featuring the former computer hacker usually known as Nicole Jones (after 2016’s Shadowed), FBI agents intercept Jones as she arrives one morning at the Cape Cod bike shop where she’s been working. Back at the station, she’s asked about a laptop that once belonged to her. It contains data suggesting that she was planning to kill mobster Tony DeMarco, a business associate of her late father. All the evidence against Jones has been brilliantly engineered by manipulating or fabricating records, images, bank transfers, and emails. FBI agent Zeke Chapman offers her a way to save herself: come to work for him to discover who’s behind the frame. Who can she trust? What is she prepared to give up to achieve her goals? These questions keep the reader wanting to know more. Although technology is at the heart of the story, don’t expect any geeky dependence on techie minutiae in this well-written, character-driven thriller. Agent: Josh Getzler, Hannigan Salky Getzler. (Mar.)