The Insider: A Charlie McCabe Thriller

In Schaefer’s exciting sequel to 2019’s The Loot, Charlene “Charlie” McCabe and her team from Boston Asset Protection, a private security firm, have a seemingly simple assignment—to protect petty thief Hayden Cobb, a key witness in the upcoming murder trial of three corrupt Boston cops, from a hit man who has already tried to kill Cobb once. But a leak in the Suffolk County DA’s office compromises the efforts of Charlie and her associates to keep Cobb alive as they move him from place to place. Meanwhile, a loan shark who has a stake in the case kidnaps Charlie’s father, raising the ante. Charlie has to save her father and figure out why a second, high-powered assassin has entered the action and is so keen to eliminate Cobb. Schaefer does a good job juggling the large cast and multiple plotlines, keeping the reader guessing what’s really going on. Suspense fans will be satisfied. (July)