Scavenger Hunt

Boudreaux, who served in the Justice Department’s counterterrorism division and as deputy chief of staff to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, puts those experiences to good use in his debut, an intelligent thriller. In the near future, game one of the World Series ends tragically when more than 10,000 are killed by a suicide bomber who parachuted into San Francisco’s Renaissance Stadium. This terrorist act is attributed to al Thoorah, an al-Qaeda splinter group. When the bombing is followed by a court ruling allowing al Thoorah’s incarcerated leader to have unmonitored access to counsel, which could potentially facilitate further outrages and even his escape from custody, a shadowy American cabal acts. Their plotting enmeshes Blake Hudson, a top assistant to the attorney general, who’s tapped to join a covert task force formed in response to the new threats. The group meets on the eighth floor of the main Justice Department building, which Hudson believed only had seven floors. Boudreaux makes the most of his concept, populating his page-turning plot with plausible characters and developments. Tom Clancy fans will hope for more from Boudreaux. Agent: Leslie Barrett, PR by the Book. (Jan.)