Raging Waters

A true crime podcaster and a wilderness guide try to outmaneuver a criminal empire and a disastrous storm in Mentink’s high-octane follow-up to Fire Mountain. After building a career analyzing unsolved mysteries, Mackenzie Bardine returns to the cold case that started it all: the murder of her older brother, Aaron, who she believes ran afoul of Bullseye, an elusive and powerful drug dealer. A lead on Bullseye’s identity brings Mackenzie to the remote Washington State town of Oakleaf, where she encounters Gideon Landry, a wilderness guide and her late brother’s former best friend. Despite being convinced that he could have done more to prevent Aaron’s death, Mackenzie recruits Gideon to help with her unfolding investigation. The pair wind up stranded in the wilderness during a raging rainstorm, but Mackenzie’s determined to connect with a new informant back in town, forcing them on a harrowing quest through a landscape rife with Bullseye’s minions and threatened by rapidly rising waters. Before long her growing closeness with Gideon has her wondering if vengeance is truly what her heart needs to heal—and if faith might be enough to help her forgive him and, ultimately, herself for the tragedy. The action starts on the first page and never lets up, with a tightly plotted series of twists and turns building to an explosive finale. It’s a plunge worth taking. (Mar.)