Closing Time

The riveting fifth installment of Ledwidge’s Mike Gannon series (after No Safe Place) finds the former NYPD detective unraveling an international conspiracy. After Mike’s new flame leaves Florida to care for her ailing father in New York, he hits the bars and befriends John Hayden, a charismatic Australian businessman. After closing out the bar, Mike catches a ride with Hayden, who stops at a gas station, noting realizing Hayden is preparing to rob it. Hoping to deter the crime, Mike speeds off in Hayden’s car, only to learn that the confrontation ended in gunfire, implicating him in a deadly shooting. To clear his name, Mike must find Hayden, who has disappeared. The mission is complicated because Hayden possessed a quantum chip capable of hacking nearly any computer system, which plenty of powerful people—including an array of international assassins—want to get their hands on. Ledwidge, who has cowritten a number of bestsellers with James Patterson, peppers the action with enough breathtaking twists to satisfy any reader in pursuit of popcorn thrills. This is a winner. Agent: John Talbot, John Talbot Agency. (Dec.)