Skystorm

In Konkoly’s exciting fourth Ryan Decker novel (after 2020’s The Mountain), Decker and his black-op private mercenaries continue the battle at the behest of their client, Sen. Margaret Steele, against the Apex Institute, which poses as a think tank but is in fact “a quasi-intelligence agency and paramilitary power broker.” When the team’s attempt to bug Apex bigwig Ezra Dalton’s Washington, D.C., townhouse goes awry, the team members, their families, and FBI colleagues must flee from Apex’s deadly security forces. They eventually find sanctuary in a remote mountainous area of California. With everyone safely stashed away, Decker is free to go on the attack to bring down Apex. Meanwhile, besides gunning for Decker and Steele, Apex operatives are trying to hide their current project, code-named Skystorm, a brazen effort to violate international arms-trafficking laws. Konkoly keeps the plot moving briskly along with a few short breathers where plans are laid and Decker and his crew banter a bit while cleaning their weapons. Readers seeking a well-constructed action thriller need look no further. (May)