Imagine yourself working for the FBI. You work at headquarters in DC; you've risen in rank to be chief of the Investigative Services Section, an FBI version of an internal affairs department. You keep tabs on the bad guys and bring them to justice. Many of your colleagues back at the academy have advanced, but none, so far, as you. You're well-respected by your colleagues, and, while doing all this, you're bringing up a teenage son on your own. You've definitely "built a beat", as the musician in my previous post would have said.
But one day you come across a loaded gun in your son's room. You don't know what to make of it. Soon there's a knock on the door with a visit from law enforcement looking into your son's activities..
Such is the issue faced by FBI agent Stephanie Maddox in Karen Cleveland's mystery novel, "Keep You Close". What starts out as a worry about her son, Zachary, mushrooms into a tangled web of polticial intrigue. (With some motifs you'll find jarringly timely vis-a-vis some perspectives in our recent political diaglogue.)
The book is written in first person; Steph is telling you the story. You're in her head as she goes jogging in the middle of the night, and as she has to confront one of her former academy classmates who has turned criminal. You're in her head as she tries to figure out what to do about Zachary's situation, and while she fends off meddlesome interference from her mother. She's running a home and running a career, too busy to see a real therapist, so she goes to the therapist in her head. What would that therapist say if she were real?
Lots of suspense and twists in this book.
I came across this book as I was browsing the new fiction section at Independence Library. The author's bio helped me make the decision to read the book. Karen Cleveland is a former CIA analyst and the New York Times bestselling author of three novels. She began her CIA career working on Russia, and later moved into CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, where she focused primarily on Pakistan and Syria. While at CIA she wrote briefs for the US President and other senior policymakers, worked closely with an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, and earned more than a dozen Exceptional Performance Awards." Stories written by professionals often turn out to be the best.
Here is the click to Karen Cleveland's website where you can learn more about her and her work ::: Karen Cleveland website. You can purchase a copy of the book through independent booksellers Biblio, or you can borrow a book through Free Library.
Pic below is from author's website.
No comments:
Post a Comment