Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene is trying to get her feet on solid ground after unraveling an international conspiracy. But as the sparks of Congressional hearings and political skirmishes swirl around her, Avery is approached at a legal conference by Preston Davies, an unassuming young man and fellow law clerk to a federal judge in Idaho. Davies believes his boss was being blackmailed in the days before she died. Desperate to understand what happened, he gives Avery a file, a burner phone, and a fearful warning that there are highly dangerous people involved.
The string of highpowered agencies and technobabble grow baffling, yet Abrams’ appealing characters ground this frenetic thriller in wry humor and heart.
Complex and highly entertaining ... The plot races along, stuffed with genuinely surprising twists, and the scenes set in the Senate chamber and Oval Office have a ring of authenticity often lacking in similar genre fare.
While carefully and sometimes cleverly plotted, the novel never really gains momentum. Abrams fails to make the grid conspiracy very threatening, and the story is slowed by awkward writing.
