A secret agent’s surveillance of a rogue killer gets personal in Dow’s suspense thriller.

This novel, the first in a planned trilogy, opens in Valencia, Spain, where Interpol agent Daniel Leder has finally located an elusive international assassin named Nester, a subject he’s been surveilling for the past year. Things quickly fall apart in a chaotic shipping port shoot-out as Nester viciously kills Daniel’s partner and close friend, Agent Simon Klein. Daniel’s mission to apprehend Nester becomes personal with the added motivation of revenge. The son of a United States Marine, Daniel’s resolve remains solid as he turns his attention to the man believed to be Nester’s next intended target: renowned Canadian professor, diplomat, and environmental conservative Matthew Guillaume, whose daughter is slated to participate in an equestrian show jumping event. When the assassin outsmarts everyone and sabotages the girl’s horse. Daniel, working undercover, is too late to intervene, but Tess Knight, an author and cyber security expert, swoops in to save the day. Though mutual trust is difficult to come by, Daniel feels an instant attraction to Tess, which sets the couple up for interpersonal entanglements that only mildly distract them from the more serious matters at hand (“He stood and met her feisty gaze before she headed for the door. Was it his imagination, or was the air between them a bit warmer?”). When they finally begin working (somewhat) in tandem, Nester has already stealthily infiltrated Daniel’s investigation in a major way. As an added point of intrigue, the author also threads Nester’s perspective into the narrative, bringing readers closer to the lethally clever, tech-savvy villain. Daniel is a powerful, intuitive protagonist who leaves no detail uncovered; his personality nicely complements Tess’s fearless demeanor even as they both face deadly threats. Dow has crafted an impressive, briskly paced thrill ride right up to the concluding cliffhanger, which leaves room for future installments.

Anchored by two tough yet likable sleuths, this is a rousing character-based mystery with potential.