Out in the cold

Alex Martel is now in the employ of the CIA as a contractor (following Perfect Shot, 2023). She is cruising the Mediterranean on a luxury yacht along with several international VIPs at the behest of her former boss, Interpol Secretary General Celeste Clicquot, when the party comes under attack, and Alex finds herself in a death-defying Sea-Doo pursuit. The question of "Why did this happen?" takes her back to Langley. The ambassador of Finland, NATO's newest member, was on board, and since its recent alignment, the country has been subject to major infrastructure disruptions. Russia is the obvious suspect. Alex rushes back to Europe when Clicquot is seriously injured in another ambush. As the investigation sinks into turmoil, she goes rogue in her own pursuit of answers. Urszenyi's extensive use of military lingo and odd flashes of humor, including the CIA's fanciful use of nicknames (e.g., the inseparable agents Rocky and Moose) and the female Russian operative decked out in Barbie pink fleece, will appeal to aficionados of the spy genre.

Urszenyi's shaky second outing for former Army sniper Alex Martel (after A Perfect Shot) fails to build on the success of its predecessor. After saving Paris from nuclear devastation, Alex is celebrating on the yacht of billionaire Valtteri Lehtonen, a friend of Alex's former boss at Interpol, when the vessel is attacked by mercenaries. After Alex and her CIA partner, Caleb Copeland, fend off the attackers, the CIA links the assault to a series of calamities in Finland, including electrical blackouts, oil spills off the coast, and infrastructure sabotage. Initial signs point to Russia retaliating against Finland's decision to join NATO, but evidence soon emerges linking the incidents to a deep-state conspiracy led by a U.S. senator and perhaps the president himself. As Alex unravels that scheme, Urszenyi enlivens the proceedings with a lovable set of supporting characters--especially deputy CIA director Kadeisha Thomas. Though Alex is a formidable addition to the pantheon of kick-ass heroines of military thrillers, Urszenyi underserves her and the rest of the cast with a baggy story that devolves into a limp gunfight in a conference room. Readers will hope the next installment is a return to form. (Nov.)