Go-Between

Michelle Mason, the heroine of Brackmann’s brisk sequel to 2012’s Getaway, has rebuilt her life under an assumed name after a vacation in Mexico went bad. She owns a popular bistro in Arcata, a town in marijuana-rich Humboldt County, Calif., and lives with Jeff, her volunteer firefighter boyfriend, whose real name is Danny and who played a significant role in Getaway. Jeff moonlights by flying the finest cannabis to out-of-state customers until he’s arrested in Texas on federal drug trafficking charges. To get Jeff’s charges dropped, Michelle must work with their old nemesis, shady CIA agent Gary, who wants her to “babysit” Kaitlin O’Connor, a wealthy socialite. Kaitlin heads Safer America, a social welfare organization lobbying for “tough on crime” measures. Gary and his backers want Kaitlin, who drinks too much, to sober up and help defeat a Texas bill that would legalize marijuana for recreational use—and possibly open the door for similar legislation across the country. The edgy plot never lets up, touching on the war on drugs, for-profit prisons, and nefarious nonprofits. [em]Agent: Katherine Fausset, Curtis Brown. (July) [/em]