Running the Maze: A Sniper Novel

Shortly before the Taliban massacre nine U.N. doctors and nurses on a mission to treat Pakistani flood victims in Coughlin and Davis’s exciting fourth Sniper novel (after 2010’s Clean Kill), the team’s leader, Joseph Ledford, e-mails a photo of a collapsed trestle bridge to his sister in the U.S., Beth Ledford, a crack Coast Guard sniper. After official Washington balks at investigating the incident, Beth winds up seeking help from sniper legend Gunnery Sgt. Kyle Swanson and his secret special operations team, Task Force Trident. The contrast between the culture of the conventional military with that of the black ops community adds to the drama as Beth and Kyle seek justice in Pakistan. Complicating the situation is a psychopathic killer with some surprising connections to Washington. Former Marine sniper Coughlin stretches but does not strain credulity in this intricate story that aptly illustrates the maxim “no plan survives contact with the enemy.” Agent: Jim Hornfischer, Hornfischer Literary Management. (Mar.)