Hunted

Mukherjee strays from his Wyndham & Banerjee historical series to deliver a cunning standalone rooted in contemporary America’s fractured political landscape. After a bloody bombing in a Los Angeles mall, FBI agent Shreya Mistry identifies a young Muslim woman as the culprit. A group calling themselves the Sons of the Caliphate claim responsibility, threatening future attacks. With mere days left in a neck-and-neck presidential race between a right-wing ideologue and the country’s Democratic vice president, a resurgence of Islamist terrorism could tip the balance. After Shreya uncovers the L.A. bomber’s connection to a small town outside of Portland, Ore., she teams up with fellow FBI agent Susan Kramer, and the pair discover another potential bomber on the loose: Aliyah Khan, a young British woman radicalized by her sister’s death during a political protest. Meanwhile, Aliyah’s father, Sajid, heads to Oregon from London to stop her from carrying out the will of Miriam, a charismatic “soldier masquerading as messiah,” whose deadly—though opaque—mission seems poised to topple the upper echelons of U.S. government and law enforcement. The diverse, well-drawn cast, clever investigative work, and breakneck pacing easily carry readers through the novel’s many-tentacled plot. With this pulse-pounding thriller, Mukherjee proves he’s just as good at mining the present for suspense as the past. Agent: Sam Copeland, RCW Literary. (May)