Dark Angel

In bestseller Sandford’s strong sequel to 2022’s The Investigator, Sen. Christopher Colles needs the skills of investigator Letty Davenport, who once worked for the powerful senator, who helped her get her current job with the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general. Colles wants her to go undercover to infiltrate Ordinary People, a group of American hackers who infiltrated the Russian rail system. The group maintained total control over Russian trains for months until $50 million in ransom was paid, but now the U.S. government fears that Ordinary People may be setting its sights on their own country. Evidence that the hackers are poking around natural gas networks has led Colles to worry that they may turn off natural gas for a northern city or cities in the middle of winter. Given that restarting that heating source could take weeks, such a cyberattack could cause massive fatalities. Letty agrees to the hazardous assignment, only to learn her mentor has another objective. Sandford keeps his foot on the gas throughout, without stretching plausibility too far. Lee Child fans will be hooked. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM Partners. (Apr.)