The Bid

In Magson’s pedestrian sequel to 2016’s The Locker, James Chadwick, a British business consultant with a passion for radio-controlled planes, has taken out a policy from Cruxys Solutions, a London-based private insurance and security company that provides special services to people in dangerous professions. When Chadwick goes missing on a trip to New York, Ruth Gonzales, an investigator for Cruxys Solutions, pays a call on his wife, Elizabeth, at the couple’s Chelsea townhouse. Elizabeth refuses to believe that anything serious has happened to him. “He’s a business consultant,” she says. “The worst he could suffer would be a paper cut or a missed call.” Little does she know. Ruth flies to Newark airport, where she’s met by her American counterpart, Andy Vaslik, formerly of Homeland Security. Soon Ruth and Andy are up to their necks in terrorist plots, conflicts with the FBI, and a conspiracy to kill the U.S. president. The first two-thirds of the book consists mostly of interviews with various people about Chadwick’s disappearance; the last section is filled with gunfights, car chases, and other stock thriller elements. (Jan.)