Tower Down

Edgar-finalist Hagberg’s violent, fast-moving 21st Kirk McGarvey thriller (after 2016’s End Game) pits the superspy extraordinaire and his core team, badass agent Pete Boylan (his girlfriend) and CIA computer wizard Otto Rencke, against ruthless assassin and terrorist-for-hire Kamal Al-Daran. Kamal’s target is a newly constructed pencil tower in midtown Manhattan. Though the penthouse is not yet open for occupancy, the building’s developer, George Callaghan, has organized a party there, and the guest list includes a slew of multibillionaires. Kamal knows how to overcome the 102-story building’s elaborate security system and destabilize the structure. The tower topples and falls with Callaghan and the other partygoers trapped in the penthouse. Once McGarvey is on the case, he realizes that the pencil tower was just the first of the terrorist’s targets. Hagberg keeps the suspense high through the thrilling climax as McGarvey and crew race against time to find out Kamal’s next objective and who’s paying him and why. Agent: Susan Gleason, Susan Gleason Literary Agency. (May)