Robert Ludlum’s The Geneva Strategy

This exciting entry in the Covert-One series is Thriller Award–winner Freveletti’s second contribution to the Ludlum franchise (after 2012’s The Janus Reprisal). It begins with Lt. Col. Jon Smith, a member of the highly secretive Covert-One team, fending off several armed men after leaving a cocktail party in an upscale Washington, D.C., neighborhood for eminent microbiologist Chang Ying Peng, who was recently smuggled out of a Chinese prison. Smith soon learns that several important government officials were kidnapped that same night as part of an ambitious plan to acquire the passwords and codes needed to hack control of U.S. drones. Smith joins forces with CIA agent Randi Russell and others to rescue the kidnap victims. Meanwhile, a double-cross among the bad guys may result in a terrorist attack using a deadly and unstable mind-altering drug. Freveletti offers a savory mix of intense action and cynical politics. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary Agency. (Feb.)