The Damascus Threat: An ICE Thriller

This fast-paced, action-packed first in a new thriller series from Rees—best known for The Fourth Assassin and three other crime novels featuring Palestinian sleuth Omar Yussef—introduces Dominic Verrazzano, a former Green Beret and current U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agent. When a doctor specializing in chemical weapons is murdered on the doorstep of the ICE Manhattan offices while trying to reach Verrazzano, the agent becomes entangled in a mystery surrounding a plot to unleash a chemical attack somewhere in New York City. The trail leads him to Syria, where he begins to understand the scale of the scheme—the attack is simply the opening move in a much larger conspiracy. But with time running out and assassins on his trail, can Verrazzano stay alive long enough to avert an unprecedented terrorist attack on U.S. soil? Rees writes well, but those who prefer fully dimensional characters and unpredictability in their thrillers will have to look elsewhere. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency. (Aug.)