A Sentimental Traitor

Starred review from November 26, 2012
Though life has been good to Harry Jones, the star of Dobbs’s slickly crafted thriller series, the millionaire Parliament member’s fifth adventure (after 2011’s Old Enemies) sees him blindsided by his own curiosity about an airplane crash. After Harry asks one too many questions about an Airbus jet that plummeted into the Thames and killed everybody aboard, including 37 children, his life begins to inexplicably collapse. His considerable bank accounts mysteriously drain; his re-election campaign is beset by oddly timed blunders; and—worst of all—he’s framed for a sex crime. Only after he’s been reduced to nothing does Harry start tracking his mysterious foe, an obscure arm of the E.U.’s security network, and its role in a massive natural gas pipeline project. With an extremely likable hero, clever insights into popular culture, and the best elements of thriller fiction, Dobbs slowly tightens his grip on the reader to a ratchet-hold. Agent: Rafe Sagalyn, Rafe Sagalyn Agency.