The Power Couple

October 26, 2020
Despite the title, Rebecca and Brian Unsworth, the protagonists of this cinematic standalone from Edgar winner Berenson (the John Wells spy novels), aren’t that powerful: she works in counterterrorism for the FBI; he works in software at the NSA. But they have access to power, which they’ll need when their 19-year-old daughter, Kira, is kidnapped while the family is on vacation in Barcelona. The setup nods to the well-worn Taken movie franchise, but the focus is more on the parents and how their career and personal trajectories brought them to the fateful night in Spain. Career-obsessed Rebecca traded a lucrative job as a lawyer to join the FBI; Brian parlayed a knack for computers into a job with the NSA. Kira’s kidnapping almost recedes into the background, though the teen’s resourcefulness provides some of the best scenes as the book explores the tensions in the marriage and why the daughter was snatched. Berenson writes with vigor and pace, and keeps the foreground plot humming along, but the long backstories undercut the immediate concern of Kira’s abduction. This thriller is tailor-made for the big screen. Agent: Bob Barnett, Williams & Connolly.

November 1, 2020
Berenson takes a break from the international politics and nonstop action that define his head-banging John Wells series to present a different kind of thriller, one that combines a bit of espionage with a probing look at a complex marriage, seemingly happy but with deep fissures below the surface. Rebecca Unsworth is an FBI counterintelligence officer, and her husband, Brian, is a mid-level analyst with the NSA. A family vacation to Barcelona goes awry when the couple's college-student daughter, Kira, is kidnapped. Although the first sections of the novel focus in riveting fashion on Kira's harrowing experience and her determination to escape her captors, the story eventually shifts back to her parents, juggling between husband's and wife's points of view to reveal not only what was behind the kidnapping, but also the depth of their alienation from one another. The reader is prepared to be shocked as the backstory unfolds, but Berenson effectively keeps his cards close to his vest, delivering multiple surprises on the way to a dizzying finale in which the cold hearts of this hot-blooded duo rise to the surface.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2020
An FBI counterterrorism expert and an NSA coder search for their missing daughter in Barcelona. Rebecca and Brian Unsworth, the married couple at the heart of Berenson's latest breakneck thriller, lead far more exciting and important lives than most of us. She's an ambitious FBI counterterrorism expert; he's a laid-back coder for the National Security Agency who is ingenious enough to create an app in his spare time and sell it for a cool $2 million. That's why the Unsworths can afford to spend their 20th wedding anniversary in Barcelona with their teenagers, Kira and Tony, looking forward to family time far from the daily grind of their high-pressure jobs. But Kira, a college student, has other plans. She sneaks off to meet an attractive stranger at a club, ignoring her midnight curfew and relying on parental relaxation to guarantee eventual forgiveness. But when she doesn't return to the hotel, Rebecca and Brian are catapulted into a nightmare. Who kidnapped Kira--and why? And how can they hope to find her in another country, even with all their government connections? Berenson, who won an Edgar Award for his first novel, The Faithful Spy (2006), alternates points of view among Rebecca, Brian, and Kira, moving from past to present with ease and presenting a deeper look at a marriage that's far more complicated that it seems on the surface. Yet even as it examines career jealousy and marital dissonance and draws intriguing portraits of its characters, this novel never forgets it's primarily a thriller. The pace is unrelenting, and Berenson has a few twists in his arsenal. He also creates an engaging character in the brave and resourceful Kira, who is so much more than a helpless victim. A fast-paced and engaging political thriller.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.