Dark Waters

June 22, 2015
Goff’s strong first thriller, a series opener, introduces Raisa Jordan, an agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service who’s assigned to Tel Aviv as the assistant regional security officer. American judge Ben Taylor and his 11-year-old daughter, Lucy, survive but appear to have been additional targets in the very public double assassination of a Palestinian with links to the Palestinian Liberation Committee and Raisa’s predecessor as ARSO. The two victims were involved in a botched exchange of USB drives. Ben refuses to leave Tel Aviv, but the secretary of state is due to arrive shortly, so only Raisa and a small Marine detachment can safeguard him and Lucy. Raisa must also discover the nature of the information being exchanged in order to discern the goals of all parties involved. Figures from Raisa’s past complicate matters further, while allies and enemies are difficult to differentiate. Goff (A Sacrifice of Buntings) doesn’t try to minimize the region’s political complexities. Agent: Peter Rubie, Fine Print Literary Management.

July 15, 2015
An American diplomat, an Israeli agent, and a radical group fight to control the flow of critical and deadly information in Goff's first thriller. Ben Taylor, a U.S. federal judge, has brought his daughter, Lucy, to Israel for alternative treatment of a potentially life-threatening disease, but he and Lucy unwittingly become embroiled in a murderous plot when they witness a killing in a nearby square. That brings Batya Ganani, a deadly Israeli agent, and her boss, the shadowy Col. Ilya Brodsky, into the picture. Also in on the action is Raisa Jordan, an officer with the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. Jordan has been assigned to protect the judge and his daughter, but it's difficult because the judge isn't very cooperative. And an impending visit from the U.S. secretary of state means resources are spread thin. So, when Alena, the Russian woman treating Lucy, is kidnapped by some would-be terrorists, Jordan is forced into an uneasy partnership with Ganani. Goff's style is spare and slightly dry, but she does an admirable job of highlighting the struggle between Arab and Israeli factions in that part of the world, as well as shedding light on some of the little-known-at least by most Westerners-cultural issues they face. But much of the plot turns on coincidence, and readers will be hard-pressed to believe that Jordan's long-ago childhood in Russia could figure in as a critical piece of the modern-day puzzle with which she's dealing. In addition, when it comes to firearms and defensive tactics, the book lacks credibility. When Jordan slips into a hiked-up pencil skirt and fashions a makeshift thigh holster for her nearly 3 pound gun out of a belt she wraps around her thigh, then repeatedly draws, fires, and holsters that same weapon, readers knowledgeable about weapons-and pencil skirts-will most likely find themselves rolling their eyes. A story in need of better research, fewer coincidences, and a more definitive ending.

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August 1, 2015
Goff, known for intriguing mysteries, reveals a knack for thrillers with this first book in a new series. Raisa Jordan is an agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, recently posted to Israel. Her first day there goes horribly wrong when a sniper kills her predecessor. The real target might have been a judge, and Raisa finds herself taking on a protector role for him and his teenage daughter. There's a conspiracy afoot, and Raisa must trust her instincts to stop a deadly attack. But can she trust her personal feelings? Goff has a winner with Raisa as a series lead. A sure bet for fans of international thrillers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)