Jump Cut

Starred review from January 18, 2016
Hellman’s exceptional fifth Ellie Foreman mystery (after 2005’s A Shot to Die For) offers no easy solutions to the various security threats America faces today. Ellie, a video producer based in Chicago, is dismayed when the PR video she was working on for Delcroft is canceled by the aircraft company’s director of engineering. In an effort to understand what happened, Ellie slides into a deadly tangle of high-tech espionage and soon finds herself in possession of a murdered man’s encrypted flash drive, which is feverishly sought by everyone from Warren Stokes, Delcroft’s unscrupulous security chief, to a forlorn representative of the Uighurs, a persecuted Muslim minority in China. Though she hates the immorality all sides display, Ellie eventually just decides to give the drive to the least despicable player—until Stokes kidnaps her daughter and fits the girl with a suicide vest. As Hellman’s convincing, conflicted characters face impossible choices, the tension is real and memorable.

January 1, 2016
Curiosity darn near kills a filmmaker. Documentary director Ellie Foreman is making a puff piece to burnish the image of Delcroft Aviation, whose consumer branch is but a minor part of their major business of military aircraft and drones. Things are going swimmingly until Ellie meets Gregory Parks, who claims to be a consultant investigating new trends in consumer aviation, at one of the shooting locations. When Delcroft engineer Charlotte Hollander suddenly notices a surfeit of Parks in the background of the film, she unceremoniously fires Ellie, citing her lack of professionalism as an excuse. Deeply offended to be dumped in such a cavalier manner, Ellie sets up a meeting with Parks to pump him for information. But Parks falls or is pushed in front of a train. By sheer chance, Ellie picks up a cigarette package with a flash drive hidden inside that she's sure belonged to Parks. Although her boyfriend, Luke Sutton, warns her about getting involved, she finds a hacker through a friend who tries to break the drive's encryption. Then, when Hollander vanishes, Ellie becomes convinced that her phone is tapped and her computer hacked and that she's being followed. And that's hardly surprising, for she's delved into a dark world of conspiracies and hidden agendas in the dangerous underbelly of Delcroft's government work. Only her wealthy boyfriend, who has contacts through his former military service, and a sly FBI agent can hope to save her hide. After a long hiatus (A Shot to Die For, 2010, etc.) Hellmann returns to her Chicago-based sleuth with a chilling tale that may be all too close to the truth.

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February 1, 2016
Hellmann's writing sparkles in this latest Ellie Foreman mystery (the first in a decade). Ellie, a Chicago video producer, is humiliated when her presentation of a promotional video for an aircraft company is rejected by the company's vice president, who seems to have been frightened by the appearance of a particular man in some shots. Ellie sets up a meeting with that man, only to see him die on the El tracks. She finds his jump drive with encrypted data and has a friend try to crack it. When the friend's office is blown up hours after she told an executive she had the drive, Ellie realizes she is in over her head. Drones, military secrets, and treason all seem to be involved, but Ellie isn't sure how to connect the dots and winds up simply trying to keep herself and her daughter out of danger. There is plenty of suspense in this richly detailed thriller, but Hellmann's characteristic wit and warmth are evident, too. A nice mix of action and character.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)