Cold Shot

March 31, 2014
Henshaw combines inspired data analysis, corrupt geopolitical maneuvering, and searing action in this bustling sequel to 2012’s Red Cell. An egregious mistake by Iranian nuclear proliferator Hossein Ahmadi provides the slim clue that allows CIA analysts to discover an Iranian ship with a secret cargo headed for Venezuela. CIA analyst Kyra Stryker, a former field agent, volunteers to go to Venezuela to gather information. With U.S. president Daniel Rostow looking to use the situation to his advantage and Venezuelan president Diego Avila seeking weapons of mass destruction, the stage is set for serious confrontation. Fellow CIA analyst Jonathan Burke follows Stryker to Venezuela, where the agents engage in a dangerous attempt to locate the mysterious cargo, identify it, and obtain proof to justify further action. Henshaw, a CIA analyst himself, handles everything from naval operations to CIA decision making competently, but really excels when tackling the ground-level action scenes pitting Stryker and Burke against a well-guarded base deep in hostile territory. Agent: Jason Yarn, Paradigm Agency.

April 15, 2014
The Iranians are doing something shady in Venezuela, and it's up to the CIA's Burke and Stryker to put a stop to it. It's clear the dead Somali pirate that the crew of the USS Vicksburg pulled out of a lifeboat had been tortured. But why? By whom? And where did he come from? It doesn't take long before Jon Burke and Kyra Stryker, of the agency's Red Cell, come up with a possible answer: the Markarid, an Iranian freighter which satellite imagery suggests is headed for Puerto Cabello in Venezuela--and it's missing a lifeboat. Worried that the Markarid might be smuggling something unsavory into the Western Hemisphere, the agency sends Stryker and Burke to keep an eye on the cargo, despite some previous trouble Stryker had in Venezuela. While there, she captures video of Venezuelan soldiers in the presence of a known Iranian nuclear proliferator murdering a cargo container full of dock workers, who seem to have gotten sick from handling whatever they pulled off the Markarid. This causes the president himself to start demanding some solid answers, and since Stryker is the only agent anywhere nearby, it's up to her to infiltrate the facility where the mystery cargo is being held. But, of course, things don't go exactly as planned, and before long, an anxious world is watching earth-shaking events unfold in Venezuela, while Stryker and Burke try to make it out of an increasingly hostile country. Henshaw (Red Cell, 2012) is a former Red Cell analyst himself, and he's well-equipped to provide a behind-the-curtain look at the agency. He provides a Clancy-esque level of detail but without dragging the story down. His lead characters are fleshed out and interesting, especially the decidedly Sherlock-ian Burke. Tense, suspenseful and loaded with immersive detail.

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May 1, 2014
Henshaw's follow-up to his terrific debut, Red Cell (2012), continues the adventures of analysts Kyra Stryker and Jonathan Burke, well-rounded and fascinating characters with enough personal foibles to give them depth. This time they must investigate a strange discovery by the crew of the USS Vicksburg. The vessel was heading for shore when it stumbled upon a lifeboat with a dead Somali pirate inside who was clearly tortured. Stryker and Burke trace the pirate back to an Iranian ship heading for Venezuela, which frightens Stryker since she had a bad experience the last time she was in that country. And the evidence seems to indicate that people onboard the ship are planning to build a nuclear bomb. Henshaw, who spent 13 years as a CIA analyst, has a firm grasp of how the intelligence community operates, and uses that knowledge to deliver another winner. Readers seeking a revealing portrait of the covert world need look no further.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)