River of No Return

November 24, 2014
Bertsch rewards his readers’ patience in his second thriller featuring former prosecutor Jake Trent (after 2013’s Death Canyon). Trent has found a new, quieter, life as a fishing guide in Wyoming, but his life becomes much less sedate after an old flame, Divya Navaysam, asks him to meet her in Washington, D.C. Divya wants Trent to help her with a group opposed to a plan by an ambitious senator who advocates funding to develop technology that could track illegal immigrants. Divya’s allies fear that the creation of SafeTrak will start the country down a slippery slope toward Orwellian surveillance of the entire population. Meanwhile, Jackson, Wyo., police chief Roger Terrell and his wife travel to China to represent their community on an odd tour that lands them in a bizarre village made up to look just like their hometown. The unrelated plot lines end up fitting together logically and smoothly, and Trent is convincing both as a man of action and as one of thought. Agent: Margaret Riley, William Morris Endeavor.

November 15, 2014
A fishing guide with a shadowy past is lured into an explosive situation. Jake Trent is a former prosecutor who once worked with a powerful group investigating and sometimes meting out punishment for high crimes. Now he lives outside Jackson, Wyoming, runs a B&B and tries to live a peaceful life. In his first adventure (Death Canyon, 2013), he teamed with park ranger Noelle Klimpton, but his cold feet put their love affair on hold. Now Divya Navaysam, a lover from his past, begs him to come to Washington, D.C., and help work against Idaho senator Rick Canart's plan to track illegal immigrants with microtechnology first manufactured in China and code-named Shar Pei. Jake is only too happy to go home again when he gets a desperate cry for help from his friend J.P., who's keeping an eye on the B&B. After sending a text saying she's on her way home from Mexico, J.P.'s girlfriend, Esma, has failed to show up, and a search deep in the mountains almost gets both Jake and J.P. killed. Meanwhile, Jackson Police Chief Roger Terrell and his wife, Charlotte, have been invited to China to visit a theme park based on Jackson Hole. Its owner, Xiao, is a powerful man who holds them hostage to ensure the return of his brilliant daughter Meirong, who'd moved to Jackson and gone missing. Divya joins Xiao in pressuring Jake to find Meirong. But whom can Jake trust when the FBI, the CIA and the Chinese are all after Meirong and the dangerous secrets she holds? A majestic setting, plenty of action and a scary look at the possibilities of new technologies.

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Starred review from December 1, 2014

In this second installment of the series (after Death Canyon), Wyoming fishing guide and ex-lawyer Jake Trent answers a call from an old flame and gets caught up in international intrigue and several missing persons cases. The fun begins when lobbyist Divya Navaysam requests Jake's presence in Washington, DC, to help defeat legislation proposed by an Idaho congressman who wants to implant tracking devices in the bodies of immigrants. Back home in Jackson Hole, Jake's best friend, J.P., needs assistance in locating his girlfriend who has gone missing on her return from Mexico. Meanwhile, something has happened to Jackson police chief Roger Terrell and his wife while they were on a public relations junket in China, and there are unanswered questions about a mysterious dead wolf found in the Tetons. Using skills from his days with the Office of Special Investigations, Jake uncovers the mind-boggling connections among the corrupt politician, a Chinese businessman, the missing girl, and a microchip in the dead wolf. VERDICT Bertsch skillfully twines the subplots and characters into a nonstop adventure and a suspenseful page-turner that leaves the reader breathless. This is a winner, especially for C.J. Box fans.--Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2014
A timeless piece of advice to aspiring writerswrite what you knowseems to have guided Bertsch. Both he and his series character, Jake Trent, are lawyers who left to become fly-fishing guides in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In this one, Trent must foil the machinations of a right-wing U.S. senator who is pushing to require all immigrants to be fitted with nano-GPS so they can be tracked 24/7. Not so coincidentally, his company has developed the technology, and he will benefit hugely. The senator is also in league with a rich, twisted Chinese man who is obsessed with Jackson Hole, and an odd American couple who are beta testing the technology on Wyoming wolves. The CIA is aware of nefarious doings and has decided that Jake needs to be their Jackson point man. Bertsch's plot is a bit over the top, but you have to appreciate his imagination and his fine insights into the allure of fly fishing, Jackson Hole, and the culture of the region.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)