LEAVE NO TRACE by A.J. Laundau (a writing team of Jon Land and Jeff Ayers)

4.5 stars

This engrossing thriller opens with a bomb exploding and toppling the Statute of Liberty. Hundreds are dead and injured. Danny, a teen boy visiting with his family and obsessed with different types of boats, has captured a video on his cell phone of an out of commission National Park Service boat off Ellis Island with binoculars trained on the Statute pre-bombing.

Both Michael Walker, an investigator for the National Park Service, and New-York FBI Special Agent Gina Delgado descend on the scene in the immediate aftermath to investigate. As an eye-witness with the only strong clue as to the perpetrators, Danny has to be whisked to protective custody and remains in danger.

Michael and Gina team up together as multiple other National Parks across the country come under bomb threats and attack. The puzzle pieces start adding up to a cult-like right-wing insurgency, with both ex- and active military and law enforcement officers wanting to reassert white supremacy and topple the U.S. government. The ex-colonel who leads them and the lengths to which they’re willing to go are terrifying, and the weapons at their disposal massive.  Given the current hostility between factions in our country, the scenario while extreme seems far too plausible.

Meanwhile, an Indian tribe has convened an environmental action group who’s tracking the movements of large trucks seeming to be carrying hazardous materials. One of their teen scouts gets captured by the insurgents, ratcheting the tension up even more.

As the action gears up and rapidly switches between national park disasters, the insurgents on the move, the loyalists in the U.S. government trying to protect the Presidency, I found myself up reading way past midnight to finish!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.