STORM WARNING by James Byrne

5 stars

Another thrilling adventure featuring the brilliantly talented and humble Desmond Limerick- a military-trained specialty gatekeeper who can open, hold open, and close any door. This includes controlling who goes in and out and includes all kinds of “doors”- from electronic locks to jammed elevators. Desmond, called Dez by his friends, has been enjoying his retirement from the UK, which includes playing his base guitar or a piano at bar gigs and recently being a sous chef for a gorgeous celebrity chef who Dez is dating.

Dez gets an urgent call asking for his help from the FBI’s Elite Hostage Rescue Team and the State Department. They’re headed up to Canada off the coast of Newfoundland to investigate a state-of-the-art Neutrino Collector research facility, with multi-national backing including from the U.S., that has gone into both radio silence as well as a full security lock down. The mining facility on top of the research lab has been evacuated due to a labor strike involving excessive worker injuries. It’s been mining for cerium, a valuable mineral in short supply needed for electronics. The small town on top is also radio silent. There are several massive snow blizzards in the area, and it’s unclear if anyone will be able to land nearby. Trisha Jackson, a negotiator from State and her Secret Service bodyguard Rusty Townsend need Dez’ help breaking into the locked down facility.

Add into the mix a whole host of hostile groups convening around the site for unknown reasons. These include elite Russian soldiers there on a secret mission and perhaps connected to the Russian company overseeing the mineral extractions. Skyhook Technologies, a huge company that has a vested interest in the mines, have sent a large group of hardcore mercenaries on some sort of retrieval mission. The mining company, while having a respectable corporate board, has two owners, Valerie and Vincent Crays, who are pathological and unrelentingly violent in their greed. As the mine’s located in Canada, there’s the Canadian Mounties, police, as well as a young former Olympic gymnastics star turned Parisian assassin has embedded herself as representing a Canadian Research council. Add into the mix a former lover of Dez’s, Petra Alexandris, a billionaire whose company, Triton Experiators, invests in clean technology has gone to check out both the mine and neutrino facility in which she invested. There also turn out to more hidden spies among the groups.

It’s going to take all of Dez’s skills to sort this all out while staying alive. And did I mention that since he’s retired Dez really prefers not to kill anyone if he can help it? Dez is low key, understated, hilarious, and unstoppable. He has an issue of chess-like complexity at the Canadian site that needs to be sorted.

It all proves a great edge-of-the-seat thriller and another amazing addition to a fantastic series!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, 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.