This book picks up where the first one, To Catch A Storm, left off. Max Summerlin brought down the majority of a drug trafficking ring, but not everyone involved. They have the drugs, but not the money. They don't know who paid the money for the drugs either. What they do know is that the buyer didn't get his product. When the DEA asks Max to join the task force to finish the job, Max is ready to go. When he agrees, he doesn't realize that his job will be to keep an eye on Kara Johnson, the girlfriend of his best friend's (Jonah's) deceased niece. Kara worked for Sam, the "drug lord". When Kara met Celina (Jonah's niece) and fell in love with her, Celina convinced her to make a positive change in her life by going undercover to help take Sam and his drug operation down. Sam ended up murdering Celina.
Max deals with chronic pain (from being shot twice) and an unhappy wife. Kara is still grieving Celina's loss, chronic guilt, and the inability to feel physical pain. They are quite the duo. Their partnership initially doesn't go that well. Kara is always running off and doing her thing. They don't trust each other. Actually, Kara doesn't trust anyone. While working with the DEA task force, Kara lives with Phyllis, who used to run the thrift store (and money-laundering operation) for Sam. When Phyllis retired from the job, Kara had taken over. (By-the-way, Kara only agrees to work with the task force because the other option was to be sent to prison.) Phyllis is pretty much a crabby old woman with a poisonous garden, but she lets Kara rent a room.
There is a lot of action that involves a lot of different people. Sometimes it's difficult to keep everyone straight. There are still people connected to Sam running around; there is the DEA team; there is the police department. Everyone seems to have their own agenda. Max and Kara keep getting injured. Kara goes to her "private doctor" whenever she needs advance medical care (like to set a broken leg). This doctor is a veterinarian who lives out in the boondocks. She is not very personable, but Kara is taken with her. The feeling is mutual.
Eventually, it seems like all parties have the same goal: follow the money. They do not necessarily work together on it though. This means more threats and more deaths, but still, no one knows who the original buyer of the drugs was. They find out in the end though! I won't spoil it here. ;)
One thing I really loved is that since this was set in 2020, the author incorporated the Covid-19 pandemic - and all that it entailed - into the story. This is as is should be. I recently read another book set in 2020 and the pandemic wasn't even mentioned. It bothered me the entire time! Something as huge as a worldwide pandemic should always be included if you are going to write a story set in 2020-2021.
Wendy's Rating: ****
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