Once again, Dez Limerick takes us on an incredibly suspenseful tale that keeps you guessing and shows how smarts will always beat brawn. Everything begins with Dez getting hired by the State Department to use his 'gatekeeper' skills to get them into a mine and multinational scientific research facility in Newfoundland that's gone dark and is under full lockdown. Getting there will be a challenge, made harder by a mysterious group hell-bent on getting Dez to get them in or out of their way. Things get more complicated as details emerge, but knowing that someone Dez holds dear is locked in the research facility is all the motivation he needs. His adversaries might think one man will be easy to eliminate, but they've never been up against someone like Dez.

A Dez Limerick book never disappoints when it comes to keeping things complicated but never forgetting the human element. Byrne knows that it doesn't matter how intense the plot gets if we can't connect to the people playing it out. There is danger and some very bad people doing even worse things, but we also get the charm and entertainment that Dez and the strong characters who gravitate towards him bring to the story. Dez is a guaranteed winner of a character, but he needs strong opponents and likable allies to help him show off.

He gets two very different cases in this book, and it's amazing how they play out concurrently. Getting pieces as the story progresses that turn into a complex whole at the end is a big part of why I love this series. And unlike in real life, you know that Dez will see to it that justice is served to all who deserve it. Another fantastic entry in a must-read series.

Delighted thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the wonderfully suspenseful read!