Kirjahaku

Rico Lopez is a twice-divorced, moderately successful Mexican immigrant who is living the life of a small business owner when unexpectedly, an agent from the local DEA office shows up with a strange request. He would like to hire Rico for one day to go undercover and gather intel for them on a suspected drug cartel leader. Unfortunately, the seemingly easy, one-time assignment goes bad, and Rico is drawn into a life as a drug agent that while dangerous, also energizes him and forces him to draw on strengths he never knew he had. Rico's relationship with Mike Andress, the charismatic agent who hired him, is at the heart of the story. At times, as his operations intensify in danger and complexity, Rico becomes scared or disenchanted. But Mike persuades him to keep going, and over time, Rico realizes he's not only a good undercover agent but he's also never been happier in his life. As his confidence grows, Rico gets romantically entangled with a sexy, saucy woman who sees Rico as her very own James Bond. Their torrid love life adds a complicating wrinkle but fortunately, before things get too out of hand, Rico's first wife re-enters the picture and gets Rico centered again. This fast-moving tale, with its ordinary hero and a rich cast of nuanced, supporting characters, leads the reader through a series of improbable events until, sooner than the reader would like, the story with a twist that caps it off perfectly.

Rico Lopez is a twice-divorced, moderately successful Mexican immigrant who is living the life of a small business owner when unexpectedly, an agent from the local DEA office shows up with a strange request. He would like to hire Rico for one day to go undercover and gather intel for them on a suspected drug cartel leader. Unfortunately, the seemingly easy, one-time assignment goes bad, and Rico is drawn into a life as a drug agent that while dangerous, also energizes him and forces him to draw on strengths he never knew he had. Rico's relationship with Mike Andress, the charismatic agent who hired him, is at the heart of the story. At times, as his operations intensify in danger and complexity, Rico becomes scared or disenchanted. But Mike persuades him to keep going, and over time, Rico realizes he's not only a good undercover agent but he's also never been happier in his life. As his confidence grows, Rico gets romantically entangled with a sexy, saucy woman who sees Rico as her very own James Bond. Their torrid love life adds a complicating wrinkle but fortunately, before things get too out of hand, Rico's first wife re-enters the picture and gets Rico centered again. This fast-moving tale, with its ordinary hero and a rich cast of nuanced, supporting characters, leads the reader through a series of improbable events until, sooner than the reader would like, the story with a twist that caps it off perfectly.

Shira is a fast-paced historical thriller that gives the reader an inside look at the Israeli spy organization, Mossad, during its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. The story is about a young woman who is recruited to join the agency by an aging spymaster who believes women can serve an important undercover role in the traditionally male-dominated organization. Shira is inserted into some of the Mossad's most infamous operations, including the murder of an Iraqi scientist, the raid that freed 103 hostages at the airport at Entebbe, and the audacious smuggling operations at the Red Sea diving resort in Ethiopia. Along the way she has an on-again, off-again relationship with her college boyfriend who questions the morality of her chosen profession. Their differing points of view about how to deal with volatile Middle East hostilities occurring at the time (and still occurring) form the moral dilemma that drives the plot toward its surprising but satisfying ending.