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Brig Ellis believes he has left the carnage behind on the unforgiving battlefields. Currently, he is a private investigator where the assignments can be messy but often involve much less danger. The death of a fellow soldier has brought him to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he will pick up the remains of his comrade-in-arms and fulfill his last wish. While having a drink at a hotel bar, he becomes smitten with the bartender. Their banter is interrupted by the bartender’s ex-husband, but Ellis quickly defuses the situation. The unraveling of Ellis’ world begins when the ex-husband is found murdered in a grisly manner, and Ellis is a suspect. Ellis is further shaken as more deaths follow, with a possible connection to his past and little time to spare in finding answers.
Kilgore has crafted an adrenaline-packed tale from the very start. Each chapter shifts between past and present, providing a window into the world of the protagonist and how he was changed forever by the unforgiving fog of war. The narrative portrays Ellis as a charismatic leader, respected by his soldiers when carrying out a mission. His devotion to his team is continuous, even a decade removed from the tumultuous war zones. Kilgore also shows that his character has a certain level of chivalry that runs through his veins in his interactions with women. The plot moves along with consistency, the horrors of a past war carrying over into a creeping dread in the present as a faceless killer stalks those with connections to Ellis. The author succeeds in creating an intriguing whodunit that will keep many readers on their toes until the very end.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review