"He could almost feel the beaten down mud of a mountain trail under his hands as he lowered himself to the ground and lay there cringing against the next mortar shard. "
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A Bridge to Treachery by Larry Crane Brighton Publishing LLC
book review by Russ Roberts
There's an old saying that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Former Army Ranger and current investment broker Lou Christopher ignores that axiom when a plum account falls into his lap from nowhere. Suddenly he's raking in huge fees and ignoring that nagging voice in his head that things are never as good as they seem. Sure enough the nagging voice is right; that plum account leads to Christopher being recruited because of his military background to lead a strike force in a faux attack against a busy bridge. It's all part of an elaborate plot to scare people into voting for the incumbent conservative president, who is trailing badly in his re-election campaign. However the plot goes awry; the strike force is betrayed, and Christopher barely escapes with his life. He then must use his training to run the plotters to ground and clear his name.
Author Larry Crane is an ex-Army Ranger, and thus is working with familiar concepts as he manuevers his characters and plot. The characters are strongly written, and, like all conspiracy books, the plot takes some surprising twists and turns. Crane has a crisp, punchy writing style that is well-suited to this type of fast-paced material. Although there are many flashbacks, Crane rescues the narrative just in time, and those who like action/conspiracy tales will be rewarded for their patience.