There has been another mass shooting in America, and thirteen people are dead. One of the victims is the daughter of Marco Barros, a powerful U.S. senator. The killer is still at large. Their identity and motive remain a mystery. Rookie ATF Agent Miranda Lopez's only lead is the murder weapon: an AR-15, a.k.a. the "black rifle."
Forced to work with Cal, a mysterious private sector mercenary hired by Senator Barros, Miranda's search for the rifle will take her across the country: from the crumbling city blocks of South Central, California to the frigid streets of South Side, Chicago to a sun-baked Arizona militia compound to the polished halls of power of Washington, D.C.
As they unravel a shocking grander conspiracy behind the shooting-- a dark secret that the powerful will do anything to keep hidden-- Miranda and Cal risk losing everything...
Alex Davidson’s fast-paced thriller pairs an unlikely duo of Los Angelenos—ATF Agent Miranda Lopez and mercenary for hire simply known as Cal—as they track down the mastermind(s) behind the murder of Arianna Barros, killed in a mass shooting of the South L.A. apartment building where she lived. Arianna is the daughter of the powerful Senator Marco Barros, and the Feds are under pressure to handle this case with delicacy. Cal is dispatched by a private client, ostensibly from Barros’ camp, to find the murderer, too. Uneasily aligned, neither Agent Lopez nor Cal are prepared for the complicated case they’re about to get sucked into—terrorists, gun fanatics, leaders of the nefarious WorldMovers Church, and a possibly sinister father who doesn’t even cry at his daughter’s funeral.Davidson slowly unravels the web of gun owners and the clandestine puppet masters calling the shots as Cal and Lopez’s hunt for the murder weapon, an AR-15, takes them to the South Side of Chicago, the backroads of Arizona, and just over the border into Mexico. As their investigation touches on prophets and sex traffickers, it’s clear that Cal and Lopez are in dangerous waters. Cal, an assassin addicted to killing for a price and Agent Lopez, a career Fed in love with her girlfriend Camilla, must work together to make it out alive. In crisp, swift prose, Davidson captures the tension between the heroes: “Miranda was never one to be intimidated. Not by anybody. Except maybe Cal.”
Guns —a Ruger American Rifle, a Ruger .380 and a Beretta M9—are the third protagonist in Davidson’s gritty tale, playing as important a role as the humanity of Cal, and the burning ambition of Lopez. With haunting characters and memorable action, readers will be glued as Cal and Lopez get closer to cracking the murder, their drive leaping off the page to the very end.
Takeaway: Fans of tightly written thrillers with memorable detectives will enjoy this noir-tinged page turner.
Great for fans of: S.A. Cosby’s Blacktop Wasteland, Kathleen Kent’s The Dime.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
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