A wealthy Brazilian industrialist is nearly undone at the disappearance of his only daughter and heir to the family business. Quietly so as not to alert outsiders and other corporate predators, Thiago hires the world's most elite information-gathering unit, the R-Group to locate and return his daughter. Though the path to finding the heiress is dangerous and the fear is that finding her won’t mean all is well. The team in Switzerland follows the leads from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean, but the data trail is leading nowhere. Sometimes the most important clues come from unlikely places.
Two members of the elite team, Petra and Jacob, while vacationing in Mexico cross paths with Carlos and Juan's fly-by-night operation. The Bad Boys are cloaking their "moving business" from satellite surveillance as they execute their legendary yet unique business model for relocating drug lords along with their cash, gold, artwork and other assets, targeted by the Mexican authorities. Business is so good. Carlos and Juan, so-called entrepreneurs, who even the most generous observer would question the legality of their business model. The trouble is, success always breeds unwanted attention.
With these very different issues, the R-Group is busy assembling the pieces of the puzzles without creating international consequences. The open questions include: Can the brothers stop running outside the law long enough to do the right thing? Is it possible to you hide from your past and still enjoy the present? Is the heiress hiding in plain site or gone forever? And can the brothers rein in their contempt for societal rules and leave behind the sweet deals long enough to save a life?
The Enigma Rising, Book 2, continues the award winning Breakfield and Burkey's The Enigma Series. This story focuses on overcoming opportunistic cyber-crime in the high-stakes world of information brokering in today’s 21st century. With its strong cast of characters, The Enigma Rising continues the use of a relevant technology foundation weaving in mystery, intrigue, romance, humor, and ethics as the team track the lost and found, and lost again, to take you on an incredible journey into the cyber dark side.
In Breakfield and Burkey’s (The Enigma Factor, 2013) latest techno-thriller, a group combats evil in the digital world, with multiple assignments merging in Acapulco and the Cayman Islands.
When Thiago Bernardes’ daughter, Lara, goes missing after their argument, the businessman seeks help from Otto, head of the R-Group. JAC, aka Julie, finds a lead in Acapulco, where fellow group members (and lovers) Jacob and Petra are vacationing. The couple meets Simone and Carlos, the latter of whom hires Jacob to investigate a bank in the Cayman Islands and who, along with his brother Juan, may be responsible for the disappearance of Mexican drug lords and their money. In this, the second book in the Enigma series, the authors churn out a more streamlined narrative; while the first novel was essentially an origin story—dealing mostly with the recruitment of Jacob, who’s a minor player this time around—this volume dives right into the story with already established relationships such as Jacob and Petra’s. From there, the narrative efficiently sets up Carlos and Juan’s failed drug business and their decision to try their hand at laundering drug money. The story boasts strong characters: R-Group hacker Quip and JAC (both of whom are more pivotal to the narrative this time around) and Carlos, whose business ventures pit him in the role of villain but whose later choices—he considers giving up everything for Simone—make him much more commendable. Yet the shadier characters have more impact: Jesus, though Carlos and Juan’s uncle, is introduced holding a knife to Carlos’ throat, and sleazy porn filmmaker Spencer spends much of his time luring (or attempting to lure) women into his movies. Despite the porno subplot, the story is surprisingly tame: Simone’s friend Rita has to explain to Petra what a lap dance is. Strangely, R-Group’s missions are resolved well before the end, and the book’s final act focuses on the romantic connection between Carlos and Simone; Thiago’s attempt to placate board members demanding a successor (he’s waiting for Lara’s return); and an act of revenge that backfires against an R-Group member. Nevertheless, the story will hold readers’ attention until its unsettling conclusion, which once again leaves plenty of room for a sequel.
A definite improvement over the first book in the series.
The Enigma Rising, written by Charles V. Breakfield and Roxanne E. Burkey, is a modern-day techno thriller that explores a world of cyber crime, kidnappings, and drug cartels. R Group, is a contract team,who provides intel to businesses and is hired to find a missing heiress. Their lives collide with former drug traffickers turned money launderers in an unexpected meeting of fate. Here they must learn whether they can work together to uncover intelligence through the deep underworld of cyber crime.
The Enigma Rising begins with a concerned father Thiago meeting with his head of security team to discuss finding his missing daughter Lara. The novel then turns back to 8 months prior to the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico where two brothers Juan and Carlos and a group called the “On Brothers” are meeting together to collect a mysterious shipment. This is where the novel kick starts the action with missing drugs and carefully curated criminal plans and soon spirals into a world of technology.
Drug rings, drug trafficking, and crafty criminals all band together to make up this technology thriller. At times the story has a James Bond feel except you are following the crooks rather than the authorities. Then the R Group enter the plot line. Their code of conduct is based on “maintaining the balance of power for economic and human conservancy” and throughout history, they have protected businesses and thwarted evil. This unit has been hired to help find Lara and will follow clues and a data trail in hopes of finding the missing heiress. The action is intense, the suspense is high and you will visit a world where cyber crime is at its most elite.
Even though this novel is an action story, you would be mistaken in thinking it was all guns and car chases. Instead, the crime is clever, from people posing as model agents to a couple Petra and Jacob exploring their romance in the midst of digital security investigations. The dialogue is interesting, the crime intelligent and the characters complex.
Breakfield and Burkey’s manipulation of words creates beautiful imagery for the reader. From the first pages, you feel as though you are in a current of words that flow easily and naturally. At no time did the book feel jaded or stuck which meant I found myself glued to the plot line, eager to find out what happens. Breakfield and Burkey do a fantastic job of the novel with their quirky one-liners and clever plot line.
There are surprising romances within the plot line that at times take a front seat to the action chaos. Carlos and Simone become an unlikely duo whose relationship begins with Carlos meeting Simone as she waits to appear in an adult photo shoot. From here it becomes a whirlwind romance and I enjoyed watching the two characters develop and interact with one another.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a clever action novel with a dash of lust, cyber crime, and mystery.
Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite - 5 Star
The Enigma Rising by Charles V Breakfield and Roxanne E Burkey is a spellbinding thriller, Book Two in The Enigma Series. The R-Group is a team of highly skilled professionals in information technology, a kind of group with an all-seeing eye and the ability to be a step ahead of the others in the world of information technology. That’s what everyone would think this group is, but when they are hired to locate a missing beautiful girl, the daughter of a very rich client, the group comes into contact with two IT prodigies, brothers Carlos and Juan. Even with the expertise of the two brothers, can the R-Group locate the missing heiress?
Charles V Breakfield and Roxanne E Burkey have created a work that will be adored by anyone who loves technology and thrillers. One immediately feels as though one is reading work from the creators of the most innovative technology themselves, a suggestion that the authors did a lot of research for this story. Although I never read the previous book in the series, I found myself immersed from the very beginning, with the introduction of Thiago and his loss over what to do with his missing daughter, Lara, the beautiful descriptions, and the expert storytelling. The book handles themes that contemporary readers will enjoy enormously. I enjoyed the way technology is presented in this work, but it’s the investigation that will leave most readers breathless. The Enigma Rising is a rare kind of thriller with a bend on sci-fi, a highly entertaining story, a powerful plot and a masterful use of technology.
