David Baldacci has published many action novels across various series. This is the second book featuring Travis Devine, a character who first appeared in The 6:20 Man.
Devine is part of an undercover Homeland Security team. But Agent Emerson Campbell assigns him to investigate the murder of a young woman: Jennifer Silkwell was found dead among the rocks on the coast of Maine. As a high-ranking CIA analyst, she had knowledge of national security secrets that would be valuable to numerous enemies. Furthermore, her father, a senator, once saved Emerson Campbell’s life.
Travis has to deal with the suspicious locals, starting with Dak and Alex, the victim’s brother and sister. It soon becomes clear that the small town of Putnam harbors many secrets and that many residents are willing to do anything to keep those secrets from coming to light. Devine finds it difficult to tell who is trustworthy and who is trying to kill him.
On a moral level, God plays no role in the characters’ lives. The language is clean, with no indecent descriptions, although some characters engage in immoral behavior. In a brief passage, Alex advocates gender theory: to be male or female is something imposed on the individual by what society expects of them.