RIPPLE EFFECT

In Rivers’ final thriller of a trilogy, a psychologist takes on a sex trafficking ring in New Mexico that threatens her family.

Kate Medina is a professional therapist with a private practice in her hometown of Alamogordo, New Mexico. She also operates a safehouse for the victims of sex trafficking—a veritable fortress equipped with a panoptic home security system. For decades, a vast and complex sex-trafficking ring has been based in the small city, protected by such high-ranking officials as Bill Gunnison, Alamogordo’s chief of police. However, Medina’s investigations into this corruption, with the help of her fiance, FBI agent Roman Aguilar, have made very little progress. Then Sam Garrett, the city manager, contacts her with a promise of information; this could be a breakthrough, as Kate is certain that he’s a part of the criminal conspiracy. However, before she can speak to him, he’s killed by an unknown assailant. Soon afterward, someone abducts Kate’s sister, Tilly, who’s a nurse, and her teenage friend, Hannah Bross, and Kate fears the worst. Later, she finds out that someone close to her has run the illicit operation for many years and is locked in a power struggle with Gunnison over its leadership. Rivers portrays the harrowing machinations of the sex-trafficking industry with impressive meticulousness, and she sensitively depicts the trauma of sexual assault and its long-term effects on its victims. However, Rivers’ prose, while clear, is bland and prone to melodrama (“Would any of them ever be the same?”), which can be jarring, given the gravity of the subject matter. As a result, readers may find it difficult to become fully engaged in the action of the novel. Also, as this is the series’ final installment, newcomers won’t be able to fully appreciate it without reading its predecessors first.

An intelligently conceived novel, hampered by prose of uneven quality.