OPERATION NAVAJO

An insider aims to kill a government official in order to cover up a corruption plot, and an elite squad of FBI agents is on the case.

The Federal Reserve Board chair has received a death threat and been told not to trust anyone else at the Fed. He calls FBI Agent Scott Fleming, part of a division called the Trackers, who agrees to find the threat’s source. Scott assigns his team to the case and also expedites the transfer of Special Agent Savannah “Savvi” Roth, whom he sends to work at the Fed undercover. The threat may come from the Fed chair’s political enemies. Clues indicate the woman who made the threat might be the former fiancee of an agent in Scott’s office, and they start to suspect she is the one sending messages via code based on that used by the WWII Navajo Code Talkers—except the military has her listed as killed in action. And the chair of the Senate Banking Committee is conducting business in a way that might be oversight or might be something more menacing. And Savvi is suspicious of almost everyone at the Fed, especially after someone tries to kill her and another agent. When Savvi discovers malfeasance at the Fed, it’s a race against time to find out who is trying to destroy the Fed from the inside to cause global financial chaos and who is trying to kill the Fed chair in order to cover it up. The Trackers team is shrewd and efficient, which makes for enjoyable reading. While banking and finance might not seem like riveting topics, the plot is tight and suspenseful. The author does a laudable job balancing the necessary details with action, and the novel offers intriguing surprises. The secondary cast rounds out the storyline, and there are also a few romantic moments among them.

A smart, fast-paced thriller.