Hidden Order

September 2, 2013
In Thorâs latest, an assassin is viciously reducing the short list of candidates for the top job at the Federal Reserve, and itâs up to rugged, hypereffective private intelligence operative Scot Harvath to halt the hits. He and a small band of associatesâincluding his outspoken boss, Reed Carlton, and Boston detective Lara Corderoâare pitted against the wealthy and powerful members of a secret cabal. Armand Schultz makes good use of no-frills narration to deliver the authorâs prose crisply, while smartly adjusting his pacing during action sequences, dialogue-rich scenes, and paragraphs detailing events in American history. His aging Carlton is gruff and demanding. The head villains snarl. The women are treated to acceptable upper-register voices. And other characters are provided appropriate accentsâfor example, an exaggerated, gravelly Boston dialect for a Southie-born, hardboiled detective. As for Harvath, Schultz speaks in a confident, low rumble that softens in the course of the operativeâs romance with Cordero, who, at bookâs end, is strong enough to suggest a big change in his future. An Atria/Emily Bestler hardcover.