Book Review: Off the Grid by P. J. Tracy

Off the Grid
Author: P. J. Tracy
Series: Monkeewrench (Book 6)
Publication: G.P. Putnam's Sons (August 2, 2012)

Description: Off the Florida coast, Grace MacBride, partner in software company Monkeewrench, thwarts an assassination attempt on a retired FBI agent. A few hours afterward in Minneapolis, a young girl’s throat is slashed. Later that day, two men are killed execution style. Minneapolis Homicide detectives Leo Magozzi and Gino Rolseth struggle to link the three crimes, but the wave of murders across the country has only just begun. Piece by piece, evidence accumulates, pointing to a suspect—and a motive—that shocks them to the core. It puts the entire Midwest on high alert...and Monkeewrench in the line of fire.

My Thoughts: Grace MacBride has been sailing off the Florida coast with retired FBI Special Agent John Smith and has finally been able to put aside her outfit of riding boots and all black clothing when an unexpected assassination attempt on John by two Saudi nationals ruins their idyll. It seems John has been tracking potential terrorists and alerting local police when he finds their locations.

Meanwhile in Minneapolis, Rolseth and Magozzi are dealing with the kidnapping and murder of a young Native girl and two houses where the inhabitants have been murdered. It looks like military Vet Joe Hardy killed them and died himself before his pancreatic cancer finally killed him.

Found in the two houses with murdered terrorists are calendars with October 31 circled and major weapons caches. They learn that these houses were on the lists John sent on to law enforcement and, when checking other addresses, find that many of them also have dead terrorists inside.

When terrorists threaten John Smith and the Monkeewrench gang, they find themselves heading north to the Elbow Lake Indian Reservation where Magozzi and Rolseth have gone to retrieve Joe Hardy's computer. And they are trailing terrorists behind them who want them all dead.

This was a totally engaging episode from the Monkeewrench series with topics ripped from the headlines: kidnapping Native girls for the sex trade and terrorists bringing their war to the United States. The pace was fast and furious.

Favorite Quote:

Gino had found a hero in Joe Hardy and was reluctant to let go, maybe because he so desperately wanted to believe heroes existed. The superhero comic book influence. Amazing how pulp fiction was totally relevant most of the time. It just left out the little detail about heroes being flawed like everybody else. 

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.