Another unbelievable conspiracy thriller

This is the first in a new series about FBI special agent and forensic artist Sydney Fitzpatrick, written by Burcell, herself an FBI-trained forensic artist. A somewhat better tale than Burcell’s The Dark Hour which I recently reviewed, this novel focuses on Fitzpatrick’s personal crisis over whether to follow up on brand-new clues about her father’s murder 20 years earlier, or to leave it alone.  Of course, had she left it alone, we would have no story, so….

There is a race against time, as the convicted killer is about to be executed after 20 years on death row (!), but Fitzpatrick has just decided that he didn’t do it — or did he? She is determined to find out, despite pressure from everyone–her mother, stepfather, former boyfriend–to leave it alone. Multiple cases of rape, murder, political corruption, and global bank fraud criss-cross the plot, along with constant threats against Fitzpatrick’s life from a variety of sources, and black ops killers and and serial killers leap out from every other page. There is plenty of action, subtle hints of sexual tension, and Bourne-like escapades by the apparently unkillable Fitzpatrick, and the convoluted plot is never less than totally unbelievable. But when has that ever stopped an action and political-conspiracy thriller from getting published?