Last Snow by Eric Van Lustbader, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Former ATF Agent, now advisor to the President, Jack McClure investigates the murder of the minority whip in Congress in Last Snow, the second mystery in this series by Eric Van Lustbader.

McClure is accompanying the President to Moscow for the historic signing of a security agreement between Russia and the United States when he learns that Senator Lloyd Berns has died, his body found on the Isle of Capri. Though the death is shocking, the location of the body is even more surprising: Berns was supposed to be in the Ukraine on a political assignment for the President. While the President returns to the US, McClure is tasked with discovering what led Berns from the Ukraine to the Isle of Capri, and the circumstances surrounding his death — more specifically, was it accidental or intentional. The President's daughter, Alli, the target of a kidnapping that was thwarted by McClure (the plot of the first book in the series, First Daughter), insists on accompanying him as does Annika, an agent with the Russian Federal Security Bureau. Together, they travel from Moscow through Eastern Europe facing deception, violence, and murder.

Last Snow is a compelling sequel to First Daughter, this time incorporating international political intrigue into the fast-paced plot. (It should be noted that it isn't necessary to have read the previous book to enjoy this one.) Jack McClure is a likeable, well-developed character who has dyslexia; rather than being hampered by this learning disorder, he has embraced it, picturing letters in his mind as three-dimensional images and extending that ability to "read" people and calculate situational risk. The descriptive settings add to the appeal, providing a dramatic backdrop to the exciting situations into which the three characters (McClure, Alli, and Annika) are drawn. Readers may be tempted to complete this above average thriller in one setting.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Last Snow.

Acknowledgment: Authors on the Web provided a copy of Last Snow for this review.

First Daughter
Forge Books (Hardcover), August 2008
ISBN-13: 9780765321701; ISBN-10: 076532170X

Blood Trust
Forge Books (Hardcover), May 2011
ISBN-13: 9780765329745; ISBN-10: 0765329743

Last Snow

A Jack McClure Mystery by Eric Van Lustbader