The title of the seventh novel in the Caitlin Strong series holds many meanings. A handful of these are seen throughout Jon Land's latest release, STRONG LIGHT OF DAY.

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." The author of that quote is Plato, and the depiction of light and dark is used as various metaphors in the story. During the course of this highly effective series, we have witnessed Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong and her colleagues deal with threats from some interesting sources. This latest effort may introduce the most serious one yet.

At the heart of STRONG LIGHT OF DAY is the subject of agroterrorism. By definition, agroterrorism is a malicious attempt to disrupt or destroy the agricultural industry and/or food supply system of a population through the malicious use of plant or animal pathogens to cause devastating disease in the agricultural sectors. We will get back to this shortly.

"Jon Land once again masterfully keeps many balls in the air at once in a novel full of breathtaking suspense and extremely relevant current topics. Quite frankly, STRONG LIGHT OF DAY delivers and pulls no punches in the process."

The book commences like many of its predecessors --- in the past. Caitlin's father, Jim, was also a heralded Texas Ranger who passed down most of what he knew to his daughter. We begin with Jim in 1983 conversing with a less-than-savory individual named Boone Masters. The great irony here is that Boone is the father of Caitlin's lover, Cort Wesley. Even more ironic is the fact that Jim and Boone are about to engage in a historic event that is directly tied to the present.

Caitlin is dealing with pretty big issues of her own. A school bus with over 30 passengers, mostly high school kids, goes missing during a field trip. One of those students happens to be Cort’s youngest son. As the investigation begins, no one realizes that it is just the tip of a very bizarre iceberg.

While investigating this matter, Caitlin questions a local rancher who has put in a complaint about his cattle. Not only does it appear they have been slaughtered, the only thing remaining are their bones, which seemingly have been picked clean of all meat. Could it be aliens as the crazed rancher supposes, or is something far more sinister at work?

The answers to the many questions that STRONG LIGHT OF DAY poses may be found in an event that took place back in 2003 in Afghanistan. Navy SEALs discovered a cave that held plans for an ingenious and devious attack on the United States that involved using agroterrorism to rip the country apart from within.

Back in the present day, we are introduced to a Texas billionaire named Calum Dane, who runs a company that has produced a genetically engineered pesticide with the ability to eradicate hunger around the world. Unfortunately, if this were to get into the wrong hands, it could be further engineered to wreak havoc on the state of Texas as well as the entire country.

Jon Land once again masterfully keeps many balls in the air at once in a novel full of breathtaking suspense and extremely relevant current topics. Quite frankly, STRONG LIGHT OF DAY delivers and pulls no punches in the process. Readers will marvel at how all of these events, as well as a handful of other subplots, are deftly weaved together to produce another terrific Caitlin Strong mystery. I can't wait for the next one!