COE (Celebrants of the Earth) is a violent group that’s bombing oil refineries across the country in an effort to call attention to their desire that the U.S. shouldn’t buy oil from Iran. Their bombs do a lot of damage, but no lives are lost.

FBI agents Nicholas Drummond and Michaela “Mike” Caine are called in to investigate. They get a tip that the Bayway Refinery in New Jersey is next on the list. Before they have a chance to get there, it goes up in a massive explosion. They are in the process of helping burn victims get to safety when another smaller bomb goes off. Both are nearly killed, prompting such questions as: Why is the group changing its tactics? Why are they using more powerful bombs? Why are they killing people?

"I was not familiar with Drummond and Caine or their working relationship, but the authors did a good job of filling in the backstory, so I felt like I knew them."

The investigations lead to suspicions, and later confirmation, that COE has been influenced by terrorists who are trying to wreak havoc on the United States. What is their purpose? Can the FBI stop them before it’s too late?

Although THE END GAME is the third book in Catherine Coulter and J. T. Ellison’s A Brit in the FBI series (following THE FINAL CUT and THE LOST KEY), this is the first one I’ve read. I was not familiar with Drummond and Caine or their working relationship, but the authors did a good job of filling in the backstory, so I felt like I knew them.

This is also the third Coulter book I’ve reviewed. In the first, she had a tendency to overuse variations of the phrase “to his/her toes/bones/soul.” I thought it got monotonous after the first half-dozen times or so. In the next book, every time an FBI agent needed to show ID, she always used “cred/s” as an abbreviation of “credential/s.” She never once wrote out the word or even said “badge” or “ID.” This time, she has managed to overuse both “to his/her toes/bones/soul” and the word “cred/s.” It appears that is her signature way of writing, but I sure wish she would change things up a bit.

Still, I do think Coulter is a good writer (and Ellison is no slouch, either!). She tells an exciting story, filled with numerous plots and subplots, peopled by some characters you will really like and others you will love to hate. This one certainly fits that description. Enjoy!