As much as I adore Louise Penny's Armand Gamache series, and as much as I loved THE GREY WOLF, which we've waited two years to read, dare I admit that I'm furious? What she has done with this breathtaking novel that twists upon itself as much as the rivers and lakes in Québec do is to leave us with a cliffhanger. Now we must wait a year to find out what the next mystery will bring.

However, I'm not suggesting that anyone wait a year to read this book. When I used the adjective "breathtaking," I meant it on several levels. It's a masterpiece of meticulous planning because of the many characters and the breadth of the settings. It's breathtaking because the action flows to a startling crescendo by the end. We find the events so riveting that we turn page after page, certain that there is no way Gamache --- much less the others, much less Québec, much less the world --- will come out unscathed.

THE GREY WOLF opens with a mysterious set of phone calls that Gamache refuses to answer. To make sure we understand how jarring they are, Penny contrasts the ringing of his phone with the peaceful Sunday morning at Three Pines. In this idyllic small village, everyone knows each other, and the bistro serves delicious meals, hot chocolate, coffee and scrumptious pastries in front of a roaring fire. It's summer, and while Gamache is trying to enjoy the peace and beauty of his backyard setting, the wind in the forest and the bumble of bees, the phone keeps ringing, interrupting the serenity of his morning. When he finally answers, what he says will become an important part of the story.

"It's a masterpiece of meticulous planning because of the many characters and the breadth of the settings. It's breathtaking because the action flows to a startling crescendo by the end."

Gamache is rattled. Those of us who have read any of the previous books know that he's a supremely admirable person; he’s honorable, intelligent, clever and brilliant when it comes to reading people. Penny explains that "his entire department had been handpicked, not from the top of the heap but from the bottom. To his colleagues' amusement, Chief Inspector Gamache had, in effect, gone dumpster diving for his agents. Chosen men and women on the verge of being tossed out." It's no wonder that in the Acknowledgements, Penny mentions the "brilliant" show "Slow Horses." But because his agents owe their career to Gamache, they work diligently for him, as he does for them. His two seconds-in-command are Isabel Lacoste and Jean-Guy Beauvoir, the latter of whom also is his son-in-law. They would give their lives for him without hesitation, as he would for them.

We know from the start that Gamache must uncover a mysterious plot. But true to Penny's ability to weave a story with a web of suspects that stretches from Rome to Québec to a remote monastery on a lake where wolves roam, he doesn't know whom he can trust or turn to, except for Isabel and Jean-Guy. The purpose of the mysterious crime that is in the works is to destabilize Canada and allow a coup d'etat, a takeover of power in which the military would ensure that democracy falls and a dictator is in control.

Penny writes, "All authority breaks down. Businesses are vandalized. Misinformation, conspiracy theories, are everywhere, often planted by the terrorists. People don't know what to believe, what to do, who to turn to for help. Who to trust. There's chaos. Imagine a sudden, all-encompassing, catastrophic event. That we do to ourselves. That's what the terrorists want. Not the deaths of a few hundred, or even a few thousand. They want us to turn on each other. To do to each other what they cannot. They want anarchy." This language becomes especially frightening when we consider that some connected to today’s politicians have advocated for anarchy, the destruction of the American government, and a ruthless dictator.

Throughout the novel, we are caught between two extremes. Penny seems to delight in sharing the beauty of Canada's wilderness, its forests and shoreline. But we see that those beautiful scenes also can be deadly. One character is at the shore and thinking about how the waves had always been a calming sound, but now, "she heard the violence of it. It was now the sound of relentless despair." The serene Edenic village of Three Pines contrasts with the violence that takes place there, in a sanctuary. Nature at her most lovely contrasts harshly with humankind at its worst. This startles and enthralls us, because that's what Penny does.

In this story especially, we truly don't know who the good and bad guys are. Gamache isn’t sure either, and his resultant inability to request help in stopping this huge criminal plot is a tremendous handicap. He can't trust any of his superiors, and he doesn't know if the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, or any of those in the highest levels of government are in on the scheme. Penny keeps up this incredible tension almost to the end. Will tens of thousands of people die because Gamache didn't figure out the diabolical plot in time? Will the Canadian government be taken over by a dictator? Will Gamache and his family be murdered in the cover-up after the coup succeeds?

Read THE GREY WOLF and find out. Newcomers will be fine as Louise Penny provides enough backstory to make it all work, but be prepared to fall in love with the characters, the Three Pines setting, and the intricate, deliciously malevolent plot that she masterminds. You will be caught in its web right up to the last page.