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The Shadow List

Review

The Shadow List

THE SHADOW LIST is one of those nail-biting thrillers where every page brings a new twist, and it’s only when one character is updating another that the reader can grasp what’s really going on. Even then, there are shell games within shell games, making for a complicated plot that connects players across the globe. Given today’s headlines, it’s probably not a coincidence that the Russian mafia is at the center of things, but Washington DC, Lagos, London and other locales also have their intrigues.

"THE SHADOW LIST is one of those nail-biting thrillers where every page brings a new twist, and it’s only when one character is updating another that the reader can grasp what’s really going on."

The action starts on the first page, when a young banker gets a letter from a firm representing the Bank of England, which may or may not be a scam. It seems to be offering him the opportunity to manage international funds for a hefty fee. He decides to follow up, with disastrous consequences. Eventually the husband-and-wife team of Judd and Jessica Ryker get involved when Judd is asked to find the banker and Jessica is sent on a secret mission --- and the complications, coincidences and subterfuges grow exponentially. Judd, working for the secretive State Department Crisis Reaction Unit (S/CRU), and Jessica, a CIA operative, end up in Nigeria on opposite sides of a labyrinthine political sting. Why they’re there, how they find out about the other’s operations, and what the outcome is unfold over 300 breathless pages.

THE SHADOW LIST is the fourth in a series, and Judd Ryker, who has been the protagonist in the previous books, is somewhat overshadowed this time by his hard-charging, gorgeous Africa-born wife. The plot is twice as complex because each has a job that precludes the other from fully knowing what --- or where --- the assignment is.

Author Todd Moss is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, so the events depicted here --- while presented without too much nuance or character development to weigh them down --- are somewhat believable. And while most of the politicians and lobbyists here are kind of self-serving, one African activist emerges who has more dimension, justifying the Rykers’ idealism and the reader’s attention. Regardless, this thriller might be just the ticket for those in search of fast-paced action, high-stakes diplomacy and some exotic locales.

Reviewed by Lorraine W. Shanley on September 15, 2017

The Shadow List
by Todd Moss

  • Publication Date: September 5, 2017
  • Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
  • ISBN-10: 0399175946
  • ISBN-13: 9780399175947