Devil's Den, The

Author's Summary

Colonel Zack Kelly escorts Blake Lannigan to Gettysburg, and she disappears on the battlefield. Zack, who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from his three tours in Afghanistan, has no memory of what happened although he believes he heard hoofbeats. He becomes the FBI's number one suspect. Zack's search for Blake takes him to Washington D.C. where a member of the Irish Mafia attempts to kill him; to Galway Ireland to determine why there's a contract on his life; then back to Washington to unravel a mysterious Irish connection.

In Zack's corner are Irish medium Shelia O'Donnell, and his partner on the President's National Security Advisor's Task Force, Lieutenant Colonel Rene Garcia.

MWSA Review

When a member of the National Security advisor’s special investigative team disappears during a visit to the Gettysburg National Battlefield, the remaining members of the team plunge into a seemingly intractable puzzle, seeking links that connect the highest levels of government, organized crime in Ireland and even ghosts from the Civil War era.  In his second outing, thriller author Don Helin, whose previous book is Thy Kingdom Come (2009), weaves a tale of suspense, politics and crime.  The narrative is driven by dialogues between the main characters, in particular Zack Kelly, a damaged veteran of several tours in Afghanistan, and Sheila O’Donnell, a spunky Irish national who claims to sense spirits of the dead.  Together, Kelly and O’Donnell follow leads from Washington to Ireland in an effort to find Kelly’s missing partner and discover if her disappearance is the first act in a terror campaign.  The solution is ultimately uncovered where the story began – on the Gettysburg battleground.

This mystery will appeal to readers who enjoy police procedural stories and mysteries associated with historical events.

Reviewed by: Terry Shoptaugh (2012)