Dr Tori Swyft is an Australian who has worked for the CIA as a high-level espionage operative. A computer analyst with a PhD in nuclear engineering who is also a hand-to-hand combat specialist and part-time surfer, she is an invaluable asset for the CIA as she is sent in to difficult situations to stop threats and extract information. Her last mission saw her drive a small wedge into the plans of the CIA, installing her own lines of code to stem their attempts to remotely control Iranian nuclear capabilities.

In her new role as a corporate negotiator she is thrown in to an investigation of a Chinese tech firm that has left the merest hint of a shadow trail of billions of dollars funneled into hidden accounts linked to North Korea. She establishes a clear link between the tech firm and the development of North Korean plans to launch an attack on mainland America.

Things take a darker turn when Uyghur separatists claim responsibility for the assassination of the Pope and then the Australian prime minister. The widening spiral of events could soon engulf major governments of both the West and the East. Swyft battles one challenge after another until she faces the final choices: the loss of the few for the safety of the many.

This is, ultimately, a by-the-numbers thriller. Green writes in a manner that will appeal to fans of covert ops political thrillers.

Reviewed by David Johnson