The Last Line: A Novel
Shaffer combines more than 25 years of experience in the intelligence community with a background in the military, and the authenticity shows in his first novel, written with the prolific genre-veteran Keith. Anarchy reigns in Los Angeles as riots and terrorist attacks frighten the population. Al-Qaeda, despite the assumptions of many, is not responsible; the real enemy is Iran, working in secret with a Mexican cartel and a traitor in the U.S. government. Defense Intelligence Agency operative Chris Teller only has a few days to save the country and stop the bloodshed. With just one book, Shaffer and Keith have added another must-follow hero for fans of covert-ops thrillers by Dalton Fury, Vince Flynn, and Brad Taylor. Teller can be a bit of a callous jerk at times, but what he lacks in subtlety, he more than makes up for in a kind of Jack Reacher instinct for taking the right action at the right time. --Jeff Ayers