Storm
Warning (Minotaur, May 2026) by James Byrne is the latest in the very fine
thriller series about Desmond Aloysius Limerick (Dez to his mates), a military
veteran with unusual skills, a smart mouth, and an irresistible ability to make
friends wherever he goes. He’s in New York when this book opens, learning how
to cook in a high-end restaurant and enjoying life when the FBI asks him to
accompany a Department of State executive, her security guard, and a hostage
rescue team to a scientific research center in an isolated part of coastal Newfoundland.
It seems all communications with the town and the research center have been
lost and the assumption is the group is being held hostage, possibly for the sensitive
information held by the multinational scientists working there. Dez’s skills as
a gatekeeper are expected to be needed to enter the facility.
The night
before the rescue team leaves, Dez is approached by a group of thugs who offer
him cash not to go on what was supposed to be a highly secret rescue mission. He
declines but worries about this open indication that someone has a vested
interest in keeping the research center sequestered and has learned about their
plans.
A pair of
competing blizzards with the Canadian east coast as their target complicate the
flight to the remote village where the center and the scientists are. The plane
with the hostage rescue team falls behind and only a small group of diplomats
and security guards reach their destination. Once they land, the action never
stops. As with all of the books in this series, Dez is relentless in his focus
and endlessly creative in achieving his goals.
He's
particularly challenged here as people are not always who they seem to be,
right up to the end of the book. I found my belief of who were the good guys
and which ones were the bad guys was constantly undergoing revision.
Dez does have
a tendency to think he knows what’s best for everyone around him. I was amused
to see his arrangements for one character were politely but firmly declined,
setting him back on his heels for a bit. It was no doubt a salutary experience
for him.
Highly
recommended! This book can be read as a stand-alone but since Dez tends to
acquire friends in each adventure and take them with him from one story to the
next, the reader who wants to fully understand the back story of every title
should probably read the books in order.
Starred
review from Publishers Weekly.
·
Publisher: Minotaur Books
·
Publication date: May 26, 2026
·
Language: English
·
Print length: 400 pages
·
ISBN-10: 1250319811
·
ISBN-13: 978-1250319814
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4e1byiA
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal
It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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