In the gripping prologue of Michael Ledwidge’s sequel to 2020’s Stop At Nothing, National Parks Service ranger Owen Barber, the sheriff of Wyoming’s Teton County, and two FBI agents are about to examine a woman’s body found in Grand Teton Park, believed to be the latest victim of the person who’d killed three women in three other national parks, when a sniper opens fire, killing everyone but one of the FBI agents. Former Navy SEAL John Barber, on learning of his brother Owen’s murder, turns to his old SEALs buddy Michael Gannon (who’s living off the grid in Utah after running afoul of some bad guys in Stop At Nothing) for help in tracking down the gunman. Their effort places them, along with the surviving FBI agent, Kit Hagen, in the cross hairs of a mysterious conspiracy.
What transpires is an adventure that finds Gannon heading to Wyoming, Colorado and beyond to piece together an unbelievable, sordid affair. Joining him on this journey is agent Hagen, who loses a partner in the shootout and has a personal stake in seeking justice.
Hagen has been investigating the killing of women at National Park sites throughout the country and was at the right place but at the wrong time when she, too, was shot. But she manages to escape alive.
Then surprisingly, she has been ordered off the case by her superiors, and for the flimsiest of reasons, just as she is beginning to make headway on the case. This is puzzling as she knows more about the case than anyone else. Hence, she suspects a cover-up, and the only question is how far up the chain of command it goes.
Ledwidge is able to spin the story at breakneck pace. The short chapters fly by with ease, and somehow each of them ends with a slight cliffhanger, which drives the reader further into the story.
As the chapters progress, one gets the feeling that the characters and plot get second priority. The priority is to find out what’s happened up in Grand Teton, and how there may be a larger conspiracy afoot.
The excitement, however, heats up till the end when justice is finally found for those who died during the shootings. But not without more shootouts and violence in-between.
