Brett Battles Shadow of Betrayal

The Cleaner Jonathan Quinn, his girlfriend-partner Orlando, and his prot g Nick travel to Ireland to monitor an information exchange. However a sniper insures something goes wrong, leaving four dead and Jonathan forced to use his cleaning skills to make sure no clues of the homicides remain behind in the church meeting locale. His agent orders Quinn to forget Ireland and instead fulfill the agreed upon three jobs with no questions. He is to locate a missing U.N. worker Marion Dupuis; she has vanished without a trace. Others search for her too.

Jonathan and company head to Africa, the last known place Marion was seen. At an orphanage where she helped, the owner says she ran away with a Down Syndrome child Iris, who rebels want though he is not sure why. Marion and Iris flee to Montreal, but are captured and taken to California as Jonathan follows the convoluted trail.

This is a terrific complicated Quinn globetrotting tale (see THE DECEIVED and THE CLEANER) as he goes from the Europe to Africa to Canada and finally the States on the chase. The story line is fast-paced and filled with plenty of bloody action on three continents as Quinn knows his deal haunts his soul as he does jobs he loathes performing. Although somewhat similar in theme to THE DECEIVED, Quinn is at his best undergoing tasks that eat at his gut.

Harriet Klausner