There's a special joy that comes from watching a master at the top of his game. Kasparov sitting over a chessboard. Heifetz playing the violin. LeBron winning a champion--well, scratch that last one. But you can add to the list the pleasure of reading a thriller written by Joseph Finder. Finder's been at this game for a long time now and he knows what he's doing in a way that most authors simply can't match, a fact he demonstrates yet again with Buried Secrets. His advance writing may also play a role in his popularity.
Buried Secrets features the return of Nick Heller, the "private spy" introduced in the outstanding Vanished. Heller is a former Black Ops agent who now plies his trade in the private sector, utilizing his extensive skills, smarts and contacts to work the shadowy world where corporate, military and intelligence interests meet.
As the story opens, a young woman is out partying with her friends in a hip Boston nightclub. She meets a guy -- the wrong guy, of course -- and goes home with him, mostly against her will. When she wakes from her drug-induced stupor, she finds herself the victim of a horrific kidnapping.
It turns out that the girl's father is one of Heller's oldest friends, a billionaire hedge fund manager who'll do anything to get his daughter back. Or will he? The more Heller investigates the case, the more secrets he uncovers, and the further away he keeps finding himself from the truth.
Buried Secrets is a perfect example of a white-knuckle thriller: suspenseful and exciting, with good action scenes, interesting characters and lots of smart technical details and inside info that take the reader behind the curtain to catch a glimpse of the shadows.
There are few writers working today who could pull off a book like this with such skill and panache -- and none who could do it while making it all look so effortless. Buried Secrets cements Finder's status as the master of the modern thriller.
