### From Publishers Weekly A stroke-impaired former PI, Steve Babe, struggles to solve a murder in Beres's muddled second thriller (after The President's Nemesis). Steve is recuperating in a Chicago rehab facility known to its patients as Hell in the Woods when an elderly fellow patient, Marjorie Gianetti, dies after apparently slipping and falling in a hallway late one evening. Suspecting foul play, Steve starts to investigate, despite his mental confusion. His efforts attract the attention of both the killer and a shadowy pair of intelligence agents who may be attempting to cover up an old political scandal. Predictable action sequences, including an abduction and numerous gun battles, follow. The revelation of the motive for the conspiracy, improbably centering on Jimmy Carter, may cause some unintended chuckles. A convoluted plot and awkward prose combine to undercut the author's sensitive portrait of his hero coping with his disability. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### Review "An engrossing story that blends violence with compassion, and an outcome that suggests hope is something worth clinging to."  —David J. Walker, Edgar-nominated author of many novels, including the Wild Onion, Ltd. series "Readers will appreciate this character-driven whodunit starring a unique paring of an amateur sleuth and a left brain stroke former cop."  —Harriet Klausner, Gotta Write Network "An unusual, exciting, and ultimately informative thriller. . . . Beres adeptly handles the conspiracy plot with characters the reader comes to cheer for."  —Bob Connolly, Jabberwocky Books

### Review "A page-turner of the highest order: from the compelling characterization to the vividly described landscape of a devastated Ukraine to the stunning cover art, Beres has penned himself a winner." —_Chicago Tribune_ "Michael Beres gets better and better with each book he writes." —_Ludington Daily News_ ### Product Description In a western Ukraine wine cellar in 1985, Chernobyl engineer Mihaly Horvath discloses the unnecessary risks associated with the power plant to his brother, Kiev Militia detective Lazlo. Spawned by a desire to protect his family, Lazlo investigates—irritating his superiors, drawing the attention of a CIA operative, raising the hackles of an old KGB major, and ultimately discovering his brother’s secret affair with a Chernobyl technician, Juli Popovics. After the explosion, the Ukraine is not only blanketed with deadly radiation, but also becomes a killing ground involving pre-perestroika factions in disarray, a Soviet government on its last legs, and madmen hungry for power. With a poisoned environment at their backs and a killer snapping at their heels, Lazlo and Juli flee for their lives—and their love—in this engrossing political thriller.