When viral video of an explosive terrorist attack on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge reveals that a Federal witness long thought dead is still alive, the organization he'd agreed to testify against will stop at nothing to put him in the ground.
FBI Special Agent Charlie Thompson is determined to protect him, but her hands are tied; the FBI's sole priority is catching the terrorists before they strike again. So Charlie calls the only person on the planet who can keep her witness safe: Michael Hendricks.
Once a covert operative for the US military, Hendricks makes his living hitting hitmen... or he did, until the very organization hunting Charlie's witness -- the Council -- caught wind and targeted the people he loves. Teaming up with a young but determined tech whiz, Cameron, on the condition she leave him alone after the case, Hendricks reluctantly takes the job.
Of course, finding a man desperate to stay hidden is challenging enough without deadly competition, let alone when the competition's shadowy corporate backer is tangled in the terrorist conspiracy playing out around them. And now Hendricks is determined to take the Council down, even if that means wading into the center of a terror plot whose perpetrators are not what they seem.
With no job prospects, Michael joined the military when he was young and was eventually sent on special missions. When most of his unit was killed in Afghanistan, he was presumed to be also dead. Feeling guilty about what he had done in the military, he let everyone believe that and headed home to the States once he recovered.
Now Michael makes a living doing what he does best ... killing people. He is a hitman who kills hitmen. Last year, the Council, which is made up of major crime families, hired a hit man to get rid of Michael. It didn't work out as planned. His only friend, Lester, was murdered and now Michael wants revenge.
In San Francisco, a family is enjoying a day out on their way home from Disneyland. They stop an old man and ask him to take a family video of them using their phone. The old man doesn't know how to use the phone and the first few seconds are of him. At that moment, a boat explodes, killing and injuring many. The daughter uploads the video onto the Internet and people who thought Frank, the old man on the video, was killed seven years ago while in protective custody, now realize he is still alive. This includes Charlie, an FBI agent who had met Frank seven years ago and felt bad about his death. Frank had worked for The Council and they had arranged for his death when they'd had no more use for him so he turned to the FBI for protection. The Council want to make sure he's really dead this time. Charlie contacts Michael, who she had been chasing for a few years, and asks for his help in bringing Frank because she knows he's the only one who can do it.
This is the second (and latest) in the Michael Hendricks series and I liked it. Though it is part of a series, it does work as a stand alone. It's written in third person perspective wherever the action is, mostly with Michael, Charlie, Frank and Cameron (Michael's new helper). As a head's up, there is violence and swearing.
