Finder (Power Play) offers a rousing start to a new series featuring Nick Heller, a high-powered international investigator and corporate security consultant. Through a brilliant piece of detection, Heller has just tracked down 12 cargo containers packed with $1 billion in cash when he gets a call from his nephew Gabe in Washington, DC. Heller's brother Roger, the kid's stepfather, has vanished, and the boy's mother, Lauren, is in the hospital, the victim of a late-night attack. Both Roger and Lauren work for Gifford Industries, a multibillion-dollar corporation where Roger mostly handled mergers and acquisitions. Was he kidnapped, or did he disappear of his own volition? Is there a connection to the cash, part of $12 billion in U.S. funds that went missing in Iraq? And what about their father, a notorious financier imprisoned for securities fraud? Using his Special Forces skills and the latest high-tech wizardry, Heller counters lethal adversaries as he peels back layers of secrets that hide not only high-level corporate crimes but the troubled affairs of his own family. Cliffhangers galore, the fascinating tradecraft of corporate espionage, and an engrossing story will propel readers through this outstanding thriller. Highly recommended as a great summer read. [A 200,000-copy first printing; promotional tie-in to an original graphic novel.—Ed.]—Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tuscon

Known for his stand-alones, bestseller Finder (Power Play) introduces Nick Heller, an elite corporate intelligence specialist and former Special Services badass, in this exciting series opener. After a frantic call from his 14-year-old nephew, Gabe, Heller returns home to Washington, D.C., from a job in California to find Gabe's mother in a coma and Gabe's stepfather, Roger, who is Heller's older brother, vanished without a trace. Though the brothers have been estranged since their father's much-publicized securities fraud conviction years earlier, Nick vows to protect Gabe and his mother and unravel the mystery of Roger's alleged abduction. The investigation leads him to some disturbing revelations about Roger, not the least of which involves a powerful—and dangerous—private military company. Written in staccato chapters that are emotionally supercharged and action packed, this thriller will more than satisfy adrenaline junkies and have them guessing until the very end. (Aug.)