Risk Factor

by Michael Brandman

Overview

"The perfect substitute for that good-time trip to California you've decided not to take after all."

—Kirkus Reviews

A new breed of brazen criminal forces Buddy Steel into unfamiliar territory. Will he outsmart the ingenious thieves before they get the best of him?

Buddy Steel, acting Sheriff of Freedom, California, is enjoying some well-deserved R&R at a friend's mountain hideaway when he's called home to investigate a home invasion—at his father's address. The break-in is just one in a series, perpetrated by ingeniously inventive burglars. To complicate matters, Buddy must also investigate a spate of cyber crimes targeting local businesses and individuals—an area well outside of his experience and comfort zone.

Already on the trail of the cybercriminals is LAPD Gang Enforcement's foremost computer geek, Detective Quinn Anthony. Buddy teams up with the unconventional—and much younger—brainiac to trace the convoluted trail of the hackers. From the adjunct of a vicious LA-based cartel to outside of U.S. borders, Buddy and Quinn race to take down the hackers and recover the spoils. The closer they get, the more danger they face; and the more danger they face, the closer they become...

Fans of Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch have a new detective series to fall in love with from Michael Brandman—Hollywood screenwriter and contributing New York Times bestselling author in the Robert B. Parker Jessie Stone series.

Also by Michael Brandman:

The Buddy Steel Thrillers:

Missing Persons, book 1

One on One, book 2

Wild Card, book 3

The Jesse Stone Novels:

Robert B. Parker's Fool Me Twice

Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues

Robert B. Parker's Damned if You Do

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781464214301
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Series:	Buddy Steel Thrillers , #4
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	619,460
Product dimensions:	4.70(w) x 6.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Michael Brandman is the author of three Jesse Stone novels, each based on characters created by Robert B. Parker, all on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

With his longtime partner, Tom Selleck, he produced and co-wrote nine Jesse Stone movies and three Westerns.

His and Emanuel Azenberg's production of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead won the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion Award for Best Picture.

He has produced more than forty motion pictures including films written by Arthur Miller, Stephen Sondheim, Neil Simon, David Mamet, Horton Foote, Wendy Wasserstein; David Hare, and Athol Fugard.

He is the father of two sons and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the actress Joanna Miles.

Editorial Reviews

04/19/2021

At the start of bestseller Brandman’s solid fourth mystery featuring sheriff’s deputy Buddy Steel (after 2019’s Wild Card), Buddy, who’s taking some time off in Utah, returns home to Freedom, Calif., after the home of his ailing sheriff father is ransacked in the latest of a series of burglaries. The stakes rise when a policeman is shot during the next break-in. Meanwhile, a series of cyberthefts is devastating local businesses, and Buddy turns for help to Quinn Anthony, a digital whiz who can track any cybercriminal. Buddy and Quinn lurch awkwardly toward a romantic connection as they narrow their search for the perpetrator. Buddy finds a novel solution to the cyberthefts that mixes compassion and high-action violence. In the burglaries case, meanwhile, an O.J. Simpson–style car chase ends in a dramatic arrest. Screenwriter Brandman uses snappy dialogue to keep the pace quick and the action kinetic. This series is a natural for TV adaptation. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"The perfect substitute for that good-time trip to California you’ve decided not to take after all." — Kirkus Reviews

"Screenwriter Brandman uses snappy dialogue to keep the pace quick and the action kinetic. This series is a natural for TV adaptation." — Publishers Weekly

"Vivid characters, a flawed but very likable hero who exudes grit, a meaty plot with plenty of twists, and a satisfying ending make this a thoroughly enjoyable read." - Booklist

From the Publisher

2020-12-26
A trio of rule-breaking women keep San Remo County Deputy Sheriff Buddy Steel on his toes.

Buddy’s still fighting the attempts of his father, ALS–stricken Sheriff Burton Steel, to appoint him acting sheriff and ultimately anoint him sheriff in his place. But he’s called back from his sabbatical jaunt away with friend-with-benefits Jordyn Yates when the house where he was raised becomes the latest victim of a high-tech burglar who effortlessly circumvents home security systems and cracks the safes inside. His father is so upset and depressed that Buddy quickly agrees to return as acting sheriff, refusing the title but taking on the responsibilities. Those responsibilities extend from figuring out how the burglar operates to intervening personally when another burglary turns into a hostage crisis, overcoming and arresting the well-born burglar and hostage taker, Jeffrey Brice, and ascertaining that the brains behind all those break-ins is a woman. In short order, Buddy finds himself tangling with both Jill Nelson, the apparent hostage who disappeared shortly after her rescue, and Catalina Sanchez, the cybersmart daughter of Los Perros cartel leader Chuy Sanchez, and seeking help from Quinn Anthony, the barely legal cybersecurity consultant who has the hots for him and doesn’t mind telling him so at every opportunity. As usual in this fast-paced franchise, Brandman’s more interested in action than mystery, and the biggest riddle isn’t whodunit but how Buddy will deal with Jill, Catalina, and Quinn. Fans will likely be satisfied with all three of his solutions.

The perfect substitute for that good-time trip to California you’ve decided not to take after all.

Kirkus Reviews