Cold Burn

The outstanding sequel to 2024’s Leave No Trace by the first-rate Landau (a team of LJ reviewer Jeff Ayers and veteran novelist Jon Land) begins with National Park Services investigator Michael Walker surveilling a pair of artifact thieves. He is prepared to apprehend them when an assassin strikes, killing the husband-and-wife team and fleeing. After a brief chase, Walker guns down the shooter and recovers the Tlingit artifact. Upon examining the inside of the urn, Walker makes a discovery that unsettles him. Before fully recovering from this case, he is called to investigate the disappearance of a USGS team in Glacier Bay, AK. Meanwhile, Walker’s friend FBI investigator Gina Delgado works on the case of a body found in the Everglades. Although 3,500 miles separate their assignments, Walker’s and Delgado’s cases are linked and have far-reaching ramifications for them and possibly humanity.