Andrew Gross learned the thriller trade working with James Patterson on five bestsellers, but he went off on his own for “The Blue Zone” in 2007.
Since then, Gross has written two more terrific page-turners, “The Dark Tide” and “Don’t Look Twice,” moving himself into a position near the top of the thriller pack, with Lee Child and Harlan Coben.
I am very happy to report that his next book, “Reckless,” takes Gross to an even higher level.
William Morrow sent me an Advance Reader’s Edition of the novel that I devoured very quickly recently. “Reckless” won’t be in stores until April 27, but I wanted to share the good news because Gross has so many fans in Fairfield County.
Ty Hauck — the Greenwich cop of “The Dark Tide” and “Don’t Look Twice” — is still living in Connecticut, but is working for a worldwide security company as “Reckless” opens. Hauck is quickly involved in a case with global repercussions — the ex-cop teams up with a great new character, U.S. Treasury agent Naomi Blum, when it becomes clear that the murder of a financial services executive and his family in Greenwich is not a random act.
Indeed, “Reckless” rapidly becomes an international thriller in which the financial meltdown of 2008-2009 plays a major role. Gross explores the notion of Internet and financial terrorism in a way that is deeply unsettling. In this age of electronic globalization, you don’t need bombs to hit the United States hard.
Gross will be doing a major tour for “Reckless” with several Connecticut stops. My plan is to do a “Book Beat” feature for the Sunday “Pulse” section closer to the publication date. This should be the writer’s biggest book to date and it would make for a terrific movie.
