The previous Jonathan Ransom thriller by Christopher Reich, "Rules Of Deception", was a good book - but slightly disjointed with some plot elements that were left dangling or underutilized. The novel simply tried too hard to be a Jason Bourne thriller - and fell short in the process.

With the second novel in this series, "Rules Of Vengeance", Reich has written a very good thriller that is taut and focused. Dr. Jonathan Ransom has already discovered that his wife, Emma, was a secret agent for the "Division" group in the U.S. and he helped her stop a fanatical Division leader create an international incident in the first novel. This time around, Ransom is moving on with his life when Emma turns up again --- this time while he is in London to deliver a keynote speech at a medical conference. It turns out that Emma may not have simply been a Division member but might actually be a Russian agent named Lara. She quickly puts Jonathan in the middle of a terrorist act in London - with the intended victim a top Russian diplomat. Emma disappears and London agents and MI5 members chase Jonathan, who is labeled as a terrorist. With full alerts around Europe for Jonathan's capture, he must call upon resources he never knew he had to both evade the authorities in pursuit as well as finding out where Emma has gone and what deadly agenda she has in mind this time.

The novel never lets up and does not fail to deliver on any plot element or character line. It's like Reich needed one so-so effort to allow himself to get comfortable with these characters and the international espionage genre --- and he does so in fine fashion. Things are left wide open for the next installment and I welcome it!