Caitlin Strong is back in Jon Land’s ninth novel in this blistering, criminally underrated franchise starring the genre’s most compelling female protagonist.
Land opens his latest novel with a flashback scene set in 1944. Back then, Caitlin’s grandfather, Texas Ranger Earl Strong, was investigating several murders inside a German POW camp.
In the current day, Caitlin finds herself investigating the most personal case of her career. After four generations of Texas Rangers, a younger Caitlin was ready to end her family’s streak of service when a horrible act changed her mind. At nineteen, she was raped. After recovering from the hellish experience, Caitlin followed the footsteps of so many Strongs before her and became a Ranger to help keep innocent people from enduring the same kind of pain. And she’s darn good at her job.
Now, though, Caitlin isn’t just following in her grandpa’s and father’s footsteps, she’s reliving one of her grandpa’s old cases, too. It turns out that along with the three murders Earl investigated more than seven decades ago, he attempted to track down an escapee with no success. As she digs, Caitlin unearths a shocking conspiracy…
Teamed up with Cort Wesley Masters–an ex-Green Beret, and Strong’s lover–Caitlin mixes it up with a dangerous neo-Nazi gang that has roots planted in Texas that go way back to Earl’s days on the job. Simultaneously, new evidence seems to suggest that the same man who raped Caitlin as a teenager is still at large and preying on women. Those two storylines are woven together, along with a handful of well-placed twists and turns, creating a gripping, unputdownable thriller that merges fact and fiction brilliantly on its way to a high-powered ending.
You’d be hard-pressed to find an author more underrated than Jon Land, who has consistently delivered strong (pun intended), entertaining thrillers for thirty years. Caitlin is, without question, the best character of his career, and Land has done a terrific job bringing her along and developing her into a total powerhouse. Think Ronda Rousey with a badge and a southern accent, and you’ve got Caitlin. This book, like all ones before it, is a ton of fun of to read.
Jon Land does it again… Strong to the Bone is a smart, wildly entertaining thriller. If you’re not reading this series already, add it to your TBR list right away.
Book Details
Author: Jon Land
Series: Caitlin Strong #9
Pages: 368 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0765384647
Publisher: Forge
Release Date: December 5, 2017
Book Spy Rating: 6.5/10
Order Now!