Over the past two decades, Nick Horrigan has built a quiet, safe life for himself, living as much under the radar as possible. But all of that shatters when, in the middle of the night, a SWAT team bursts into his apartment and drags him out to a waiting helicopter. A terrorist has seized control of a nuclear reactor, threatening to blow it up. And the only person he’ll talk to is Nick, promising to tell Nick the truth behind the events that shattered his life twenty years ago.
At seventeen years old, Nick made a deadly mistake—one that cost his stepfather his life, endangered his mother, and sent him into hiding for years. Now what Nick discovers in that nuclear plant leaves him with only two choices: to start running again—or to fight and finally uncover the secrets that have held him hostage all these years.
As Nick peels back layer after layer of lies and deception, buffeted between the buried horrors of the past and the deadly intrigues of the present, he finds his own life—and the lives of nearly everyone he loves—at risk. And the only thing guiding him through this deadly labyrinth are his stepfather’s dying words: TRUST NO ONE.
From the Publisher
"A performance worthy of applause...Hurwitz's carefully interwoven plot lines and taut writing, as well as his pulsing descriptions of Los Angeles, make for a deeply satisfying read..." --Kirkus (Starred Review) on The Crime Writer
"The plot has more twists and turns than Mulholland Drive...Hurwitz's insights about L.A. life sound knowing and are often ruefully funny...Crime fans looking for something different will love this one." --Booklist on The Crime Writer "Hurwitz has the literary background to infuse his stories with an intelligence that is a welcome complement to the pulse-pounding action..." --Chicago Sun Times on Last Shot "To open a new Gregg Hurwitz is to brace yourself for a bravura style and an out of the ordinary ride to an unexpected destination... TRUST NO ONE begins with a Hurwitz burst... It's at once completely contemporary and a classic quest." -- Barbara Peters, Poisoned Pen Bookstore
Publishers Weekly
Hurwitz (Last Shot) blasts new life into a well-worn theme-the prominent politician trying to hide a dark incident from his past-in this intelligent thriller. Late one night, the Secret Service snatches 36-year-old Nick Horrigan, who's led a quiet life since making a fatal mistake in his teens, and whisks him to the San Onofre, Calif., nuclear plant. There a terrorist threatens to set off a bomb unless he can talk to Nick, who hasn't got the slightest idea why he's been summoned. After the terrorist gets his head blown off, Nick realizes this and subsequent events are connected to the death years earlier of his Secret Service agent stepfather. Working with his homeless pal, Homer, and his computer whiz ex-girlfriend, Induma, Nick pieces together a string of clues that point to a paternity case against either the U.S. president, Andrew Bilton, or Sen. Jasper Caruthers, Bilton's opponent in an upcoming election. While more astute readers may intuit the bad guy, Nick's ethical dilemmas, girlfriend dramas and sleuthing provide plenty of excitement. Author tour. (June)
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Library Journal
Hurwitz (The Crime Writer) tells the story of Nick Horrigan, a loner still trying to deal with the death of his Secret Service agent stepfather years earlier and his potential unwitting involvement in the murder. In the middle of the night, he is taken into custody by agents to a nuclear power plant to meet with a terrorist who refuses to speak with anyone but Nick. Before the terrorist is killed, he gives Nick information that draws him back into his stepfather's death as well as a possible political conspiracy related to the presidential campaign underway. Nick is forced to find people he can trust, while he attempts to learn who is watching him and whether the current crisis might be related to his stepfather's killing. VERDICT Using the first person, Hurwitz creates a protagonist who is intriguing and a mystery that is not completely revealed until the end. He keeps the reader guessing about the motives of nearly every character. This will definitely appeal to readers of David Baldacci, Lee Child, and Harlan Coben.—Joel W. Tscherne, Bryant & Stratton Coll., Cleveland
—Joel W. Tscherne
School Library Journal
Adult/High School
This stand-alone political thriller starts out with a bang. Nick is kidnapped from his Los Angeles apartment by government agents and airlifted to a nuclear facility where a terrorist is threatening massive destruction unless he talks to Nick. Alone. It all leads back to the murder of Nick's stepfather, Frank, years before. Frank was his role model, part of the Secret Service detail guarding then-Vice President Caruthers. He was that rare government agent who couldn't be bought. Nick was framed for the crime by the government. At 17, he was told he could either disappear or go to prison. After years of running, he is back in LA determined to solve the murder. There are too many twists and turns to number, but suffice it to say that Caruthers is now running for president, and the stakes are high. This is a thriller with heart, anchored by a realistic father-son relationship. Teens will identify with Nick's struggle to find his place in the world. While he always believed in Frank's code of conduct, until now he walked away when the going got tough and never trusted anyone enough to ask for help. Now Nick refuses to give up his investigation even in the face of threats and violence. And he learns to be honest with his mother and with an intriguing ex-girlfriend. Nick's personal journey will hook genre fans as surely as the fast pace, cutting-edge technology, and political machinations.-Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
Kirkus Reviews
The stepson of a slain Secret Service agent sprints through a seven-day quest to solve a 17-year-old case. Hurwitz (The Crime Writer, 2007, etc.) might have subtitled this one Trust No Clue. He comes up with scores of them, all canny-a series of numbers, a wad of gum, a bone fragment embedded in a cheekbone, etc. All satisfy the reader, but most throw protagonist Nick Horrigan off track. At 17, Horrigan, sneaking out for a moonlight tryst with a diner waitress, disarms the alarm system to the home where he lives with his stepfather, Frank Durant, a Secret Service agent. Passion spent, Horrigan returns to find his father shot and dying. Seventeen years later, the case unsolved, Horrigan awakes as Secret Service agents storm his condo. They rush him to the site of a nuclear power plant that's been seized by a terrorist named Charlie, who demands to speak to Horrigan. The terrorist passes a key to Horrigan and warns Nick his life is at risk. Horrigan hands the man a phone provided by the service. The mobile explodes, blowing the man's head to bits. Horrigan subsequently learns that his stepfather knew the victim. Searching the man's home, Horrigan uncovers a knapsack stashed with $180,000 cash. To find the link between Charlie and his stepfather and to learn who killed his father, Horrigan enters a labyrinth where sharply drawn characters deal swift reversals. Nimble and persistent, Horrigan suspects the case ties to two men running for president-photos Nick comes across suggest the sitting president, a staunch family-values advocate, may have fathered a child out of wedlock. A confrontation with the chief executive at a national debate goes over the top, but Hurwitz recovers with one finalsurprising twist followed by a touching coda. In a briskly paced case that blends action with insight, Hurwitz puts the clues on the table, then plays the shell game with the reader and wins. First printing of 125,000. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance/Aaron Priest Literary Agency
