The Bottom Line: Messenger for the Dead distills the chaos of modern warfare into an essential narrative — where drones, spies, terrorists, and journalists collide across overlapping frontlines, each wielding unique power in a conflict without borders. We can’t wait for Book 3.
Messenger for the Dead begins as an elite Norwegian special forces sniper, stationed atop Oslo’s famed Opera House, steadies his scope on a mysterious sailing yacht drifting in the icy waters of the Inner Oslofjord. The vessel is towing a black Zodiac—an ominous clue in an international manhunt for Aadan Mukhtaar, the Somali terror mastermind believed to be responsible for the events in Edinburgh. Surveillance teams, snipers, and a covert assault unit await the signal to launch a daring pre-dawn raid. Commander Thorssen must decide whether to risk a high-profile daylight assault on a vessel that may or may not be hiding the world’s most wanted man.
Meanwhile, a select group of international operatives are watching. In Washington D.C., CIA analyst Alyssa Stevens’ team is monitoring the events in Oslo, but is also expanding their surveillance to Bergen and Copenhagen. In London, seasoned British operative Conan MacGregor watches the live footage from Norway while liaising with MI6. He sends a coded text to the other person who last saw Mukhtaar alive – Mathieu James, a former Army Ranger turned investigative journalist: The Vikings Have Found an Invader.
In author Matthew Fults’ previous novel featuring James, The Scotland Project, we learned that he lost his parents in a related terror attack in London. To say more about James’ subsequent engagement in the first book with Mukhtaar would spoil much of the surprise, but suffice to say that for him, this is personal. By the time this second book is concluded, it will become even more so.
Also returning is relentless French journalist Ana-Marie Poulin. If a Hollywood studio was making Fults’ books into a series, they would certainly insist on finding a way to turn the platonic long-distance chemistry Ana-Marie and James developed in the first book into something romantic – despite the presence of James’ loyal partner, Taylor Hendrix. Instead, credit Fults for keeping Ana-Marie a shining example of a journalist who is ethical, dependable, hardworking and brave. It’s an important distinction given that James, despite still jumping at the chance to be an embedded investigative journalist, struggles to reconcile the two worlds in which he lives (“He wasn’t reporting a story now. He was hunting a man”).
Throughout, the tensions between allies and the menace of Russia play out vividly (The Russians had built a literal machine, made of humans and technology, that could wreak havoc anywhere). In the case of Colonel Genady Sirokin, he’s willing to protect James’ adversary so long as he serves national or economic interests. And to him, Mukhtaar’s value has “no limits” – which is precisely what drives much of the suspense in the story. Five stars.
