The Recruit A Novel

A Southern California detective stumbles upon a network of white supremacists lurking in the shadows of his quiet hometown in this gripping thriller. Rancho Santa Elena in 1987 seems like the ideal Southern California paradise—that is, until a series of strange crimes threatens to unravel the town’s social fabric: migrant workers attacked with mysterious weapons; a wealthy real estate developer found dead in the pool of his beachside house. The only clues are poison and red threads found at both crime scenes. As detective Benjamin Wade and his girlfriend, forensic expert Natasha Betencourt, struggle to connect the incidents, they begin to wonder: Why Santa Elena? And why now? Soon Ben zeroes in on a vicious gang of youths involved in the local white power movement as the most likely perpetrators. As he uncovers Santa Elena’s seedy underbelly, Ben discovers that the group is linked to a much wider terror network, one that’s using a new technology called the Internet to spread their ideology, plan their attacks, and lure vulnerable young men into doing their bidding. Ben closes in on identifying the gang’s latest target, hoping that the new recruit will lead him to the mastermind behind all of this. But as he digs deeper in an ever-widening investigation, Ben is forced to confront uncomfortable truths about himself and his beloved community, where corruption is ignored and prejudice is wielded against his fellow citizens without fear of reprisal. Tense, chilling, and timely, The Recruit follows one man’s descent into the darkness lurking just beneath the respectable veneer of modern life.