When Kevin Moore receives a phone call, he disappears--along with 400 other members of a group called the Massive Brigade--leaving behind his cell phone and IDs. The organization's leaders, Martin Bishop and Ben Mittag, are plotting the next revolution, yet they let no one know their entire plan. Meanwhile, FBI agent Rachel Proulx has received an anonymous tip about a missile hidden in a storage unit. She must find Bishop and Mittag before they set their full strategy in motion, a task that sends her on a cross-country chase and endangers her own life.
Olen Steinhauer carefully interweaves current events around the globe and under the Trump administration, political intrigue and mysterious connections in the upper echelons of society, creating a thriller that leaves the reader guessing to the very end. The story carries echoes of the Occupy Movement and of the Guilty Remnant from Tom Perrotta's The Leftovers while pushing the meaning of a revolution. Switches in point of view are confusing at times, but the overall effect created by seeing events through the eyes of the Massive Brigade followers, of the FBI and others ratchets up the tension and anxiety. Although The Middleman does have some shoot-outs and violence, it's less about action and more about the head game between the FBI and the Massive Brigade--an entertaining read, perfect for a summer day. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer