Lightning Rod

Archie Mint appears to have it all: a devoted wife, two accomplished children, and a distinguished military career. Then he is shot dead while trying to stop a robbery inside his own home, and his family is left reeling. Their grief turns to disbelief when they learn that his polished, respectable life hid secrets none of them could have imagined.

Zig Zigarowski, a mortician, is preparing Mint's body for the funeral when he notices a detail he was never supposed to see. That clue leads him to Dover Air Force Base, where he learns that Mint was involved with a top-secret military unit and linked to Sergeant First Class Nola Brown, a military artist. Two years earlier, Nola saved Zig's life, so he knows firsthand how unpredictable she can be. Everyone wants to question her, but she won't cooperate and has no wish to be found.

To locate her, Zig joins forces with Nola's brother, who has been missing for years and is every bit as fiery as his sister. Their search uncovers one of the government's most closely guarded secrets: a military facility from the Cold War that has never been disclosed. It may be the key to a hidden group prepared to undermine the safety and security of the United States. This is a follow-up to The Escape Artist and brings back Nola and Zig, the crime-solving pair from that novel. Anyone who gets close to Nola should tread carefully.