Black Wolf by Juan Gómez-Jurado

BLACK WOLF by Juan Gómez-Jurado (Red Queen) is the second action-packed novel featuring Antonia Scott and it, too, is excellent. Although diminutive in stature, Antonia is a giant in intellect, observation, and analysis; she is trained and manipulated by Mentor in her role as part of a select cadre of international law enforcement. Her partner, Jon Gutiérrez, is a large (“He is not fat …”), gay, and formerly disgraced police inspector who is very brave and loyal. Together, they are tasked with helping to find a pregnant woman on the run, Lola Moreno. As the body count mounts, Scott and Guiterrez confront the Beast (Aslan Orlov), local leader of the Russian mafia operating in Spain, near Madrid. Lola’s gunned down husband was deemed a traitor to Orlov’s organization and now Orlov is determined to find and kill Lola, so he calls in the Black Wolf, Chernaya Volchista. Readers will devour this thriller in a few days, appreciating Gómez-Jurado’s skills at narration while developing and sustaining suspense. He could easily be describing his own writing when Gómez-Jurado explains, “that's the way it is with Antonia: to get to know her, you have to fit together pieces of the puzzle with the small details you pick up on and don't blink or you'll miss it.” BLACK WOLF ends with a cliffhanger and I am eagerly awaiting the third entry in this series, The White King, (due out next Spring).  Highly recommended.