The Bilbao Gambit - Huston Michaels - Bog

Introducing Harley-riding LAPD Detective Ben KayeIt's said that a picture is worth a thousand wordsThis one could be worth a half-billion dollarsAgainst the backdrop of the 1937 Paris International Exposition, a brazen art theft sets in motion a potentially cataclysmic chain of events that culminate in picturesque, present-day Sun Valley, Idaho.On leave from the LAPD, Detective Ben Kaye rounds a curve on a remote Idaho mountain highway just as a traffic accident inexplicably erupts into a multiple homicide.A disillusioned Kaye wants only to be a good witness and be on his way, go home and quit his job. But the local cops tell him he's not going anywhere.Then he discovers that his past may link him to the case. He has to admit to himself that he may just want to stick around and help find a murderer.Kaye decides his best course is to take action and become a part of the team investigating the crime. Bonded by mutual distrust, he and soon-to-retire local cop Captain Roger Halberstam attack the mystery, eventually identifying a possible suspect. But this suspect creates an even larger international web of intrigue.When The Department of Homeland Security arrives to take the reins, Kaye and Halberstam realize they may be relegated to the background of their growing investigation. But it's not Ben Kaye's style to simply take orders when he knows something is wrong.Does he listen?No way. That just makes his fire to find out what's going on burn even hotter.This unlikely team of lawmen slowly build enough mutual respect to unravel a knot of co-conspirators, all with different motives and goals, that stretches from Russia to the Middle East, and from Bilbao, Spain to Washington, D.C. Each player's plan reaches its tipping point in Idaho, and Kaye hopes they're ready to face the end game.As suspense grows by the minute, Kaye, Halberstam and their comrades try to stop an act of terror and treason on a horrific scale. Will they succeed?Sometimes life imitates great artAnd sometimes time runs out before the clock hits zero