HUNTED by Abir Mukherjee

A bomb is detonated in a Los Angeles shopping mall, killing dozens of people, including the young woman who planted the bomb.  Shreya is an FBI agent investigating the bombing, and when she is focused on a case, nothing will stop her, including orders from her boss.  Meanwhile, an American woman, Carrie, travels to London to meet with a man, Sajid, from Bangladesh.  Carrie has a letter from her son that indicates he likes a girl who is Sajid’s daughter and that they may both be involved with the terrorist group who bombed the mall.  Carrie then whisks Sajid off to the U.S. so that they can find and save their respective offspring.  The narrative follows these two on their ill-advised escapade, plus the workings of the terrorists and the FBI.  The author deftly handles each narrative and keeps the action flowing with plenty of suspense.  The terrorist group is basically a cult, helmed by a white-haired woman named Miriam, with no access to news media.  She assigns her young Muslim acolytes to plant the bombs, making them appear to be suicide bombers but using their deaths as a smokescreen for the group’s real purpose. The naïve recruits, however, are not aware that they are going to be sacrificed.  Carrie’s son, who is the one assembling the bombs, realizes after the mall bombing what is going on and plans his and Sajid’s daughter’s escape.  Though not an edge-of-your-seat thriller, the pacing is very good and so is the writing.  The action, which includes lots of chase scenes, moves from the West coast to Florida in the blink of an eye, and several twists come to light in the final pages.