Betrayal in Blue (A Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Book 3)

By: Mark M. Bello
Publisher: 8Grand Publications
Publication Date: December 2019
ASIN: B081K754TM
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor
Review Date: March 12, 2020

Readers, if you’ve been following this incredible series, you know all about Book #2 and how memorable and exciting it was to see the “good guys” bring down the white supremacists. This time around, we jump back in with super-attorney Zachary Blake, and a brother-in-blue, Police Captain Jack Dylan. This duo, along with others, are needed to be at the top of their game as evil begins to build once again and turn a Michigan town into a home for the scum of the earth.

It always seems to be true that when you bring down a hideous being or thwart a group whose goal is to destroy as many humans as possible, that another even worse group rises up to take their place. Benjamin Blaine took his bow in the last book. Unfortunately, his "people" are missing their former leader so a new one comes to power by the name of Bart Breitner – who seems even worse than Blaine. When it comes to this guy, his followers might as well be putting their hands in the air and screaming HEIL! He will plan the ultimate payback in the form of utilizing Sarin gas and releasing it upon certain targets to watch innocent people fall.

Captain Jack Dylan is a good man and is working night and day to serve justice upon these new villains. Unfortunately for him, the FBI swoops in because they’re the “big guys” and they know far more about how to bring down a terrorist...right? Oddly enough, the terrorist leader and group outsmarts the FBI and it is Captain Jack who picks up the trail which leads him to Manistee, one of the most soothing, tranquil towns in Michigan.

Not only do we meet Jack, but the people he relies on including: a forensic criminologist, Andy Toller, who is very cool; an expert in cybercrimes who has all kinds of data you’ll love, Noah Thompson; and, because the threat is against everyone from the police to mosques, Shaheed Ali is on board as the Muslim affairs expert. (All readers will love this team as much as the NCIS gangs because of the back-and-forth dialogue, as well as the friendship they have between them.)

As life normally goes, Captain Jack, when he does get to his inevitable “stand-off” in this unfamiliar village finds himself behind bars. Enter...courtroom drama you will not forget with Zachary Blake as the leader of it all. Our favorite attorney takes over the defense and puts on a trial-of-the-century that this town has never seen the likes of before. Zack still has help in the form of his lead investigator, Micah Love; they uncover the ‘real’ story, including twists and turns in regards to the police department, as well as learn of another threat against Dearborn,

Even though this is a standalone (as all the books are in the series) and easy to maneuver because the author does such a good job, you really should read them all because...well, the author has done such a good job! The action gets your attention and keeps it all the way through, the bad guy is just as creepy and as easy to hate as his predecessor, and Zachary in court is, to put it simply, as cool and sometimes even cooler than Grisham’s are.

Quill says: Every character is outstanding; you do not want to miss this showdown!

For more information on Betrayal in Blue, please visit the author's website: www.markmbello.com

Author Interview