Erika Mitchell's Take the Bai Road: A Book Review

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With book two of her Bai Hsu series, Erika Mitchell picks up right where the previous installment, Bai Tide: A Bai Hsu Mystery, ended. Seemingly blackballed and punished for his North Korean operation from Take the Bai Road, Bai finds himself flung into an off books operation that threatens both his life and his career as he is sent to investigate a new Ghost Cartel that has set up shop in Mexico.

Here, Mitchell places her operative in the center of Mexican drug cartels following a mysterious shipment. Between gunfights, car chases, and lies, Bai follows a shipment that reaches all the way from North Korea into the inner confines of the US Government. A fight on a freighter leads to a terrorist plot and covert government infiltration, ideas that come easily to the author. While some ends remain loose, Mitchell creates a satisfying and complex story that stretches the limits of her spy’s abilities and twists and turns at nearly every stop.While I typically dig into the inner workings of plot in my reviews, such actions would spoil the overall plot in this instance.

As in her previous installment, Mitchell keeps the pace moving. The pages fly by as Bai goes on one adventure after another and the world lines up for him time and time again. One minute he is gunning down pursuant drug dealers only later to seek solace and use them as a cover of sorts.  That said, he faces a limitless list of challenges and seemingly escapes with little to no damage. Yet, for a spy novel, such facts are to be expected. For a quick, fun read, give this one a look.