Behind the Mask

by Dana Ridenour

Overview

You build relationships to betray relationships.

That is the motto for the FBI's undercover program, and special agent Lexie Montgomery is just beginning to understand what that means. Lexie's first assignment is infiltrating a radical cell of the Animal Liberation Front. Underground and operating in splinter groups throughout Los Angeles, the only way in is through Savannah Riley, a new recruit.

Savannah left the safety of her small southern town for the bright lights of the city. Pulled into the animal rights movement by her college roommate and a gorgeous anarchist, she sinks deeper and deeper into the dark, paranoid world of ALF extremists.

As the actions of her cell escalate beyond simple demonstrations and graffiti, Savannah turns to Lexie to keep her grounded. But as the two women grow closer and the FBI's case builds, Lexie is forced to decide what betrayal really means.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634899031
Publisher:	Wise Ink
Publication date:	04/05/2016
Pages:	346
Sales rank:	962,121
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

Editorial Reviews

03/12/2018
Retired FBI undercover agent Ridenour, whose career included infiltrating the militant Animal Liberation Front, provides an inside look at that kind of operation in her page-turning debut. In May 2010, the bureau dispatches special agent Lexie Montgomery, who’s just received her undercover certification, to Los Angeles, where her mission is to gain the confidence of members of the ALF by posing as a sympathizer. A prologue set a year later, in which Savannah Riley, a woman in FBI custody charged with conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, makes it obvious that Lexie succeeds in her assignment, but the sacrifice of some suspense is more than justified by Ridenour’s emphasis on the human aspects of undercover work. Lexie’s developing relationship with Savannah gains depth because the reader knows Savannah’s eventual fate. Lexie’s own struggles with maintaining her professionalism while sympathizing with the goals, rather than the means, of the animal rights terrorists helps make her a three-dimensional lead. With any luck, Lexie will be back in a sequel. (BookLife)

Publishers Weekly

★ 2016-05-18
An FBI agent working on her first undercover assignment becomes too close to one of the domestic terrorists she seeks to expose in this debut crime novel. Louisianan and FBI Special Agent Alexis "Lexie" Montgomery's initial covert mission requires an alias—Alexis Marie "Lexie" Taylor—and a temporary move to Los Angeles. In LA, the petite 29-year-old with "a bit of a hippie streak" is charged with the task of unmasking clandestine violators of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Shortly after Lexie embarks on "Operation Blind Fury" and enrolls in a class at Santa Monica College to give her alias some credibility, another Southerner, Savannah Riley, starts her freshman year at the University of Southern California. Savannah's roommate is pierced, inked, vegan animal activist Haley Crosby. When the roommates attend a meeting of the New World Militia, a radical group that uses violence to save animals, Savannah meets heavily tattooed, gauge-eared Nick Harris. She finds him a sexy, "dark, dangerous man" who would not "fit into her old Southern life," and they soon become lovers. Lexie's plan to get asked to participate in underground, illegal action by members of an animal activist terrorist cell brings her into contact with Savannah, Nick, and Haley prior to the trio's involvement in an NWM assignment that turns deadly. But by the time that happens, Lexie and Savannah have become BFFs. The agent begins to empathize with the passion of the activists, and the gravity of the bureau's undercover motto, "You build relationships to betray relationships," weighs heavily on her. The author, a retired FBI agent, worked as an undercover operative for most of her career. Her experience with the activities and emotional involvement of agents makes this a much richer story than most undercover novels. Tension mounts as Lexie becomes increasingly conflicted about her assignment. Dialogue rings true throughout, regardless of the age of the characters. Ridenour's flair for description is another plus; for example, an activist's house is described as a place in which "hardwood floors were scratched, and dog hair collected in the corners." In this serious novel, there are welcome humorous moments, as when a senior agent treats Lexie to a regular coffee, not a latte, because "You have to earn latte status." A vivid, suspenseful story about a torn agent on a complex covert mission.

Kirkus Reviews