The Night Ranger

Four American volunteers at a Kenyan refugee camp are kidnapped by Somali bandits during a weekend road trip, and CIA operative John Wells is asked as a personal favor to locate them, far outside his usual operational territory. The investigation reveals that the hostages' situation is considerably more complicated than a straightforward ransom situation, and Wells must navigate unfamiliar regional politics while the clock presses toward American military intervention. Alex Berenson's seventh Wells novel expands the series' geography.

George Guidall narrates with the assured presence he brings to the entire Wells series, his voice lending the East African setting a sense of genuine danger without exoticism. The novel's unusual geography, away from Wells's customary Middle East theater, gives Guidall different textures to work with, and the character's discomfort in unfamiliar terrain comes through clearly. At just over ten hours, this is a tight, propulsive entry that broadens the series' worldview.