Beck and Locke discover that the dead, retired agent was searching for a Russian sleeper agent who came to the United States in the 1950s. His mission was to spy on the U.S. nuclear testing program. The sleeper later defected, providing the FBI for many years with valuable intelligence about ongoing Russian espionage activities. Now, decades later, some modern-day Russian agents believe the former sleeper is still alive and living in Lincoln County. They tortured Atterbury in an unsuccessful attempt to learn the sleeper’s whereabouts. The Bitter Past also has a parallel storyline, set in the 1950s, describing that sleeper agent and his espionage activities. Fans of The Americans will appreciate reading that the man with a shadowy past can ingratiate himself with a nuclear scientist and his daughter to get a job at the testing facility.

Although The Bitter Past has a complex storyline, it’s reasonably easy to follow. The author clearly identifies his present-day and 1950s sections. Porter Beck narrates the present-day scenes, while the 1950s segments are told in the third person. The plot resembles a tricky whodunit, with clues scattered throughout the book, which the author eventually ties together. Several characters and situations are not what they first appear to be, and the story has several twists and surprises. I figured out the main twist, but the author fooled me several other times until the last couple of chapters. Further, the author gradually reveals the mystery’s answers, so the book doesn’t get bogged down with lengthy information-dump explanations that slow down the pace.

The protagonist, Porter Beck, is a good action series hero. He seems almost too well-qualified to be a Podunk county sheriff (as the author explains, his father was sheriff for many years previously). Beck has extensive army intelligence training, including a convenient previous undercover assignment in Russia, which helps make him a shrewd detective and handy with many firearms. However, he’s no Superman, but, like Superman, he’s got a weakness. Beck suffers from night blindness. And, as anyone familiar with the principle of Chekhov’s gun knows, that weakness figures into the plot at a crucial moment.

The Bitter Past also has some entertaining supporting characters. The villains are rather bland and have the unfortunate habit of spouting cliched dialogue that seems to come from a 1950s Red Scare thriller. However, Beck’s subordinates aren’t a group of Barney Fifes. Instead, they are surprisingly adept in weapons training and classical police work. The most entertaining supporting character (who returns in the second novel in this series) is Beck’s adopted sister, Brinley. She’s even more of a firearms expert than he is (she moonlights as a firearms consultant for film projects). She and Beck form a two-person special forces attack squad when the need arises.

I also enjoyed the attention to geographic detail the author includes in the book. Bruce Borgos comes by this naturally since he’s a longtime resident of the Lincoln County area. But for those who think Nevada is just Las Vegas plus a lot of nothing, The Bitter Past shows how much there is to that nothing. The author notes the county is home to the notorious Area 51 of UFO fame. Area 51 is next to Area 13, where the sleeper agent worked as a security guard and the Air Force conducted its nuclear tests. Agent Locke gets rudely introduced to Lincoln County’s vast expanse when her directive to Beck to take her to the Atterbury crime scene turns into a two-hour trek over dirt roads through rugged country. They then have an equally lengthy trip to Las Vegas, where the novel’s dead bodies (there are more murders in the book) are taken for autopsies.     

 The Bitter Past requires more than the usual suspension of disbelief found in complex thrillers of this nature. However, much of the story, especially the segments set in the past, is grounded in historical facts regarding the nuclear tests that were conducted then without adequate concerns for human safety. Once readers accept the central premise of the sleeper agent, much of the ensuing plot is at least marginally plausible.

I enjoyed The Bitter Past a great deal and hope to read further Porter Beck adventures. Ideally, I’d like to see him take on more of the typical run of cases a rural Nevada sheriff would encounter, similar to those that challenge Walt Longmire or Joe Pickett. I hope the author tones down Beck’s descriptions of the book’s women in sometimes sexist terms that seem to come from a 50s pulp novel. However, The Bitter Past is a sweet introduction to a present-day action crime series.     

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.