The Third Estate: Devil’s Tango by Debbie Berlin
There is a moment early in The Third Estate: Devil’s Tango by Debbie Berlin when a funeral congregation, ostensibly gathered to mourn, quietly repositions itself — knees angling, shoulders opening lanes of fire — and you realize this book has no intention of playing by ordinary thriller rules. Mourning on the surface, readiness underneath: that phrase could describe the entire novel. The second installment in The Third Estate series is a sleek, propulsive espionage tale that pairs a razor-sharp medical student with the one man she has every reason to hate, then dares them both to survive the music. Setting the Stage: Where the Dance Begins Captain Sophie Allard has rebuilt her life with almost surgical precision. A former fighter pilot turned medical student on a trauma rotation in Denver, she measures her days in rounds, protocols, and a running feud with a hospital vending machine that steals her money with criminal regularity. Then a gunshot victim is wheeled into her trauma bay, grabs her coat, and whispers a message meant for someone else entirely. …
